PCA Forums

I trying to decide what cpu to buy . Should I go with AMD or P4 ?

I'm guessing the AMD will be a better deal , but there are so many different breeds , Tbred , Barton , etc . What do you guys think ? Looking at maybe xp2500 - xp2800 price range . I don't know too much about the different versions so which one is best ?

I vote for a 2500+ Barton. Not sure what the price is on them now but I paid $90 for mine and love it. Lotta bang for the buck in my eyes. Mine is currently running at 2250Mhz . Cant get my FSB above 180Mhz because of my PC 2700

easy to get a 2500 into the 3000+ range on an Nforce mobo. The new XP's are multiplier locked, better if you can get an older one that's unlocked. But with good ram, can still OC a new one with FSB change.

I thought all XP procs were locked but could be unlocked on an nForce board. I know my XP3000+ is locked when used on a VIA based board but it's unlocked on an nForce board.

Originally posted by dadx2mj
I vote for a 2500+ Barton. Not sure what the price is on them now but I paid $90 for mine and love it. Lotta bang for the buck in my eyes. Mine is currently running at 2250Mhz . Cant get my FSB above 180Mhz because of my PC 2700

What Dad and sethpa said. Barton 2500+ is a great choice even with the multi locked at 11x. Any 2500+ after week40-41 are multiplier locked, even on an nforce2.

I haven't followed P4's much other than to have read that you better be packing at least 3 GHz in the end with a P4 to outgun a Barton 2500+ OCed to 2.2 GHz ( 11 x 200 ) .

I've had mine for close to a year now and it's never run less than 2.2 GHz and for 8 months or so it ran @ 2.33 GHz with only .15v added in.

I wasn't going to count on o/c since it seems to be a little to complicated to me . I don't quiet understand the memory timing settings I see you guys talking about .

Thanks for the suggestions . I am going to keep an eye out for a 2500 Barton and a nforce2 board .

definitely go with the barton - i have had good luck with the epox baords but there are lots of other good ones out there

You might want to PM NascarFool as I think he's going to be selling an nforce2 mobo. I know he's got an Epox of some ilk and an Infinity ( DFI ).

I have a DFI nForce2 Ultra Infinity sitting on the shelf. Undecided if I am going to sell it but most likelt I will. It's a damn good board. The Epox 8RDA3+ is currently in a folding machine. I think that one will stay.

I'm working on getting my grubby mits on a Barton 2500 myself Phil, I have an 8RDA+ and it's got my 1700+ running at 2.1ghz with no problems what so ever. The OCin' part is easy, but yes the Mem timings can be and still are to me, confusing.

Phil, overclocking a barton 2500 to 3200 speed (11x200) is very easy, if you have pc3200 ddr. If you have pc2700, then you may only be able to do default speed, which is still darn fast.

If you do get a barton 2500 setup/nforce2 mobo and with pc3200, any of us can help you o/c it to 3200. Just need to know which mobo, it's a few easy changes in the bios.

I've had several and all have done at least 11x200. Only thing most needed was a slight increase to 1.7v.

I am running 512MB of Corsair xms PC3200 . Do I need to try to find an older Barton 2500 , or can I just buy one from Newegg and have a pretty good shot at o/c ?

On the nforce2 boards , does it need to be the ultra or just nforce2 OK ?

Newegg has a MSI Motherboard for AMD Processors Model K7N2 Delta-L refurb for $45 or

they have a Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon/XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X (New Version, now support AMD Barton 400Mhz) for $49

Either is ok, just the older bartons give you more leadway for various o'cing. A new one 'should' do 11x200, which is a 3200+.

I had a asus a7n8x, great mobo. Now using the shuttle an35n ultra. It's very good too. You might can get a new one of those for just a little more than a refurb asus. With refurbs, you never know. Last i looked a new shuttle an35n ultra was $62.

* still is 61.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... WSE&depa=0

Never had a msi mobo.

I had a shuttle and sold it to my brother. I'm currently using a Chaintech 7NJL1, and it's an excellent board as well.

I would recommend either the Asus or the Epox but would stay away from the MSI board you mentioned. I know of two friends that have had fits with that board.