err, yes, if the FSB and Multiplier is the same (L2 as well), it is in effect the same processor

I'm following through this thread and it does appear that the 2500 is the way to go over the 3000. I'm currently running an ASUS A7N8X deluxe v. 2.0 MB, Athlon XP2000+ TBredB, retail AMD cooling, 512 Spectek 2100 ram, ATI AIW Radeon 9000Pro 64mb video, and plenty of fast hard drives. Power supply in Antec 380w.

My issue is that this is my HTPC, and I'm now trying to run the new T2 WMV HD movie, as well as the new Imax Coral Reefs one, and can only play the 720P version, not the 1080i, which pegs my CPU to 100%. I believe from the specs I need to get to 3000+ to play the 1080i and p. The specs call for "3gHz", but I'm assuming a 3000+ would get it done. My issue though since I already have the ram that I have is this: If I try to save the $ to get the 2500 cpu, will I actually have to end up purchasing new ram and hsf to allow my overclock to get to 3000+? If so, maybe I'm just money ahead to go ahead and get the 3000+? I'm interested to hear your opinions.

you should get at least pc 2700 for the 2500 barton
i would recomend pc 3200 if you want to overclock

jp

I recommend DDR500, it is good for overclocking, and most DDR500 chips i've encountered can handle great timings at DDR400, some Cas 2

So again it seems to be a push between spending $170 at Newegg to get a 3000+ CPU or much less for a 2500+ and new ram. Acutally the CPU only route is probably my cheaper option. Good ram is still pretty expensive.

2500+ and new ram m8, the best option, get some good quality DDR400/500.

That will be the best in the long run,

this is my first post in like a month lol,
hope i helped :S GL

Man always go with the 2500 and get a nice Abit NF7-S MB to boot. Some Corsair XMS 3200 or 3500. There a kickin overclock system. I would run my 2500 at 3200 constantly, but then I went with water cooling and now the things clocks 210 X 11.5 for a nice 2415mHz stable. That's freaking fast and I haven't even tried higher. But even without H2O cooling it was fast.

Athlon 2500XP @ 2415Mhz(11.5*210)
512 MB Corsair XMS 3200 (11-3-3-2)
Radeon 9600 (Stock 325/200, OC'ed to 403/271)
Alien Case w/520 Watt PSU.
80 GB Western Digital HD.
Corsair HydroCool 200

Hey REFELX,
I also have the Ti 4200 GeForce4 128MB DDR 8x, overclocked to Ti 4200S, I didn't know NVIDIA came out with a AGP 4x with the Ti 4200.

128mb Geforce 4 Ti 4200 AGP 4x "?"
128MB DDR GeForce 4 Ti 4200 AGP 8x "Asus"

Its the chaintech gold edition card, got sull copper ram coolers and overclocks amazingly without any visual errors. A good card but i am gonna get a 5900XT soon, bargain card.

Cool. I'll be picking up the ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR, 8x AGP for $195cad. With a free copy of HL-2.
This card performs quite well against the 5700 Ultra and the 5800.

One thing that no one seems to mention in this equation is warranty support.

Not all 2500+ CPU's will OC to 3000+ speeds, add to that the fact that an OC renders your warranty null & void (if they can prove it was OC'd of course). So a person should start to wonder if it's really worth the savings, if the chip goes south (even due to an inherent flaw), and they can't get it replaced due to the OC.

I have never heard of a 2500+ not being able to overclock to 3000+. Everybody that has a 2500+ has them overclocked to 3200+ or higher. Very minimal VCore adjustment. With a good heatsink and fan, you would probably be seeing a temp. of 25C to 35C. I have my 2500+ overclocked @ 2340MHz with 1.850v, and my temp. when idling is 28C to 32C and my maximum load 36C. I can go to about 2.5GHz, but my memory is holding me back.

Oh, and it's very hard to fry a 2500+, even with full VCore.

Hi. I am thinking of purchasing the Athlon 2500 and wanted to get some advice.
I have never OC'd my pc before but would like to if I do get this one.

What mother board/ram would you recommend and any other bare necesseties I would need (heatsink, fan, etc.) to safely OC it.

