I might be building a new PC and I wonder whether Barton can be overclocked from 1.8Ghz to 2.0+Ghz. I know that P4 2.4C can be OC to 3.0ghz easily with only fans for cooling.
In my place, P4 2.4C costs twice compared to a Barton 2500. So I think of getting a Barton and spend some money for RAM. How far can I OC the Barton with fans for cooling. I’m not insterested in water cooling…limited budget.
I’ve taken mine as far as 200 x 11, or 2200mhz air cooled.
I’ve taken mine as far as 200 x 11, or 2200mhz air cooled.
Wow … 400 mhz increase with standard fan cooling… Did you change the CPU fan ? How many fans you are using. Is it stable ?
I am staying in Malaysia… The average room temp is around 35C.
I have a friend who has the first gen. of 1800+(Palomino) with Dragon Orb 3 and lots of casing fans. His idle temp. is around 42C.
Is Bartons cooler than Palominos or hotter due to higher clock speed ? Anyway I looking to increase it to around 2000mhz only.
The Barton 2500+ is an overclocking monster. Why? Simple… this CPU is of the same batch of AMD CPU’s with rating 3000+ and higher. It seems that quite some people have this CPU running at speeds of 2400Mhz or even higher (with air cooling!)…
All you need, is a good mainboard (one that supports FSB200 or higher), a good PSU, a good CPU cooling, a well cooled case, some arctic silver, some patience, some creativity and some luck. Quite easy, to be hounest :).
Here’s the thing. I know this from working with AMD personally.
Barton 2500’s are actually an underclocked version of the 2800 core. So if you have a compatable mother board, (shuttle cubes don’t work unless it’s the ultra version) then you can easily overclock your 2500 to at least a 2800 with little to no temperature or voltage mishaps.
All you need, is a good mainboard (one that supports FSB200 or higher), a good PSU, a good CPU cooling, a well cooled case, some arctic silver, some patience, some creativity and some luck.
Does that mean I have to get at least a KT4/Nforce2/KT6 mobo with PC3200 DDR-RAMs ?
Here’s the thing. I know this from working with AMD personally.
Barton 2500’s are actually an underclocked version of the 2800 core. So if you have a compatable mother board, (shuttle cubes don’t work unless it’s the ultra version) then you can easily overclock your 2500 to at least a 2800 with little to no temperature or voltage mishaps.
Thanks for the advice !
Barton 2500’s are actually an underclocked version of the 2800 core
Should I unlock the multiplier or raise the FSB to reach 2800+ ?
just raise up the FSB
just raise up the FSB
So if you have a compatable mother board, (shuttle cubes don’t work unless it’s the ultra version) then you can easily overclock your 2500 to at least a 2800 with little to no temperature or voltage mishaps.
It is possible that the processor’s temp will not increase if I raise the FSB? The stock 2800 is running on default 166mhz FSB and the overclocked 2500 is running higher than 166mhz.
I just found out that the price of a 2800 is a bit higher than the 2500 in my place.
Barton 2500 - RM 350
Barton 2800 - RM 398
Barton 3000 - RM 1055
AMD is crazy. See the price difference between 2500/2800 and 2800/3000. I think what you say is true. 2500 is actually an underclocked version of 2800.
Overclocking a CPU will sure increase the heat, no matter if it’s a downclocked 2800+ or not. The downclocked CPU’s are those who are from a lower quality; those CPUs could give troubles when running at higher clockspeeds.
But don’t worry too much. AMD’s manufcaturing yields are quite good at the moment, and their cheaper CPUs are of a high quality.
Most probably, the 3000+ CPUs are from a later batch with better yields. That probably the reason why they cost more (besides the marketing part ofcourse; AMD always compares their prices with those of Intel).
About the mainboard / memory thing: mainboards with a NF2 chipset are pretty good overclockers, as they have many nice features. KT600 can do the job as well, but why would you buy a less performing chipset, when you intend to get the best bang for the buck?
Cocerning the memory: yes! PC3200 is absolutely a must (faster is better), as the Athlon CPUs perform the best, when the memory is running at the same FSB as the CPU is…
So, for mobos I should choose either KT6 or NForce2. If I am not mistaken, NForce2 supports dual channel DDR but no SATA. KT6 mobos have SATA controller, which is suitable because I’m looking foward to get a SATA hdd.
If I choose to use dual channel DDR, will I get big performance increase. I know P4s works well with dual channel DDR but not sure of Anthlon XPs. P4s can run on 800mhz and XPs only 333mhz(Barton).
For processor, it’s either 2500 or 2800. Can’t decide on mobo now. KT6 or NForce2 ?
no, Nforce 2 DOES support SATA.
