2600 XP or 2500 Barton for A7N8X

[JW]

I bought a new mother board from ASUS(the A7N8X Ver 2.0 with the 400
Mhz. Bus FSB.
I was looking up processors on newegg.com and saw two processors that
fit my wallet.
They are the following
AMD ATHLON XP 2600 /333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- Retail
Specifications:
CPU: 2.08 GHz
Type: XP 2600 Thoroughbred
Cache: 256K
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Includes Heat Sink and Fan) ----> $ 101.00
AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- OEM
Specifications:
CPU: 1.83 GHz
Type: XP 2500 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included) ----> $ 92.00
I don't know which one of them is the best.
Which one would you advise?
The Barton with the 1.83 Ghz CPU and 640 KB Cache(512K L2, 128K L1)
OR
The Thoroughbred with the 2.08 Ghz and 256 Cache?

 

[C. Stuart McKendrick, III]

Tough call on which processor, but either will suit you. Barton is "newer"
though.

I would recommend spending the extra $5-10 on the retail box for two
reasons:

1) There is no fan available for that amount of money. Even if it isn't the
best, it still works just fine.
2) 3 year warranty. Fifteen days is a joke. You get better treatment from
the retailer and AMD if you have a problem. In short, it's a few dollars
well spent.

 

[JonnyCab®]

even if it's running at a lower clock speed. 512K of L1

....make that L2. Duh.

Also, the retail box has a 1-by-1-inch AMD Athlon XP sticker for your case.
It's better than a blank 1-by-1-inch recess, no? <g>

 

[Minotaur]

I bought a new mother board from ASUS(the A7N8X Ver 2.0 with the 400
Mhz. Bus FSB.
I was looking up processors on newegg.com and saw two processors that
fit my wallet.
They are the following
AMD ATHLON XP 2600 /333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- Retail
Specifications:
CPU: 2.08 GHz
Type: XP 2600 Thoroughbred
Cache: 256K
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Includes Heat Sink and Fan) ----> $ 101.00
AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- OEM
Specifications:
CPU: 1.83 GHz
Type: XP 2500 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included) ----> $ 92.00
I don't know which one of them is the best.
Which one would you advise?
The Barton with the 1.83 Ghz CPU and 640 KB Cache(512K L2, 128K L1)
OR
The Thoroughbred with the 2.08 Ghz and 256 Cache?

Well if you where to get the XP-2500 Barton, you would most likely be able
to run it
as an XP-2800 Barton. As long as your Memory is up to the 200Mhz FSB, it
shall be no
problem at all. If anything, you might need to raise the V.Core, it's 1.75V
here on this
A7N8X-Del (rev 1.04), but then many have also had success with stock
voltages...

 

[stanmc]

I bought a new mother board from ASUS(the A7N8X Ver 2.0 with the 400
Mhz. Bus FSB.
I was looking up processors on newegg.com and saw two processors that
fit my wallet.
They are the following
AMD ATHLON XP 2600 /333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- Retail
Specifications:
CPU: 2.08 GHz
Type: XP 2600 Thoroughbred
Cache: 256K
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Includes Heat Sink and Fan) ----> $ 101.00
AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- OEM
Specifications:
CPU: 1.83 GHz
Type: XP 2500 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included) ----> $ 92.00
I don't know which one of them is the best.
Which one would you advise?
The Barton with the 1.83 Ghz CPU and 640 KB Cache(512K L2, 128K L1)
OR
The Thoroughbred with the 2.08 Ghz and 256 Cache?

My Barton 2500+ is currently running at 166/333MHz FSB
OC'ed to 12.5 (2.08GHz) without raising voltage or making any other
change than the Multiplier. It reports as a 2800+ at boot time. Kingston
HyperX PC2700. The system is stable.