Upgrading from a PIII 800 to AMD

spooky617

Member
Dec 2, 2002
67
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I have a question
I am upgrading from a PIII 800 to an AMD Athlon XP but I can not decide which one, i have been reading about the XP 2100 & the XP 2200 trying to figure out what the difference is ( except for the few hundred MHz ) & the $50.00 price difference. I know that the 2100 is an older core Palomino core & the 2200 is the new Thoroghbreed core but I have not been able to find a clear answer if there is alot of difference & if it is worth the $50.00
Since there is a new chip coming out soon ( Hammer ) I just wanted to get something faster then the PIII 800 I have now.
I was going to use that chip with the Soyo KT400 Ultra motherboard.

Hope that someone can shine some more light on this for me
Thank you
Mark
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
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Join the XP1700 craze, it's dirt cheap, and will OC to speeds easily equal to those more expensive ones.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
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Welcome to the Forums :D The Thoroughbred and Palomino cores have identical functionality and performance at their stock speeds; the Thoroughbred is simply physically smaller and produces less total heat. There are both Thoroughbred and Palomino versions of the 1700+, 1800+, 1900+, 2000+ and 2100+.

So the good news is that it doesn't matter which core you happen to get, if you don't plan to overclock it. I would recommend getting a heatsink with a copper heatspreader in the base, since AMD recommends this for the Thoroughbred cores and there's an increasing likelihood you'll get a Thoroughbred in the lower speed brackets as time goes by. Here's a fairly good heatsink/fan unit to consider: Taisol 760092 for $15

If you plan to overclock, start lower in the lineup like Yield is saying, so you have more headroom. Also, consider getting an nForce2-based motherboard such as an EPoX 8RDA+, which will wring the most out of your CPU and also leave an upgrade path to future AthlonXP's that migrate to a 400MHz front-side bus, as well as currently-available 200-, 266- and 333MHz-based ones. The onboard sound should be top-notch too. There's going to be a 6-way nForce2 shootout article on AnandTech soon, hopefully in the next couple days, if you're looking for more info.

If you do plan to overclock, then you might consider splurging on a top-end heatsink like this one, along with an adjustable-RPM 80mm fan.
 

spooky617

Member
Dec 2, 2002
67
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mechBgon
Thanx for the reply, this will help me a little bit more.
I am not planning on overclocking it ( at least not for now since I do not know much about it yet )
the Thermalright heatsinc is the one I was planning on getting so thanx for the link.
I already have a motherboard which is Soyo board.
I just wish that some of the reselers would flag their chips & tell you if that 2100 is a Thoroghbred or Palomino but at least now I know I will save some money & go with the lower number

Thanx again
Mark
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
1
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If you have a preference for one core version over the other, Newegg.com seems to have differentiated the Thoroughbreds from the others. Because the Palomino cores have more surface area per watt of heat produced, they tend to run a bit cooler than the Thoroughbreds, but with that heatsink it's going to be a moot point, because the heatsink is so good :D Good luck with your new rig!