is it Noob or Newb? best athlon to oc

[Louch]

Either way you put it I need help. I'm looking at building my first computer and I need a bit of help deciding on what to get. (AMD for sure, always had pentium systems might as well see how amd is) I've seen that AMD has just come out with the new 400fsb and the new nforce2 ultra400 to compensate. What I'm wondering is should I get one of these new chips (Barton3000+/3200+) or should I get one of the older 333 chips? The reason I ask is because I've also read that these athlon chips are reaching their limits and theres new 64 technology comeing out. Can an overclocker really push much if any more out of a 3000+ than they can say a 2500+? Also what core would you choose? Theres so many chips and I'm so freakin noobish that I had to ask, basicaly someone throw me a bone

[butch81385]

i go with noob

ive seen 2500 easily go to 3200 and above,

the question is, what are you looking for. most over clock would probably be a 2500, but a smaller overclock on a 3200 would be better than a larger overclock on a 2500 (understand?)

from what i hear, go with bartons either way though....

good luck (and im sure someone can fix all my mistakes in the next couple of posts as i am by no means an expert)

[Louch]

the question is, what are you looking for

If you mean reliability..... Well the longer the better, but seeing as we're on the brink of another technology jump I'll just figure this computer will be a sacrafice to the cause of learning. I want to be able to fidget with every aspect of this computer and make it bow to my every whim

The thing I don't get is it looks like overclockers have been doing all the things that AMD is just now putting out and charging more for it (if that makes any sense) and maybe just makeing it more reliable. It's hard to say that cause AMD has kind of seamed geared towards overclockers so there must be some bonus beyond reliability to their upgrades or they wouldn't sell new chips.

[Louch]

Ok axe all that, I've looked around a bit more and my head hurts even more.

What am I looking for?

A starting spot.

What cpu should I get? Theres so much info and so many different things out there, it's to much to take in. I'm more of a hands on person so I want a place to start then I'll learn as I go. I was thinking of getting an Asus or Abit mobo because they look to have the highest level of tinkerability.

One more question, Would an Athlon64 really be worth the extra? Is it's potential available to an overclocker?



>< smaller overclock on a 3200 would be better than a larger overclock on a 2500 (understand?)

Define better. I know clockspeed isn't everything, Would an overclocked 3200+ perform better than an overclocked 2500+.... Would it perform the same but more reliable or more stable.... my poor little head

[butch81385]

what i am saying is that you can overclock a 2500 to 3200 speeds (thats 700 in amd's numbering). you can probably overclock a 3200- to about a 3400-3600 equivalent (200-400 increase in amd numbering). as you can see the 3200 -> 3600 is "faster" than the 2500 -> 3200. but the 2500 -> 3200 is a "bigger" and "better" overclock. so i would assume (note the word assume) that the overclocked 3200 WOULD perform better than the overclocked 2500 but the 2500 has better overclocking capabilities. (still confusing?). so for less money you can take a 2500 to 3200 speeds but MAYBE shorten the life. for more money you can have an overall faster processor (but not that much faster). so if you want the fastest with money as no object, OC the 3200, if you a fast one, but do have to pay bills, OC a 2500 (of course if you want to do the extremely crazy overclocks, you will be sinking a decent amount of money into cooling...)

[Louch]

ohhh ok, sorry a bit low on sleep. The 2500 will get alot more percentage wise out of it than the 3200... getting deminishing returns. Ok thanks, I think I'll read a bit more before I open my mouth again

[RamonGTP]

Get a mobile 2500+ or 2600+

It will overclock higher than any non-mobile bartons.

[Louch]

I read an article linked from here about that whole mobile business and that just confused me even more. It looked to me like the way to unlock an athlon xp is to make it look like a mobile athlon xp. But the part that confused me (other than most of it) is what the difference between a mobile athlon xp (I think thats faked mobile) and an athlon mp (true mobile athlon I think). Well another question... considering I get a mobile cpu should I still get the abit or asus board that can support 400fsb? Seams worth the $20-30 difference to have the option of trying to push the mobile chip as far as possible. I guess end performance isn't what I'm looking for but how I get to the performance that I get that counts.

A side note: Components that I all ready have are ATI Raedon AIW 9600pro; Western Digital ultra ata/100 120gb and 200gb hd's

[teengeek88]

Well another question... considering I get a mobile cpu should I still get the abit or asus board that can support 400fsb? Seams worth the $20-30 difference to have to option of trying to push the mobile chip as far as possible. I guess end performance isn't what I'm looking for but how I get to the performance that I get that counts.

Definitley. EIther way, its still more upgradable for the future. since this is your first real excursion into overclocking and such, I would get a 2500+. Its pretty cheap nowadays, so just incase u make a mistake, you dont lose a $180 processor as opposed to losing a $80 processor. I would spend the extra $100 on getting good overclocking RAM. I would be able to OC alot better if i had better RAM, and its something I regret not upgrading.

good luck with everything, and Welcome to TechIMO, i dont think ive ever seen you around here!

[Louch]

That was yet another question RAM ^.^ The mobo's say that they support a max of pc3200, would it be worth buying something faster than that? And the issue of one of the two boards says it'll support 3 sticks of 1gig at 333fsb or two sticks of 1gig at 400fsb..... yeah I don't understand ram yet either. Not that I want to spring on 3gigs of ram anyways but what would be a good choice for ram? Out of the three what would be the first bottle neck to be replaced in say a year? Mobile 2500+ cpu mobo or pc3200 ram?

good luck with everything, and Welcome to TechIMO, i dont think ive ever seen you around here!

Thanks, I've lurked around a bit every time the thought of building a computer came up then dissapeared for a while to let the info sink in/fade away. Decided to post cause it looks like the funds are a go this time ^-^