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my previous post regarding upgrades was for a complete system rebuild. now i'm looking at squeezing out as much life as possible from my current system...which is a bit more practical.

after researching my current mobo (shuttle ak31 rev3) it appears that shuttle stopped updating the BIOS and it will only officially support an XP 2200+. so, my question is:

is it worth upgrading from a standard Athlon 1.4GHz to an XP 2200+? i would also update the vid card...and spending $300+ on that is kinda gross, so i'd probably go with a Radeon 9500.

summary:

1. is going from a plain (non-XP) 1.4 athlon to a 2200+ XP worth my time/$$$$
2. is upgrading from a Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB to a 9500 Pro 64/128MB "worth it"

I had that mobo and it wasn't much of an overclocker - i'd just wait until the raeon prices slip down a little more and then buy a 9500 pro/9700 regular

or for 300 get and xp2100 tbred b (80) and a new mobo (nforce) and overclock that sucker! mine is solid at 2336

the jump from 1.4 to 1.8 is nice but is marginal for an upgrade uless you can oc the new cpu

my .02

What wvjohn said

I'm more or less in the same situation, Athlon tbird 1.4@1.6 on Iwill kt133a board with overclocked GF3 Ti200 ... I want a Radeon 9700 non-pro to extend my systems life for a couple more months till I build a new complete system.

ok...i did my homework and found that many have had great success with my mobo and the XP 2100+ (b-stepping)

almost all are getting it to the 2600-2700+ range.

i'll report back with my results as soon as the chip arrives! if i get anywhere near the 2.1-2.2GHz mark it will be almost double my current pc speed (assuming the 2700+ rating is accurate) for only $90.


the vid card choice is easier. hehe

One big advantage I saw moving to the pal and then the t'bred was the drop in cpu temps.
I suppose that helps those who overclock as well.

the cpu arrived today (only took 2 days from CA to WI...free FedEx...thanks newegg!). it's the AIUHB tbred...so at least i got the "high end" stepping.

i'll throw it in tonight and do some before/after benchmarks with my current 1.4 (non-XP) cpu.

ok...preliminary results are in.

i did a quick 3dmark2001 run (@1024x768/32bit) with my old cpu (1.4 tbird / radeon 9000 pro) and scored: 6864

flashed the ak31 r3.1 to the newest bios and messed around with the multiplier settings, etc...finally got it running. i bypassed the stock 2100+ (1.73GHz) and went for the gold right away...

2.133GHz (~2600-2700+) = 8051

2.200GHz (~2700-2800+) = 8071

looks like the radeon 9000 is the weak link now.

i'm pretty sure the chip has more in it...i've only bumped the voltage to 1.7v...temps are at 46C under load with a system temp of 27C (same HSF combo from my 1.4 and that ran at 50-51C). i haven't messed with the FSB (still at 133/266), but i probably won't.

overall, i think this was a pretty sweet upgrade for ~$90 shipped!

they are sweeeet chips - i think your vid card and fsb holding you back

2100 b @ 2336 (13.5 x 172) + 9500 pro (stock) = 12700 on 2001 se