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Which processor will work with my motherboard?

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:07 pm
by NoSmartz
I found out a few weeks ago that my motherboard has a BIOS update available.I have an Abit kx7-333r and the max it would accept is a athlon xp 2200.The BIOS update jacks it up to an Athlon xp 2600.I have 2 questions.

1.The Athlon 2600+ is a "Barton" model processor.Will this work with my motherboard or is there another XP 2600 I need to know about?I'm pretty sure that my Athlon Xp 1800 isn't a "Barton" and I was just wondering.

2.Will the stock cooling fan(heatsink)from the athlon xp box(retail)work good enough to cool down the 2600 or will I need to try another heatsink/fan?

E

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:09 pm
by TheCDBurner
If your board can do a 333MHz FSB, you should be able to use up to the 3000+.

For 266MHz FSB, the best is the 2400+. Their WAS a 2600+ @ 266MHz FSB, but is was a "limited edition", and is next to impossible to find (for the record, it was the highest clocked Athlon XP cpu: 2.25GHz).

Edit: The 333 in the name fooled me; your board can only handle 266Mhz FSB.

If you want a nice upgrade, poke around here:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.a ... rty&DEPA=1

They have nForce2 boards (which support ALL Athlon XP CPUs) for as low as $49. If you're gonna grab a new cpu, might as well spend $50 more and get a much better upgrade. And yeah, you can still use your 266Mhz DDR memory on a 333/400Mhz FSB cpu.

$80 will net you an Athlon XP 2500+; $90 for the 2600+. Very nice CPU's for the money, but be aware that the overall performance will be a bit less with the 266Mhz memory...

For the coolers, yeah, the stock retail will work fine.

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:31 pm
by NoSmartz
just used WCPUID to check everything and found that I'm running at 133 mhz fsb(266 maximum and don't know how to change it to ge tthis high).My memory is pc2700 at 333mhz(CAS 2).
I also found out that my board does not support the "Barton's" consistently(lots of issues),only the "thoroughbred's" work consistently with this board(up to 2700+).So this means that no processor upgrade for me.I believe the "thoroughbred's" are a bit out of date so a new board would be a better option I suppose.I would like to find one that has no onboard anything like my abit but these new ones have everything.I guess I really don't have any choice.

E

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:37 pm
by TheCDBurner
I'm guessing the FSB is 133MHz "double-pumped"; ie, 266Mhz.

My P4C ran a 200MHz x 4 = 800MHz FSB; my Athlon XP uses 166Mhz x 2 = 333Mhz.

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 11:21 pm
by NoSmartz
don't have a clue if it's double pumped.I'm not schooled in figuring those things out.I just build em stock with no tweaking.Don't have any idea how your Athlon goes 166x2(333).I'm just not much of a tweaker.My Athlon 1800 I'm on now is way fast(probably the memory) and am satified with the performance but I thought I could pump up to a 2600 but I guess not.
Just check't out motherboards at newegg,man they're are too many abit's to choose from.

E

PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 11:38 pm
by TheCDBurner
The "double pumped" is implied. Remember, "266MHz" DDR really runs at 133Mhz (DDR=Double data rate). All modern cpu's run the FSB at some multiple of the actual clock rate.

All P4s are 4 x actual FSB (200/266/400MHz = 400/533/800Mhz), Athlon XPs run actual FSBs of 133/166/200Mhz = 266/333/400Mhz.

When talking about FSB speeds, everyone usually just says the effective speed (Like calling PC2100 memory "266Mhz DDR"; it's really only 133MHz, but double data rate = 266MHz effective speed).

If you cpu is running at the correct clock speed, you FSB is fine. If it's under clocked, then you have a problem. For example, when I first set up my XP system, I dropped my Athlon XP 2500+ cpu (333MHz fsb) into the wrong mobo (place I ordered from sent the wrong model & I didn't notice at first). Well, the mobo would only run 266MHz FSB cpus, so my 1.83GHz 2500+ ended up running at 1.4GHz (~1700+).

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:52 pm
by NoSmartz
thanx for the lesson.I didn't know any of that.Like I said,I just slap em together and get em runnin'.I did find a thoroughbred 2600 for $83.00(2400 for $75.00).Probably still going to stick with my 1800 though.Look't for more MOBO's but still can't find a bare bones.

E