AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2500 or 2600

[Capman]

Is there any advantage to buying an AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2600 instead
of the 2500? At this point I don't understand overclocking, but I want
to learn when I can. I am not sure which of those two processors is
more desirable. The price difference is about $7 so that's not a big
deal. Most people seem to use the 2500, but I wondered if that's all
that was available when they bought their chip.

Is there any good beginners info on overclocking that you can suggest?

Thanks

 

[Conor]

Is there any advantage to buying an AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2600 instead
of the 2500? At this point I don't understand overclocking, but I want
to learn when I can. I am not sure which of those two processors is
more desirable. The price difference is about $7 so that's not a big
deal. Most people seem to use the 2500, but I wondered if that's all
that was available when they bought their chip.

No, its because it overclocks to a 3200+ just by altering the FSB from
166MHz to 200MHz.

 

[AndrewJ]

Is there any advantage to buying an AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2600 instead
of the 2500? At this point I don't understand overclocking, but I want
to learn when I can. I am not sure which of those two processors is
more desirable. The price difference is about $7 so that's not a big
deal. Most people seem to use the 2500, but I wondered if that's all
that was available when they bought their chip.

Is there any good beginners info on overclocking that you can suggest?

Thanks

To an over clocker they are identicle chips. Only at the default, auto
detected setting, are they different.

 

[Tim]

No, its because it overclocks to a 3200+ just by altering the FSB from
166MHz to 200MHz.

Aren't 2500+ mobiles defined by a 133 MHz FSB and a 14x multiplier? And
aren't the 3200+ CPUs a 200 MHz FSB with an 11x multiplier?

 

[David Maynard]

No, its because it overclocks to a 3200+ just by altering the FSB from
166MHz to 200MHz.

Well, not really. That's the reason for the XP 2500+ 'desktop' version,
because they're multiplier locked.

The mobile, however, is not multiplier locked so it doesn't really matter
what it 'started out as' (which is dern important, as you'll see below);
you simply set it to whatever you want it to be.

Two other problems with your theory. The mobile 2500+ isn't 166MHz FSB,
it's 133, so simply increasing it to 200 doesn't work the same as the
desktop variety. And secondly, since it's a mobile, desktop machines don't
set the multiplier up right and it begins life as something like a 1 gig
(low power mode), or so (I forget, off hand, what the precise number is).

I got the mobile 2400+ (newegg 'refurb') because it was the cheapest
'barton' core mobile but mine seems to need a higher Vcore to reach 3200+
than some of the others.

 

[David Maynard]

Aren't 2500+ mobiles defined by a 133 MHz FSB and a 14x multiplier? And
aren't the 3200+ CPUs a 200 MHz FSB with an 11x multiplier?

Yup. Except the 14x for the mobile is it's 'full power' multiplier and, on
a desktop machine, it powers up with the low power multiplier: something
like 7 (I forget which). So, unless your desktop mobo can manually set the
multiplier you aren't going to get even 'normal' speed from it.

 

[AndrewJ]

I got the mobile 2400+ (newegg 'refurb') because it was the cheapest
'barton' core mobile but mine seems to need a higher Vcore to reach 3200+
than some of the others

Yeah, all my 2500+ run great with the vcore around 1.7v. But some run
them as high as 1.9v.

 

[Capman]

To an over clocker they are identicle chips. Only at the default, auto
detected setting, are they different.

What seetings would I start out with for the AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2500
to run it at stock speeds to begin with if most boards don't detect it
properly? I am leaning towards the ABIT NF7-S at the moment, but the
fact Newegg.com won't accept refunds on it worries me.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=13-127-166&CMP=OTC-d3alt1me

I read some reviews that say it's great and others say it's nothing
special, so it's hard to know what to believe. Our daughter needs a
new PC for college and I need to try and build it fairly fast. She
will be living at home, so it'll be a desktop model that she uses part
time and the rest of the family can use it when she isn't on it. The
college is having many of the classes online which is the driving
factor that allows me to try my first build.

It sounds like the AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2500 makes the most sense
because it's the same as the 2600 before any overclocking. Now I just
need to settle on a motherboard and heatsink/fan combo. I would
appreciate any suggestions on both of those items. I already bought a
COOLER MASTER Praetorian Black ALUMINUM MID-TOWER CASE, Model
"PAC-T01-EK". It doesn't come with a power supply, so I still need
that also. The Antec Truepower 480W or above is one choice. I heard a
few suggest ThermalTake and Enermax in those wattages too. The Antec
models are available locally while the others would have to be mail
ordered.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[David Maynard]

Yeah, all my 2500+ run great with the vcore around 1.7v. But some run
them as high as 1.9v.

I forget, off hand, but I think I ended up at 1.8V.

It was a 'slap together' from refurb and existing parts, including two
mismatched 256Meg PC2700 el-cheapo memory sticks running dual channel, but
ending up with 3400+ (2400=12x200) isn't too shabby even though cheap

 

[Tim]

Yup. Except the 14x for the mobile is it's 'full power' multiplier and, on
a desktop machine, it powers up with the low power multiplier: something
like 7 (I forget which). So, unless your desktop mobo can manually set the
multiplier you aren't going to get even 'normal' speed from it.

I'm using a 2600+ mobile with an Abit NF7-S, which can manually set the FSB
and multiplier. Good thing too since it can't even identify the chip. I'm
running it as a 3200+ ([email protected]). I tried it at 200 x 12 but it
requires such a voltage boost that its just too damn hot without a better
cooling solution. (65 degrees celsius under full load). I really don't see
the practical benefits of kicking the CPU up another 200 MHz anyway.

