Need AMD CPU Suggestion...

[HippyJoe]

I'm gathering parts for my first DIY PC and intend to go with AMD. Got the RAM (128MB PC150 Kingmax) and heatsink (FOP32-1) on order and trying to find an InWin Q500 w/300W PS tonight. Planning on an Abit KT7A-RAID mobo for a little overclockage with 133 mhz fsb after I'm comfortable with the system at 100mhz fsb. Would a duron 600 or maybe a tbird 750 be the best bet for overclocking? I'm upgrading from a p166, so I can definitely tolerate one of these "low end" procs for a while before I overclock.
Also in a RAID setup, what happens if you have an ATA66 and an ATA100 drive striped? Will I have to run the ATA100 at ATA66? Not very familiar with RAID...

Malfunction... Need input.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

I think you need 2 identical hard drives for raid to work properly. ATA100 does basicaly nothing so it would run at ATA66 but you would see no change in performance whatsoever.

 

[Dan]

As far as overclocking goes, here are two generalizations:

1. Durons have better overclocking capabilities than T-Birds.

2. The faster the chip the smaller the overclocking delta.

For the last three months I have used a Duron 700 running stable at 1083MHz on a KT7 (nonRAID) mobo.

 

[HippyJoe]

Dan: 700@1083! Good overclock! What FSB/CPU Multiplier are you running?

I'm leaning toward the Duron 600 at this point. Just got my Q500 case on order. I fought the the 37333bps connection speed all night.

When you say the RAID drives need to be identical, do you mean same speed setup or same manufacturer,size,model,etc.?

Thanks for the elaboration guys.

FYI my current system (sorry if you hurt yourself while laughing):

Gateway 2000 (from Sept 1996!)
P5-166 (non-MMX!)
64MB EDO
Matrox Millenium 2MB WRAM!!!
Diamond Monster II 8MB!!!!!!
Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA
USR 56k PCI (with poor connection speed, see above)
Western Dig 20GB 7200 HD ATA66 (will be going into my new rig)
Toshiba 8X CD
145Watt Power Supply!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17in Vivitron (keeping for new box)

Really can't complain about this box. It has only blue screened me maybe 5 or 6 times over the past four years with W95.

 

[giambi77]

Heh - I feel sorry for you man!

You think YOUR modem is bad - I have a NEW 56k, but I connect at 24,000bps!!!!! (It's just the phone line - not the modem)

Good luck with whatever you buy. I got 128mb PC150 CAS2 AND a 700@900 duron (L1 bridges closed) for only $110.
hehe

 

[Grendel99]

Yes you will need another 20 Gig 7200RPM hard drive for the RAID to work. I don't know if you need another Western Digital. But I think you have to have identical drives.

 

[Dan]

HippyJoe: FSB is 103, multiplier is 10.5. Before this chip I had a Duron 600 that was stable at 900MHz (100x9.0). With the mobo and cooling, Durons are great overclockers.

 

[M O M O]

Dan. what durons have the greatest oc ablity. I'm leaning towards a 700 like yourself. Would you recommend buying a pretested chip?

 

[Dan]

M O M O: I don't think you need to spend the extra money for a pretested chip. Unless you're going the use the same mobo, RAM, etc. that was used by the tester your results may vary. Rather, get a mobo that is overclocking-friendly and quality RAM.

Which Durons overclock the best?

On my KT7 mobo I've had the following overclocking results:

Duron 600 ---> 900MHz
Duron 700 --> 1083MHz
TBird 750 --> 927MHz

On a crappy Amptron mobo I overclocked a Duron 650 to 750MHz. I'll bet if I'd put the chip on my KT7 I could have brought it at least 900MHz.