Originally posted by liteonmania
So, for mobos I should choose either KT6 or NForce2. If I am not mistaken, NForce2 supports dual channel DDR but no SATA. KT6 mobos have SATA controller, which is suitable because I’m looking foward to get a SATA hdd.
There are plenty of mainboard manufacturers that have NF2 boards with SATA on it. How they do it? If there’s no SATA controller in the southbridge, they just add a SATA controller to the board. In many cases, this is a Promise FastTrak TX2 plus (converted to a FastTrak 376 for all kind of financial reasons) controller. Works like a charm (using it for 8 months now)…
Originally posted by liteonmania
If I coose to use dual channel DDR, will I get big performance increase. I know P4s works well with dual channel DDR but not sure of Anthlon XPs. P4s can run on 800mhz and XPs only 333mhz(Barton).
Well there are XPs that can do FSB400 (3200+ Barton). Don’t worry too much about this: the architecture of the P4 and the XP isn’t much alike (anymore); the P4 needs the fast FSB (as it needs high clockspeed to compensate for the low IPC), the XP can’t handle too high clockspeeds, because of the high IPC…
In the end, it’s pretty much equal. It’s just the approach that differs.
Originally posted by liteonmania
For processor, it’s either 2500 or 2800. Can’t decide on mobo now. KT6 or NForce2 ?
NF2… better performance 
Since Nforce2 performs better, I’ll go for NForce2. Should I go for single channel or dual channel ? Is there any big performance difference between them ?
Originally posted by liteonmania
Since Nforce2 performs better, I’ll go for NForce2. Should I go for single channel or dual channel ? Is there any big performance difference between them ?
The performance gap between dual and single channel memory on the NF2 chipset, is in fact nothing but a very small hole… In most benchmarks it doesn’t even come to a 5% performance gain, when using the dual channel feature.
But… if you can get the dual channel version for good money (differences can be very small), why not get it? Just have a look at the prices and decide upon that…
Buying two sticks of 256 DDR RAM is a bit more expensive than buying one stick of 512 DDR RAM. I don’t mind buying two sticks but since Nforce2 supports dual channel, I’ll get two sticks then.
NForce2 mobos are much more expensive compared to KT6 mobos. The standard NForce2 doens’t have SATA and some features but a standart KT6 have built in SATA controller. I have chosen MSI mobos because of realiability and looks nice ( red color ). How about other mobos. Is there any mobos better than MSI mobos? I heard of Asus (expensive), Epox (rare) and Gigabyte mobos.
I have a Barton 2500+ that overclocked to 3200 with air cooling on a MSI k7n2g-ilsr (nforce2)with the onboard video disabled.Now I have my Barton at 2520 mhz (210hmz X12) with watercooling on a DFI Lanparty (nForce2 400) motherboard. It flys! I got the CPU for 80 dollars at newegg a while back on sale.Best CPU I have ever played with.I have ran Prime for days to test stability and its rock solid.I am using Crucial Micron DDR 400 1 gig memory.
How far do you all think I can push the Barton ? Which Barton should I get, Retail or OEM version.
I thinking of getting a special fan for it. Is the Coolermaster Aero 7 good ? it looks cool. Should I used thermal pad or paste ?
Should i get two sticks of 256 or 512 ? I think 512 is more than enough for XP, games, internet, Cd-burning.
I would get a RETAIL cpu. You will get a 3-yr. Warranty with it from AMD (just in case something goes wrong with the overclocking and you burn it up, you will be able send it back)
I would also use Artic Silver III, not a thermal pad.
As far as the cooler, if you are not going with watercooling, I have heard a lot of good things about the Thermalright SLK-900. All copper, and you put your own 80mm fan on it, such as a Panaflo High.
I would go for the one stick of memory, since dual-channel yields about a 5% increase. Definitetly get 400MHz (PC3200) though for best overclocking with the 2500+.
Hope this helps, and these are of course MY opinions. 
I would go for the one stick of memory, since dual-channel yields about a 5% increase. Definitetly get 400MHz (PC3200) though for best overclocking with the 2500+.
Only 5% performance increase, then why should I choose NForce2 mobo and use dual channel DDR. Better get a KT6 isn’t it?
If only 5% increase then I think I go for KT6 and 1 stick of 512 DDR 400mhz.
Anyway what are the advantages of NForce2 besides dual channel mem. config. over KT6 ?
As far as the cooler, if you are not going with watercooling, I have heard a lot of good things about the Thermalright SLK-900. All copper, and you put your own 80mm fan on it, such as a Panaflo High.
Which model of SLK-900 series ? 900A, 900U or 947U?