I know there are many options out there and everyone have their preferences.. but any advice would help.

Thanks in advance.

p.s. Would a 300 or 350 power supply suffice or do I need a better one?

get some pc3200 ram -either 512mb or 1gb
i like asus boards with nvidia chipset
a good aftermarket cooler-volcano 11 or 12
arctic silver paste




jp

I read here that the new 2500s are locked and I won't be able to OC them.. is that true?

The Multipliers are locked. Not the FSB. So just adjust the FSB from 166 to 200, and you have yourself a 3200+. Trust me, that is fast enough. The 2500+ rocks any Athlon XP for $/performance.

personally, if you're staying in the 'budget' chip end of new, i'd go with the 2800 over the 2500...

it's got a 12.5 multi and using that you can stick with pc2700 and get away with lower fsb speeds that the slower memory can handle...

CPU: AMD XP2800+ Barton @ 198fsb 12.5x multiplier 2482 mhz 1.90vcore
Swiftek 462MCX with delta 65cfm - 20c case and 28c cpu 41c load
Sunbeam hose kit for external air to the cpu
MOBO: ABIT NF7
GFX: NVIDIA 5600XT 256
RAM: 2 X 512 pc2700 at 1:1 396mhz 5-3-3-2.5w/tt heatspreaders
HD: 80g 7200RPM ATA133
PSU: 400 watt

you can still use the wire trick to get all the lower multi's if your memory can do high fsb's it's just nice to have the 12.5 at the top end...

though it seems without freezing the chip(vapor phase cooling) 2.5ghz is really the highest you can go with any stability...
anyone getting higher on aircooling?

Gray

so which RAM and how much of it would be sufficient?

New Athlon XP chips (2500s, 2800s, 3000s) are all "super locked" now - so no pin tricks, mods or anything can change the multipliers.

You are always free to change the FSB speed however. And also, the FSB makes a bigger difference to performance compared with a multiplier increase.

With this in mind, if you want to overclock a low end athlon chip, the 2500 is better than the 2800 because its multipliers are locked lower. Thus you should be able to raise the FSB higher than with a 2800 chip. Also the 2500 is cheaper.

Having said that, buying a processor is always a lottery. Two different 2500 chips will overclock differently due to tiny random differences during manufacturing so one may overclock easily to the specs of a 3200 whereas another may flop out before reaching a 200 mhz FSB. If you want to be sure you are getting a Athlon 3200 then you have to buy a 3200. But considering a 2500 is one third the price, and will *likely* overclock as high, then most people will try it.

When it comes to memory, get at least PC3200 RAM if you want to overclock, and if you have cash to burn then get PC3500. Unless you are very rich, ignore the advice about getting expensive memory that will run at super low latency - because latency settings dont make a huge amount of difference to performance compared to overclocking the FSB. Also, heatspreaders on RAM chips are there for show only, they make virtually no difference. Just make sure you buy memory from a quality manufacturer - like Corsair, Kingston or Crucial. Personally i like Crucial - because they make huge amounts of chips, they can sell them cheaply and they are very good. Corsair has an excellent reputation, but their chips can be expensive. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy generic RAM. It will never be very good. Get a good brand.

Your choice of motherboard is up to you - read lots of reviews and when you have decided that one particular motherboard is a good idea then check on these forums to see what problems people have been having. To overclock an Athlon 2500 I would recommend a motherboard with an Nforce 2 chipset like the DFI Lanparty board or the ASUS NF78X. Nforce 2 mobos support dual channel memory where you put two identical chips in it and get slightly better performance. I would advise getting two 512mb sticks. You are set up well then to play pretty much any game with 1 GB total.

Hello Friends, I need some help, I want overclock my barton 2500+ to 3000+, but I don`t have the money to buy some new memories, because here in Brazil any hardware piece is very expensive, and my actual memories are pc2700 , I didn`t knew that I could overclock my CPU to 3000+ when I bought the pieces six months ago, so if I change my FSB from 333mhz to 400mhz and continue using 333mhz memories what problems may occur???? I can only overclock to 2800+ as I did ??? and finally, my actual cooler is a Volcano 9 any problems using this one to overclock???? Thanks Everyone, and sorry my bad english.