Athlon 333 vs. 266

[DePh1Le]

Should I shell out 350$ for a 2800+ with 333fsb? Or save a crap load of money and pay 180$ for a 2600+ with 266fsb. The only difference is like 170mhz. I have pc3200 ram so its easy to up the fsb to 166mhz, and over clocking 170 mhz is nothing. But even if I do all that will the 2800+ still be better, and worth 170$ more dollars?

[Smapdey]

I gave another young, lost man, the same advice that I'm about to give you now...

GO STEAL A WHOLE BUNCH OF PROCESSORS FROM BEST BUY!! THEN YOU CAN CHECK WHICH ONE YOU LIKE MORE!!

[grunjee]

I would never pay $350 for a processor, even an AMD.

Hell man you could still get a "budget" chip for under $100 and get a nice OC. Use the cash you'd save for other upgrades.

[Smapdey]

My processor cost 782 dollars. Was I ripped off?

[grunjee]

Originally posted by Smapdey
My processor cost 782 dollars. Was I ripped off?

If that's US dollars and you paid for it, I would say Yes.

[future man]

My processor "fell" out of someones computer at a lan party while they were looking at my sister....bastards.

[sushi128]

you gotta remember that you get much more per mhz with amd. also, in my experience, higher FSB only helps in high bandwidth applications (logically). think of what you really need it for, and also keep in mind that 2.13ghz is still a shitload of cpu power.

also consider that if you're an overclockin man, that higher default FSB means lower default multi.

[|)U(|(0F|)3@TH]

Save a bundle, get the 2600+, then OC it to 333. It's easy, painless, and you don't need heavy-duty cooling. Athlon XP's overclock superbly. I did that with my AXP 1800+, running it at 333 with PC2700 on an Abit Nforce2. With the right memory and mobo you can OC that 2600+ to 400. Check the forums at this site for more info:

http://www.futuremark.com

Or these:

http://www.amdzone.com
http://www.amdmb.com
http://www.nforcershq.com/

[ReDeeMeR]

Isnt XP2600 is 333mhz *ONLY* model???
I think you should get that 2600+ because it'll be 333mhz FSB.

[DePh1Le]

Opps made a mistake, the 2600+ comes in 333fsb and 266fsb. The 333fsb one is 2.08ghz while the 266fsb is 2.13mhz. They are both 250$. What i was really looking at was the 2400+ which is 2ghz, 266fsb, and is 137$. I just spent 140$ on very nice GEIL pc3200 Ultra memory, so I know I'm good for taking the 2400+ to 333fsb. And as for 80mhz difference, I know I can overclock the 2400+ 100mhz with stock cooling.

The only other main factor I'm looking at is Barton stepping vs. Thoroughbred. Im guessing Barton will run cooler when its overclocked, but will a Barton clocked the exact same as a Thoroughbred run the same?

As of right now I'm gonna go with the 2400+. Thanks for all your help.

[|)U(|(0F|)3@TH]

I don't know if the Barton will overclock as well as the others. Afaik, it's basically a TBred B with extra cache. Bigger cache means bigger die which usually means it can't OC as well. Check out the Futuremark.com forums and see what the various PR ratings are OCing to.

[sushi128]

if i remember correctly, the 512k cache didn't help the barton as much as it helped the northwood. and really, i wouldn't get a cpu JUST for the fsb. that's always overclockable (a simple unlock will keep the cpu at stock). i'd say stay true to the spirit of AMD and gets what's cheapest. you'll know it's worth the money

[cobalttyreal]

YOU CAN ALSO CHECK THE BARTON REVIEW AT [H]ARD OCP here's the web addy: www.hardocp.com
as well as checking out this months (march issue) of maximum pc magazine.