Athlon 2500XP vs. 3000XP: Hype or Not?

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 1:50 pm

Ok, so I'm planning on building a new computer, started out at first with a 2500XP chip then bumped it up to 2800XP for a little more power. But reconsidered and brought it back down to 2500XP after I was told by a few people the increase wasn't that great and not worth the price.

Talking to a computer guy the other day about this and he said the 2500XP at 1.80 GHz was junk. He suggested a 2.2GHz was the lowest to go. He knows a lot about computer and I'm inclined to trust him because he's helped me out in the past. Again, I'm reluctant to OC anything for fear of damaging my system. My neighbor had an OC-ed video card and it literally blew up on him. Sure, it's not the same but still...

So, what about a 3000XP then? Is it significantly faster then a 2500/2800XP? Is it worth the money? A 2500XP Barton is fine for my needs but I would like to have a little more power down the line, y'know? It's about a $150 difference (newegg prices, roughly) between the 25000Xp and 3000XP. If it's worth it I'll hold off a month or so and get the 3000XP.

Remember this is my first custom system, so I'm looking for more experienced and knowledgeable (that's you guys) advice. As always, Thanks.

DoPeY5007 · Post by **DoPeY5007** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 2:06 pm

ok that guy who said that a 1.8ghz is "Junk" doesn't know anything.

You will be fine with the 2500+ ( I have it ) and you really wouldnt see much dif with the 3000+ to the 2500+ ( when encoding something you may )

I have OC'd mine a lil, but brought it back down.

the 2500+ is a good buy

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 2:41 pm

I agree that guy is just wrong. I have a 2500+ and at stock speed it is plenty fast. However I have mine over clocked. It is now detected as an XP 3200 and runs at 2250Mhz. If money is no issue sure go for the faster chip but if you want bang for the buck the 2500 is the way to go.

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:14 pm

Originally posted by DoPeY5007
ok that guy who said that a 1.8ghz is "Junk" doesn't know anything.

You will be fine with the 2500+ ( I have it ) and you really wouldnt see much dif with the 3000+ to the 2500+ ( when encoding something you may )

I have OC'd mine a lil, but brought it back down.

the 2500+ is a good buy

See, that's what I'm thinking. But whenever I talk to these techie guys they keep telling me to go with a P4 @ 2.4 GHz or a 2800Xp+ (or higher) at least. Basically saying it's a better value in the long run to go with a higher Ghz chip. Maybe they are biased since they both are hardcore gamers and such. Yet it seems sensible. Is the difference between a 1.80 and 2.2 really so great that it justifies the price and is it noticeable? I'm using my PC mostly for casual use: light gaming, word processing, internet browsing, dvd watching, mix making, etc, etc.

I don't know if 3000XP is worth it though. I'd rather spend the extra cash to get a DVD-RW drive if anything. But I still want my PC to be respectable a year or two from now.

I'm just throwing it out there for some different opinions/views.

Y'know, you start simple and it just escalates...
(He says as he thinks about Atomic fan grills

)

BillyGoat · Post by **BillyGoat** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:25 pm

ok currently my main rig has a p4@2500 and my next cpu "UPGRADE" is going to be to a 2500+barton 1.8

Now does that tell you anything?
aND NO, i AM NOT CRAZY

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:37 pm

My thoughts are telling me these "techies" are just wanting you to buy the most expensive and best thing out there.. But is the 400mhz really worth the diff? I have 7 computers working on an 8th one. Ranging from a P200MMX - XP1800+@1.64ghz. I underclocked my XP1800+ to 1.3 one time just to see what it was like, I hardly noticed a dfference. That's 300mhz.. The only places you're going to notice a difference in these speeds are in the encoding of videos (That's why a lot of the guys who do this run duallies) and it will have a slight impact on gaming, but the biggest impact on your gaming will be your video card. So, like you said, save the $150 and buy a DVD-RW.. eGo

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:48 pm

By any chance is your techie buddy trying to sell you a chip or get you to buy one from one of his buddies? To me once you get around 1.4gigs and up it is hard to tell the difference in casual use, you almost have to run a benchmark or pay attention to how fast it crunches a work unit in F@H to see the difference.

Absolut Talent · Post by **Absolut Talent** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:36 pm

i agree with everyone else...

ditch that "the xp3000 is higher up so its better" crap your buddy told ya
the 2500 barton is good enough

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:51 pm

Naw, nobody is selling me any chips. Just wanted to see what the genreal consensus was. My cousin suggested the P4 @2.4 and another friend suggested the 3000Xp. At a $150 difference, I wanted a 3rd opinion (or five or six!). These are also the type of guys who only buy the latest/fastest video cards to play Unreal 2 with ALL the effects on. So they may lean toward the high end stuff. Think I'm going to stick with the 2500XP Barton.

Thanks everyone.

But since we're here, let's say hypothetically I wanted to OC the 2500XP, how difficult would it be? And would I be in danger of frying the whole system?

Just curious.

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 5:10 pm

yea, get the 2500+ and OC it. its really easy and really have under minimal chance of killing anything.

Just raise the Front side bus or the multiplier in the bios and go from there.

Greg

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 9:02 pm

2500 is perfectly adequate - i am running mine at about stock and don't notice much difference between that and the 2100 i was running at 2.33 - it is a very good value and easy to overclock if you choose to

Gand1 · Post by **Gand1** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 6:43 pm

Hell I'm running my 2100 stock but my vid card is a 9700pro. That's what makes the biggest difference!

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Athlon 2500XP vs. 3000XP: Hype or Not?

Athlon 2500XP vs. 3000XP: Hype or Not?

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