2500+ or 3200+??

[PC Bliss]

Im looking to upgrade my computer. Right now i have a Dell P4 2.0. I want to build a pretty fast computer, so i want to get the one of the latest processors. I like the barton 3200+ with 400 FSB. But i have seen tons of people taking the barton 2500+ and overclocking it to at or above 3200+ speeds (2.2 GHz i believe?). My question is will i be dumb to buy the 3200+, or should i get the 2500+ and overclock it to 3200+ Speeds? I plan on going with a thermaltake case (should cool well), Abit NF7-s 2.0 mobo, and 1gb corsair XMS pc3200 ram. What should i do?

[mickwish]

Well, my general premise is not to overclock stuff, so I would suggest going for the faster CPU.

Having said that, reality sets in, and price becomes an issue. :eek:

If the faster CPU is that much more expensive than the slower one, and you can afford the good cooling need to get o'clocking working OK, then I'd say have a go. But - bear in mind that not all CPU's will o'clock the same, so don't be too disappointed if you get the 2500+ and can't get it stable at 3200+. O'clocking is more of an art than a science, IMO. :p

So, if you MUST have 3200+ speed, get the new CPU. If it doesn't really matter, and price is an issue, then go for the 2500+ and see what it can do. Carefully, though. ;)

[PC Bliss]

Ok what program to people usually use to test stability?

[mickwish]

Run www.find-a-drug.com on it for at least a year! :D

Actually, any DC client which uses 100% CPU utilisation is a good test of stability. You can also run the burn-in test in SiSoft Sandra, but she and I don't get on to well, so I avoid her now. :p

Another neat little tester is Burn-inTest By Passmark (http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm) (free eval for 30 days). ;)

But I prefer running FAD, as it gets some useful research done while testing. :cool:

[PC Bliss]

Thanks for the info. See, the way i look at it is this: the 3200+ is like $400. I can get almost 5 of the 2500+ for that price, so even if i mess up 4, it would be worth it and i will have learned something along the way.

[mickwish]

Good economic logic. :cool:

Also good fun to do the tweaking!! :D

[PC Bliss]

How many times should i run the burnin test to be sure its stable?

[mickwish]

I do at least 10 cycles as a start with a standalone burn-in prog. But with a DC, I just run it for at least 24 hours to get a good handle on CPU temps. :)

[PC Bliss]

Yeah.... i still have a lot to learn about computers.... hehe....

[BBA]

I have an XP3200, BUT: I didnt have to pay for it.

Right now, I would buy a 2500+ simply because spending a lot on a computer right now is stupid considering 6 months from now you will want to upgrade to the 64bit cpu's.

Most 2500's will run at 2.2ghz. Just get a board that supports 200/400DDR MHz FSB natively. You can get a combo deal for about $180 shipped.

[mickwish]

Oh, and a bit of useful info if you have never seen it: the best reference for overclocking is The Book of Overclocking (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/188641176X/techimocom-20/104-8990439-1852738) by a couple of the TechIMO guys. :cool:

I have a copy and it's the best reference for all things overclocking. Might not have info about 2500+ CPU's, but all the principles about how to overclock successfully are in there. :)

[PC Bliss]

Yeah i think thats what im going to do. Im going with the ABIT NF7-s 2.0 with 1 gig corsair XMS. On a side note, if i overclock it to 2.2 ghz, will it actually show up in windows as a 3200+ or will it still be recognized as a 2500+ even though its at 2.2?

PS. How did you get a 3200+ without paying for it?

[mickwish]

Windows get's its info from the BIOS, so if the BIOS sees it as 2.2GHz so will windows. :)

[PC Bliss]

Oh yeah i know, i was just wondering if when you right click on "my computer" if it will actuall say "athlon xp 3200" like right now it says Pentium 4 1.993 or whatever

[PC Bliss]

Is it hard to get the 2500+ to a 400 mhz FSB?

[PC Bliss]

Basically the only thing holding me back from getting the 2500+ over a 3000+ or 3200+ is whether or not i should be able to get it to a 400 mhz FSB.... Should this be difficult with xms pc3200 memory and the abit board?

[akaBruno]

All Athlons will kick at 400fsb.

BBA said it all. Go for the 2500. OC it. And you won't notice any difference except that in your pocket.

[tgxiii]

Other tests you could use are Prime95 (http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm) or Hot CPU Tester (http://www.7byte.com/index.php?page=download) . They will run your CPU at full load and test for errors.

[Ultima]

There shouldn't be a problem running that XP2500 at 400Mhz fsb.

I even had my XP1800 Tbred-B running at 1.9Ghz/400Mhz, so.....
that jump is quite a bit bigger then the one you'll have to make.

[PC Bliss]

Yeah i got the 2500+ and im running it at 2.31 ghz with a 419 fsb