If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Athlon 2400 XP vs 2800 XP
I have a machine that I build about 18 months ago. It currently
contains an Athlon 900 MHz. In looking at the motherboard spec's, it looks like I can upgrade to any 266 MHz Athlon Xp/MP chip. Further it looks like the fastest 266MHz Athlon XP is a 2800. Now I have noticed at www.pricewatch.com that the 2400 is less then half the price of the 2800 ($144 vs $67). I am going to be using the machine as a second gaming machine. The key word being second, not gaming This is second in the respect that my kids will be using it to play games (Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Halo, and the like) along with friend my friends. Considering I can pick up a respecable video card, which I also need, for the difference, is the 2800 worth the extra money? Sam |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 01:25:09 GMT, Sam Carleton
wrote: I have a machine that I build about 18 months ago. It currently contains an Athlon 900 MHz. In looking at the motherboard spec's, it looks like I can upgrade to any 266 MHz Athlon Xp/MP chip. Further it looks like the fastest 266MHz Athlon XP is a 2800. Now I have noticed at www.pricewatch.com that the 2400 is less then half the price of the 2800 ($144 vs $67). I am going to be using the machine as a second gaming machine. The key word being second, not gaming This is second in the respect that my kids will be using it to play games (Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Halo, and the like) along with friend my friends. Considering I can pick up a respecable video card, which I also need, for the difference, is the 2800 worth the extra money? Sam The XP2800 on pricewatch is a Barton core, having twice as much L2 cache (512MB) and DDR333 FSB. An XP2600, $97 on pricewatch, is the highest XP with DDR266 FSB, the fastest your board can use if what I mention below about KT133 chipset doesn't apply. Get the XP2400, though it's going to draw quite a few more amps than your current CPU, you might verify that your board is really up to the task. In case your board is a KT133 chipset, not a KT133A, remember that the KT133 is not actually capable of 133MHz, DDR266 FSB... most were only stable to around 108-110 MHz, DDR220. Also, some boards supporting DDR266 FSB can't run anything faster than Palomino core, which only went up to XP2100... it's usually a bus signaling issue, not voltage or bios support that matters (though of course the newest bios is highly recommended, prior to such an upgrade). Of course you'll also need a heatsink, unless you had an atypically good one for your Athlon 900... the *average* Athlon 900 'sink isn't adequate for an XP2400. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 at 02:06 GMT, kony wrote:
The XP2800 on pricewatch is a Barton core, having twice as much L2 cache (512MB) and DDR333 FSB. An XP2600, $97 on pricewatch, is the highest XP with DDR266 FSB, the fastest your board can use if what I mention below about KT133 chipset doesn't apply. Get the XP2400, though it's going to draw quite a few more amps than your current CPU, you might verify that your board is really up to the task. In case your board is a KT133 chipset, not a KT133A, remember that the KT133 is not actually capable of 133MHz, DDR266 FSB... most were only stable to around 108-110 MHz, DDR220. Also, some boards supporting DDR266 FSB can't run anything faster than Palomino core, which only went up to XP2100... it's usually a bus signaling issue, not voltage or bios support that matters (though of course the newest bios is highly recommended, prior to such an upgrade). Very interesting. I have the Giga-Byte GA-7ZX http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7ZX.htm. The web site says that I do have teh KT133 chipset Thus I guess I will stick with simply an upgrade to the 2100, which ain't bad, if I must say so Of course you'll also need a heatsink, unless you had an atypically good one for your Athlon 900... the *average* Athlon 900 'sink isn't adequate for an XP2400. Ah, interesting. I did build the machine myself. The Athlon 900 does have a fan on the heatsink. How can I tell if it will be adequate or not other the hooking it up and seeing if it overhearts? Sam |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 12:32:35 GMT, Sam Carleton
