AMD Athlon XP 2800+ "Barton" vs 2600+

S

synthesis

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Sep 16, 2002
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Well, right now I have an Abit KX7-333 and an AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.4GHz. My mobo supports up to the 2600+ so if I want to upgrade beyond that, I'd have to get a new mobo as well, which would be an Abit NF7-S v2 ($92). Anyway, the only game I play is FFXI and it doesn't run very well :( I have tried defragmenting, new drivers, etc. with barely no improvement. I know it's not my video card (ATI Radeon 9700), so I think I just need more sheer CPU power. Here are my options..

Option 1:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ ($88)
Total: $88

Option 2:
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ "Barton" ($136)
Abit NF7-S v2 ($92)
Total: $228

Well, I'm super poor right now so I'm kinda leaning towards #1. Plus, I'm impatient :( If I go for #1 I think I can scrounge up enough cash to get it asap, but for #2 I'd probably have to wait awhile (weeks). The difference is $140... that's a lot.. would it be worth saving up for #2 or should I just go for #1? I'm thinking if I go for #1, I can just use it as a temporary solution until this summer when I can get a job and then get a new mobo+CPU+RAM (and sell the 2600+ to my brother or something).

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
All of the new 2600+'s that are out now are of the Barton core, as well. And they will require a new motherboard anyway, because they all run on a 166MHz (333DDR) FSB (your KX7-333 officially supports only a 133MHz [266DDR] FSB maximum, at least for your particular board revision). So, try to find a 2600+/266, which will always be of the Thoroughbred B core.

If the vendor from which you'll be ordering that 2600+ from doesn't specify which core it uses or the FSB speed that it will require, chances are that they'll sell you a Barton 2600+ anyway. In that case, then, you're SOL. You'll have to buy a new motherboard for that 2600+ anyway. (I've learned that the hard way earlier this month, when I had almost picked myself up a 2400+ for my aging Asus A7V333 v1.02 motherboard - only to find out on the Asus Web site that my particular mobo doesn't support any of the Barton or Thorton processors [I would need v2.0 of that motherboard in order to use such a 2400+, which is a Thorton-based CPU].)
 
Are you certain the KX7-333 does not support 333MHz FSB? The Abit website says "Supports 200/266/333 MHz (100/133/166 MHz DDR) Memory Bus Settings". You're probably right; I'm just in denial, because that sucks for me >:(
 
The 333MHz support for the KX7-333 is only for the DDR SDRAM speed. The CPU's FSB is limited to 266MHz.

You have v1.1 of that board - and there are no newer PCB versions of that mobo. As such, it will support all of the Thunderbird Athlons, Palomino and Thoroughbred Athlon XP's and all Durons up to 266MHz FSB - and the newest BIOS version for your motherboard (version CN) adds support for the newest Applebred Durons at 266MHz FSB. (Sorry, but even the latest BIOS version for that motherboard cannot support any of the Thorton 2000+ and 2400+ processors at this time.)
 
Well, instead of saving up, I've decided to just look for a place to buy a 266MHz FSB version of the CPU. The difference shouldn't between 266MHz and 333MHz shouldn't be that much, right? Right!?

Edit: Or maybe even just a 2400+. Newegg has the 2400+ Thoroughbreds in stock, but the Thortons are out of stock :)

Edit 2: Well I checked pricewatch and the few stores that still carried the 2600+ 266FSB's didn't do too well at resellerratings.com, so I'm probably going w/ the 2400+ @ Newegg. Here's what I'm getting: http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishHistoryReview.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=585046. I'm getting an expensive heatsink because my computer is in my family's living room so it needs to be quiet.
 
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