 

[AndrewJ]

It sounds like the AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2500 makes the most sense
because it's the same as the 2600 before any overclocking. Now I just
need to settle on a motherboard and heatsink/fan combo. I would
appreciate any suggestions on both of those items. I already bought a
COOLER MASTER Praetorian Black ALUMINUM MID-TOWER CASE, Model
"PAC-T01-EK". It doesn't come with a power supply, so I still need
that also. The Antec Truepower 480W or above is one choice. I heard a
few suggest ThermalTake and Enermax in those wattages too. The Antec
models are available locally while the others would have to be mail
ordered.

Thanks for all your help.

BIOSTAR AMD M-ATX M7NCG400 ($65 @ newegg)

Tap Delete key on startup
Choose- Advanced chipset features
Sys performance [expert]
CPU Ratio [X11]
FSB [197]
CPU [optimal]
Mem frequency [100%]

Frame [8M]

Choose save and exit or changes won't take.
Start out with a 10x multiplier(instead of 11) and 133FSB(instead of
197).
The Mobile should do 11x and 197 right out of the box though.
-------------------------------------------

A7N8X DLX 2.0 favorite settings:

CPU FSB [197]
CPU Freq setting [menu]
CPU freq multiple [12.0x]
System performance [user define]
CPU interface [optimal]
Memory frequency [100%]
Memory timings [optimal]
CPU Vcore [menu]
CPU Vcore [1.7v]
AGP Freq [66MHz]
System bios cacheable [disable]
Video ram cacheable [disable]
DDR Rerf voltage [2.7v]
AGP [1.6v]
AGP 8x [enabled]
AGP fastwrite capability [disabled]


1. Each NF2 mobo has a little diferent BIOS interface/quirks. Mainly
just choose a setting for everything. Avoiding "auto" anywhere gives
much more stability.
2. Avoid .5 multipliers, With 10.5 being the most hated by Barton's.
3. Any HS(even the retail) will do great as long as the fan puts out
over 25qfm.
4. Any PSU over $30 will do great unless you'll have more than 2 or 3
drives. Two 7200rpm HDD and a 26,000rpm(52x) CD drive at startup, can
kill a light weight PSU.
5. I run generic PC3200 on all these boards with no trouble. Newegg is
really the best place for RAM, along with everything else.

 

[Bob Troll]

I am running 2 Abit NF7S v2.0 mainboards here. They are set up the same.
They each have an equal amount of 1gb (2 x 512mb) of Crucial 3200 ddr
running in dual channel mode. They each have an equal amount of this that
and the other thing like hard drives, optical devices etc..I have a ENLGHT
429W EN-8420934 power supply in one and the other has a Allied/Foxconn 450W
True power. I see where the Allied is a tad more stable on regulation with
the minor line power flucuations I get from time to time around my shack. I
also like how it pulls more air through it than the enlight.

As many others have said, the chip is unlocked and is a cool runner. Each of
the machines are equipped with a Thermaltake SLK-900A all copper heatsink.
$32.99 a copy at bestbyte.net .A Globe 92x92x25mm Fan Visible Ball Bearing
fan on each rounds out the hs/fan combination. Both machines run 24/7/365
processing Seti packets and other jobs as may be required around here. The
cpu temp on either one has yet to pass 41.5c with the cpu vcore manually set
at 1.5v in the bios. I was having some unexpected freeze-ups at vcore of
1.45 and 1.475 so I kicked them up a notch and they're fine. Both chips run
at a fsb freq of 200 and a multiplier of 11. This achieves AMD Athlon
3200XP+ standard operational speeds of 2.200Ghz. I have gone through a
number of differing hs/fan combos and this seems to be the winner at least
for me while using air. The thermal compound I used is Arctic Silver
Ceramique (grain of rice sized dab). I prep the hs and the cpu with a dab
and wipe off most, then a little touch more spread around to barely hide the
core, assemble hs/fan and twist the fan leads to reduce/eliminate rf noise.

Compared to others I have seen mentioned around the NG's, both of mine seem
to be performing quite well at lower voltages. I expect this to perhaps
prolong it's life.

A Good solid regulated power supply is essential to maintain AMD
overclocking happiness. The suppply needs to have very stable 5 and 12 volt
lines with plenty of amps available. I personally consider a 450w to be
about the bare minimum if you seriously want to run the NF7s V2.0 the way it
can run.

I try my best to get the best bang for my buck and this setup fits my
requirements.

Regards, Bob "hopelessly insane machine warrior" Troll

 

[Capman]

I try my best to get the best bang for my buck and this setup fits my
requirements.

Regards, Bob "hopelessly insane machine warrior" Troll

Thanks alot for all the advice. I am curious if the Mobile AMD 64
chips are just as desirable to overclockers as the Mobile Athlon CP
2500's are. If so what is the most popular motherboard people are
using for that chip and which CPU are they going for. I'll probably
try to build a system with the AMD Athlon Mobile XP 2500, but it's
worth learning about the Athlon 64's in case the costs aren't that
much higher.

 

[Bob Troll]

I'll tell ya Capman, I'm getting more tired by the day paying out of pocket
for R+D of all this equipment. I have spent untold thousands of dollars on
this computer habit. I've come to the conclusion that we are pretty much at
the end of this particular technology cycle. I'm going to hang on to what I
got and wait for the one coming after the 64 Opteron's, etc start falling by
the wayside.....

Regards, Bob "hopelessly insane computer addict" Troll <--- the Mechanized,
Synchronized, Machine Warrior