Upgrade now or wait? (Athlon 1.4 to XP?)

[TSDible]

Hey guys...

I know this kind of question gets posted alot, but bare with me.

I'm currently running...
AMD Athlon 1.4 (OC to 1.5)
ECS K7S5A MB
512 MB PC2100
GF3 Ti200
SB Live! MP3+

I always like to stay a step or two behind the curve for cost reasons.

I'm considering keeping my current setup and upgrading the CPU to an XP T-Bred. Maybe a 2200+ or so (recomendations??).

Is this a feasible upgrade at this time or is it best to wait. I know the Hammer is just around the corner, but I'm sure that I won't get into that until late next year and it will involve a MB, CPU, Memory as well.

Thoughts?

 

[ChampionAtTufshop]

if you had a better motherboard i would recommend xp1700+ tbred (for overclocking purposes)

does the motherboard support xp2200+ tbred?
have to check up on that
if so, sure why not go for the upgrade unless you want to wait and do a mobo+cpu upgrade (to maybe xp2600+ or something)

if you are just looking for a small upgrade it sounds good

 

[xSauronx]

if i remember right, most ecs boards dont have any way to oc really(i know none of the ones ive had do, and my bros k7ama does not), unless you use some backroom bios flash to allow changing the fsb speeds and such, which isnt supported of course, though i do belive they support a 2100 or 2200+

though if you could oc, id reccomend the 1600+ agoia stepping that i got (which i oc to 1.743 easily enough)

pricewatch has a 2100+ for 87 bucks, the 2200 is about 135, so id say get the 2100+(considering price) and make sure youre cooler will be enough to handle it

 

[TSDible]

Yes, the ECS board will handle the XP. I think it will handle anything that is NOT 333 FSB.

It only has minor OCing capabilities... no voltage tweaks, but variable FSB settings... running at 147 FSB rock stable with my current athlon.

I thought about a 1700+, but I don't think I could push it far enough without changing the voltage.

 

[FIFO]

Actually....

Most of the 1700+'s that are being sold as of late are T-bred A cores. I have not seen an oc less than 1800 Mhz (2200+ Quantispeed rating) and this is achieved at stock voltage!

In the US, it seems that newegg.com is the place to go. In Canada, NCIX.com is the best place that I have found. Myself and 3 other friends have decided to all get a 1700+. We will all be overclocking our CPUs ASAP so if you want I can post our results. One of the four is using an ECS K7S5A, 2 x Epox 8KHA+ and one Epox 8K5A2+ w/PC2700 samsung (This will be the one we really have fun with!!!)

Thanks,
Jason.

 

[TSDible]

Someone is hitting 1800 Mhz with a K7S5A? What type of memory?
Mine is just PC2100...

The problem with the K7S5A is that for overclocking it goes from 150 - 166 with nothing in between. That means that to hit 1.8, it would be all or nothing with this board. A significant risk considering the lack of voltage settings.

Of course... the considering the low cost of the CPU, I may very well be able to justify it.

Any other thoughts?

T-bred 1700+? 2200+?

 

[Soulkeeper]

If your just going to upgrade the cpu i would pick up a 2400+
they are a good deal right now

as far as that motherboard goes, as much as i don't like ecs, it should work if it is working for a t-bird

 

[Soulkeeper]

also the lowerend 1700+ and 1800+ T-breds are pretty cheap at newegg (under 70 bucks )

 

[>>>Newbie<<<]

You can solder a resistor (22k) to get ~ .2v boost. I did that to my K7S5a but never need to use it because hardly this K7S5a can push my AGOIA 1600+ or the TBred 1700+ into its limit.

 

[PCMarine]

I picked up an athlon XP 2100+ retail w/ 3 year warrenty for $97 @ googlegear