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I'm getting a new PC in about 2 weeks . My choice for CPU ? Either Athlon XP (T-Bred B) 2600+ or Athlon XP (Barton) 2500+ . Both of the CPUs are at about same price range . I want to know which one is better in term of performance and overclockabality .

My choice of MoBo will be :

GIGABYTE GA-7VT600 (KT600)
GIGABYTE GA-7N400 (NFORCE 2)
MSI KT4AV (VIA KT 400A)
MSI K7N420G DELTA (nForce2 Ultra)

The CPU will be paired with Dual-DDR . I will be choosing Hyper X either 333mhz or 400mhz depeding on the MoBo I chosen .

A good Barton 2500+ will let you OC to 2.2G w/ stock cooling, in addition to the extra L2 cache, so it's value far overshadows that of the "old" Tbred 2600+.

The MSI K7N2 Delta mobo's not bad at all. In fact, I haven't had any problem w/ any of my MSI mobos. But I would get the new KT6 Delta mobo for its massive OC options and MSI stability. Unlike Epox and Abit mobos, my MSI mobos don't do cold boot. And it doesn't cost me a limb like Asus mobos.

I think the Barton is a better choice, especially if you're planning on using a 166mhz FSB.

Yeah . MSI KT6 Delta seems to be a good choice too . It cost only U$ 5 more than K7N2 Delta . Some sites reported that not all Barton are really overclockable ? Is it depending on our luck ?

Lets just say some people don't know how to OC. But seriously, the Barton 2500+ has the highest OC probability and potential. I've built 3 MSI K7N2 Delta-L in the past month w/ Barton 2500+ and a pair of Corsair XMS PC3200 256MB from newegg.com. They have all reached and running stable at 2.2GHz.

Gonna pair my Barton 2500+ with Abit NF7-S . My problem is , is the CPU compatible with the MoBo ? Coz ABIT's compability list didn't include Athlon XP 2500+ . It have 2400+ and then just skipped direct to 2700+ ABIT Test Report . But the MoBo support Athlon XP with FSB 200/233/333/400 right ? So , in theory it should support Barton 2500+ . And give your opinion on this board .

Yes the Barton 2500+ will work with the Abit NF7-S. You can see for your self with the AMD recomended motherboard selector [url=http://www2.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/1,,30_118_3734_4348^7923,00.html?1061882856]here[/url].

Thanx David . So anybody have anything to say on Abit NF7-S ? Is it really good for overclocking or should I stick with MSI K7N420G DELTA ?

about the poll, P4 is better than both
I would go with the barton if i had to have AMD.

And for motherboard, I would get an aopen. Has good overclocking features, computer shuts off when it gets too hot so you dont cook your processor. I am not sure what the feature is called.

Sigh... I'm getting too old for this. I'm having trouble knowing when someone's joking are being serious about their statement.

P4 is better, because.... I paid a lot of money for one, so everyone should buy one just like me.

Aopen mobo is good, because... I have one. Don't know why I bought one, but I did, so everyone should buy one just like me too.

Ummm... right. I don't remember seeing an OCer buying an Aopen mobo for it's extensive OC features last time I checked on all the OC forums. Epox and Abit ring a bell though.

I have read a lot of complain about ABIT NF7-S . It's BIOS is a crap . And ABIT removed the overheat protection from the board (they should have it on all nForce2 boards) . So , should I proceed with this board or go with MSI K7N420G DELTA ?

Stoner wrote:Sigh... I'm getting too old for this. I'm having trouble knowing when someone's joking are being serious about their statement.

P4 is better, because.... I paid a lot of money for one, so everyone should buy one just like me.

Aopen mobo is good, because... I have one. Don't know why I bought one, but I did, so everyone should buy one just like me too.

Ummm... right. I don't remember seeing an OCer buying an Aopen mobo for it's extensive OC features last time I checked on all the OC forums. Epox and Abit ring a bell though.

actually those arent my reasons at all...I know people that have them and they are very happy with them...I dont even have AMD, in my opinion, AMD used to be better in price and performance, but Intel seems to have passed them up. AMD has less appeal to me than it used to, sure they have good processors, but their prices arent as competitive with Intel as they used to be...

http://www.aopen.com/tech/techinside/overheat.htm here is more information on how Aopen protects amd cpus. (Ithink that they have information on the one for Intel but i dont want to look for it)

http://www.aopen.com/tech/techinside/AGPPROTEC.htm agp protection

So with an Aopen motherboard, even I, a OC wimp, would overclock.