Sweet Spot for AMD

[kingz]

Based on these prices, which chip will give the best price/performance ratio when overclocked (ie sweetspot)? Im currently building a new sys, and have already decided on a MSI K7T Pro-2-A (By the way, what is the difference between the VIA 686A and 686B Southbridge?)

• 
  Duron 650 $46
  Duron 700 $55
  Duron 750 $63
  Duron 800 $74
  thunderbird 700 $85
  thunderbird 750 $98
  Duron 850 $109
  thunderbird 800 $110
  thunderbird 850 $138
  thunderbird 900 $141
  thunderbird 950 $161
  thunderbird 1.0 $176
  thunderbird 1.1 $219
  thunderbird 1.2 $274

 

[LoDe]

686B southbridge adds ATA100 support

686A only has support upto ATA66

 

[ledzepp98]

be more specific about your general price range. the "sweet spot" will vary depending on how much $$$ you have to spend. i.e. is it in the $50-$75 range, $100-$150 range, etc... personally, i have a 900 running at 1000 so i'm no longer on the market for a duron (no offense, i know they can rock when oc'd). if you want a very general answer, i would say the following processors would be in the "sweet spot" depending on bidget:
Duron 650 $46
thunderbird 900 $141
thunderbird 1.0 $176

 

[kingz]

Hm....well, i guess a better way to put it, which cpu would give you the best overclock. I'm currently looking at the 750 Tbird. I just dont want to buy an 850 and get it up to 950, when i couldve bought a 750 and get it up to around the same clock. Cooling would probably be a gobal win or alpha....

 

[kingz]

argh....screw this....too much thinking.....im going cheapo...Duron 600!!! hey, cant beat the price!! it'll be a fun one to overclock too!!

 

[damac]

damn about 2 months ago my tbird 1ghz was around $300. luckily I got an awesome chip that does 1250mhz fine.

does anybody know if these 1.2ghz chips would overclock well or are they at this limit with the chip?

plus how do you actually overclock since the multiplier would already be at 12 right?

 

[ledzepp98]

the highest multiplier supported by the kt133 boards is 12.5 so 1250 is the limit by multipier modification. since fsb overclocking isn't very successful on the kt133, my guess would probably be 12.5x105 should be attainable. with good ram and a good chip, 1300-1350 range should be done (obviously everyone's luck differs)

 

[kingz]

what is the best place to get HSF? Anywhere with free shipping?

 

[jpprod]

At Tom's hardware they got 1.2GHz chips up to 1.4GHz, but that was on a AMD-760 board.

 

[Maniac9127]

<< im going cheapo...Duron 600! >>

That wouldn't be too good, most duron 600s are more expencive than the 650s due to the fact that 600s aren't made any more, so just get a 650 or 700.

 

[Nelmster]

Kingz, believe it or not, my computer is worse than yours...

Oh, the day I build... It will be a glorious day.

 

The 900 looks like a nice processor for the price.

 

[kingz]

thanks for the tips everyone...after days of shopping im done! heres a list of what i got, just to help those who are currently building or upgrading out. anything i couldve got cheaper? keep in mind i live in beautiful hawaii, so shipping aint cheap. most of the time shipping is around $10-$25, so shipping was a factor when considering vendors. I got mad love for onvia, buy.com, and outpost!!! flops goes to staples, because they dont ship here!! They must think hawaii is still grass huts and nude hula girls =)

• 
  Tufshop - MSI K7T Pro2A (retail) &amp; Duron 650Mhz w/HSF (oem) $168.92
  2cooltek - Alpha PAL6035 w/23.5cfm Sunon 60mm fan $27.00
  outpost - Kingston Value RAM 128MB PC133 $49.99 (after rebate)
  eba y - Ati Radeon 64MB DDR Vivo (retail &amp; new) $215.00
  amazon - Sound Blaster PCI 512 $35.62
  onvia - Enlight 72370M3 250W w/Fan $56.22
  outpost - Extra 92mm case fan $5.95 (hey, if i dont gotta pay shipping, y not!!)
  
  Total upgrade price: $561

So how did i do??

 

[chemwiz]

I'd say you did damn good! Great price on the Radeon, maybe I'll try fleabay myself.