wrote: In case your board is a KT133 chipset, not a KT133A, remember that the KT133 is not actually capable of 133MHz, DDR266 FSB... most were only stable to around 108-110 MHz, DDR220. Also, some boards supporting DDR266 FSB can't run anything faster than Palomino core, which only went up to XP2100... it's usually a bus signaling issue, not voltage or bios support that matters (though of course the newest bios is highly recommended, prior to such an upgrade). Very interesting. I have the Giga-Byte GA-7ZX http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7ZX.htm. The web site says that I do have teh KT133 chipset Thus I guess I will stick with simply an upgrade to the 2100, which ain't bad, if I must say so Reread what I wrote above, and see the spec on the link you provided... your board has the KT133, it's probably not stable with any CPU using 133MHz, DDR266 FSB. The fact that KT133 wasn't actually stable at 133MHz, was the whole reason why they released a KT133A, when they *fixed* it, before moving to the KT266 for the next generation of boards. In other words, the max CPU you could use is an Athlon Thunderbird 1.4GHz (but the T'Bird came in both DDR266 & DDR200 FSB varieties, you'd need the DDR200 version). Frankly, it's not worth it, the time and expense... better to buy a base version of a semi-modern motherboard and then choose whatever CPU you want, though of course you'd need the memory too... but it's inevitable, sooner or later you'd be moving on anyway, a 1.4GHz CPU running with PC100 memory seems slow today, and the KT133 chipset itself isn't very efficient, gets less done per MHz than modern boards regardless of the CPU installed, not to mention it's one of the boards with potential PCI latency and IDE issues, potential hard drive corruption due to 686A southbridge. Of course you'll also need a heatsink, unless you had an atypically good one for your Athlon 900... the *average* Athlon 900 'sink isn't adequate for an XP2400. Ah, interesting. I did build the machine myself. The Athlon 900 does have a fan on the heatsink. How can I tell if it will be adequate or not other the hooking it up and seeing if it overhearts? Sam Well you can do that, but since you built it yourself you should already have a good idea... if it wasn't the best of the best when you bought it, it's going to be questionable. At that time 'sinks were made towards a much lower thermal dissipation requirement. I recall 'sinks of that time, supposedly good up to 1.4GHz were pretty poor for the newer Palominos and T'Breds, due to their smaller core size, higher thermal density. At a minimum the 'sink you use ought to have a large copper baseplate and either a very loud 60mm fan or more tolerable 70-80mm. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 at 13:21 GMT, kony wrote:
On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 12:32:35 GMT, I wrote: Very interesting. I have the Giga-Byte GA-7ZX http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7ZX.htm. The web site says that I do have teh KT133 chipset Thus I guess I will stick with simply an upgrade to the 2100, which ain't bad, if I must say so Frankly, it's not worth it, the time and expense... better to buy a base version of a semi-modern motherboard and then choose whatever CPU you want, though of course you'd need the memory too... Yes, memory is the problem. I am trying to keep cost down. It is simply becoming too painful to continue to function with the slow machine. I did double check the memory and it is one 256 Meg PC133 DIMM. Can you recomment a motherboard/CPU combo that would be worth upgrading to which will use the existing memory? I care not if it is AMD or Intel, just that it be cost effective Sam |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 04:07:08 GMT, Sam Carleton
wrote: Yes, memory is the problem. I am trying to keep cost down. It is simply becoming too painful to continue to function with the slow machine. I did double check the memory and it is one 256 Meg PC133 DIMM. Can you recomment a motherboard/CPU combo that would be worth upgrading to which will use the existing memory? I care not if it is AMD or Intel, just that it be cost effective Sam The ECS K7S5A Pro is a board that will take PC133 memory and Athlon XP up to DDR266 FSB, which as mentioned previously is a max of an XP2600, but the XP2400 is still a better value. I'm not certain what the max CPU support is for the K7S5A Pro though, you may need do some research, perhaps updating the bios with the old CPU in before installing the new one. I'm not very fond of that motherboard though, I'd sooner advise you to buy a newer board, for example Asus brand, that requires DDR memory... your current 256MB memory isn't worth much and a 256MB replacement can be had for =$40. Just as with the CPU, this faster (DDR) memory will improve performance, especially with a CPU near 2GHz. To be honest, you're better off just buying a 512MB DDR module, since part of the performance issues you're seeing now could be cause by insufficient memory... quite often 256MB isn't enough, even with Win98 instead of WinXP. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 at 05:31 GMT, kony wrote:
I'd sooner advise you to buy a newer board, for example Asus brand, that requires DDR memory... YOu are starting to become predicable, in a good way I knew you where going to say that! I just did not want to deprive my machine (this is all for the wifes machine) of the 768 Megs it currently has of DDR memory, but I guess I can pull out 256 of it for my wife your current 256MB memory isn't worth much and a 256MB replacement can be had for =$40. Just as with the CPU, this faster (DDR) memory will improve performance, especially with a CPU near 2GHz. To be honest, you're better off just buying a 512MB DDR module, since part of the performance issues you're seeing now could be cause by insufficient memory... quite often 256MB isn't enough, even with Win98 instead of WinXP. I agree I would like her to have 512 Megs, but I know what she does and she really does NOT need it. Ok, so we have 384 Megs of 400 MHz DDR ram, what board/chip combo would you recommend? I would LOVE to buy from this local resaler, http://www.winotek.com, because they have good prices and they are local (send me a private email and I can give you my username/password). I am willing to buy off the web, if there is a noticable difference in either the upgradability or in price. Sam |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 12:24:01 GMT, Sam Carleton
wrote: On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 at 05:31 GMT, kony wrote: I'd sooner advise you to buy a newer board, for example Asus brand, that requires DDR memory... YOu are starting to become predicable, in a good way I knew you where going to say that! I just did not want to deprive my machine (this is all for the wifes machine) of the 768 Megs it currently has of DDR memory, but I guess I can pull out 256 of it for my wife your current 256MB memory isn't worth much and a 256MB replacement can be had for =$40. Just as with the CPU, this faster (DDR) memory will improve performance, especially with a CPU near 2GHz. To be honest, you're better off just buying a 512MB DDR module, since part of the performance issues you're seeing now could be cause by insufficient memory... quite often 256MB isn't enough, even with Win98 instead of WinXP. I agree I would like her to have 512 Megs, but I know what she does and she really does NOT need it. Ok, so we have 384 Megs of 400 MHz DDR ram, what board/chip combo would you recommend? I would LOVE to buy from this local resaler, http://www.winotek.com, because they have good prices and they are local (send me a private email and I can give you my username/password). I am willing to buy off the web, if there is a noticable difference in either the upgradability or in price. Sam I'm not so sure I have enough details of your needs to make a recommendation. Since a new board can have so many features, you'll have to decide how important things like USB2, firewire, quality of integrated sound, etc, are to you. I was under the impression that this was to be a minimal cost upgrade, so with that in mind the Athlon XP2400 you saw on pricewatch for ($66 delivered, today) is the best value, unless your local retailer can match that price. As for the motherboard, Winotek only lists 3 Athlon socket A boards, not much of a selection at all. Of those, I'd choose the Gigabyte, GB7VTX600L. As for upgradeability, of course it depends on what, how you might want to upgrade it. Spending nearly twice as much on a motherboard, then waiting a couple years before upgrading it, may not be such a great deal since at that point any CPU the board would accept, will seem slow compared to the (then) contemporary CPUs available. A good place to buy online is http://www.newegg.com I haven't had the pleasure of trying anywhere near the majority of boards they sell, but I'm partial to Asus, and can recommend the A7N266-VM http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...ion=13-131-433 , or one of the A7N8X series boards http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc... factory=1315 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Pentium 4 vs. Athlon XP vs. Athlon 64's | MarkW | General | 2 | October 10th 06 12:11 PM |
AMD Athlon 64FX first impressions | Chris | General | 14 | September 29th 03 02:22 PM |
Athlon XP 2400 | David | General | 1 | June 24th 03 10:28 PM |
HLEP !! Athlon XP 2400 | David | General | 0 | June 24th 03 09:44 PM |
Athlon XP 2400 | Paul \(Erie\) | General | 1 | June 24th 03 04:28 AM |