Wise choice? Thinking of a mobile Barton

[Actaeon]

Right now, I'm running a 2500+ @ 3200+ (2.2ghz). I never thought about upgrading my CPU before, as my GF3Ti200 was the bottleneck. Recently I've been all hyped up about all these games coming out, and I recently ordered a 6800GT (hasn't arrived yet). Now I realize, my CPU is the bottleneck!

So... would you guys believe its a wise choice to purchase a Mobile Barton in hopes of an uber-overclock? Would the gains be worth it?

Out of everything I've read before creating this thread, I think the 2600+ Mobile will give the best overclock. Looking at some of the user reviews, they all seem to be getting really high overclocks, while some of the 2400+ are hitting 2.3-2.4ghz. I realize, its all about chance, and it might not even be higher than what I have now, but I might be willing to take the risk.

Well, what do you guys think?

EDIT: I forgot to add, I'm running a ThermalTake SLK-900U with a 90mm fan (Vantec Tornado at 50%). Board is an NF7-S V2.0. I'm running 1GB of PC3200 (Winbond BH-5). I had no intentions of upgrading with another Socket A CPU (as this socket is being phased out anyway), but I'm curious about the performance boost I'll get. Getting into an Athlon64 platform seems a bit too expensive now.

 

[Xenon14]

I think it's pointless, an XP model running a bit higher clock speed than ur current 3200+ will give you a couple more fps, nothing major. If I were you, I'd hold out with what you have and then migrate to an Athlon64 platform. Have you tried pushing ur current cpu past 3200+ speeds?

Edit: You can look at the graphs for yourself, there's even a review posted on Anandtech. An Athlon64 2800+ harrasses the XP 3200+ (by a lot, so even if u add 200-300mhz to the XP it would still lose to the lowest end A64).

 

[Actaeon]

Have you tried pushing ur current cpu past 3200+ speeds?

Yes I've tried, but for some reason, it doesn't like running faster than 2.2ghz, no matter the voltage. Its running very stable (currently on 69 days uptime) right now with 1.73v (Idles at 41-42C, full load around 45C).

Edit: You can look at the graphs for yourself, there's even a review posted on Anandtech. An Athlon64 2800+ harrasses the XP 3200+ (by a lot, so even if u add 200-300mhz to the XP it would still lose to the lowest end A64).

Yep, you're right, because of the on board memory controller.

Thanks for the insight, anyone else feel the same way? Maybe a 200-300mhz increase isn't a big of a deal than it used to be.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Actaeon

Have you tried pushing ur current cpu past 3200+ speeds?

Yes I've tried, but for some reason, it doesn't like running faster than 2.2ghz, no matter the voltage. Its running very stable (currently on 69 days uptime) right now with 1.73v (Idles at 41-42C, full load around 45C).

Edit: You can look at the graphs for yourself, there's even a review posted on Anandtech. An Athlon64 2800+ harrasses the XP 3200+ (by a lot, so even if u add 200-300mhz to the XP it would still lose to the lowest end A64).

Yep, you're right, because of the on board memory controller.

Thanks for the insight, anyone else feel the same way? Maybe a 200-300mhz increase isn't a big of a deal than it used to be.

It's 10%. Even a 10% increase in total system performance isn't stellar, and this won't affect improve the performance of your video card, HDD, etc. It's not worth the price of the upgrade.

 

[Fern]

I agree it prolly not worth it.

I did it, but I was having too much trouble getting my desktop to 2200 mhz. I figured it was just cheaper to switch to a mobile than start investing $s in more cooling accessories. Plus I spent waay too much time trying to tease the FSB up to 200 (never got there). Got sick of looking at P95 on my pc instead of games.

 

[slackosaurus]

Based on ''bang for bucks'' logic. Consider the price of the Athlon 64 2800 + the mandatory motherboard upgrade you would need to accomodate it. For about 1/4 the price you're getting, at the very least, 1/4 the performance increase you would have gotten with the 64. I would call that a decent , albeit short-term, low budget upgrade solution. However I must admit - I have a Bart 2500 OCed to 3200 specs and wouldn't upgrade until I could afford something radical - that definitely won't be happening tomorrow.