Athlon XP question

[carholmes]

I'm helping a friend upgrade his cpu because he wants to play more recent games and he has a emachine with a 1.667 T-Bred (not sure what kind of T-Bred he has) and he wants either a 3200+ or a 3000+

I'm sure this seems like a stupid question but, can any athalon Xp run on any socket A board? Or are there some restictions? Yea I don't know much about XP's.

 

[Munky]

The newer AXP's ran on a faster FSB. So, first I had a XP 1800 Palomino, which ran on a 133mhz FSB. Then I upgraded to a mobile XP 2500 Barton, which ran on a 200mhz FSB (or maybe it was 166, but there were 166 and 200 versions after the 133 version). But I also had to upgrade to a new mobo, because the old one couldnt run stable at anywhere close to 200mhz FSB. The mobile XP had an unlocked multiplier, so it was more flexible in terms of accomodating different FSB speeds. But if you put a regular XP 3200 in a 133mhz mobo, it will run just as slow or slower than the old cpu, due to a lower FSB and a locked multiplier.

 

[formulav8]

Hi, its not a stupid question at all. It can get Very confusing since Socket 'A' had a Very long lifespan.

There are 2x versions of the 3000+ XP's. One uses the 333mhz (166mhz) FSB and the other is setup to use the 400mhz(200mhz) fsb.

The 3200+ is only setup for the 400mhz(200mhz) fsb.

All 3x are Barton based cpu's. That is, they have 512KB L2 Cache.

So, you need to check the chipset, revision, and such to see what fsb his board will support.

If its a 133mhz fsb only board, he 'might' still be able run the cpu's but they will be at a lower clockspeed. (Ex: if the cpu has a 12x Multiplyer for 166mhz, it will also use the 12x Multiplyer using the 133mhz fsb, and thus, it will run at a lower clockspeed.) If his board Does support the Throughbred CPU's, he 'might' be able to use a Barton based chip. But there are no definites on that.

So really, you need to find out what his board is and do some research.

PS: If its possible his board will support Mobile XP's, he can get one of those and they should OC very nicely if he has a board that can oc and support the cpu. They also run on the 266mhz(133mhz) FSB and are Barton based (512KB L2 Cache).


Sorry if I just ended up confusing you


Jason

 

[carholmes]

So basicly it all comes down to supported fsb speeds. If his board only runs on 133mhz whats the fastest Xp that runs on that fsb?

 

[carholmes]

munky, waht you said can work, right. Just get any XP, unlock it and run it at 133mhz with a higher multi

 

[formulav8]

I just noticed its a eMachines comp. You can pretty much bet that it will not have any kind of ocing features.

You need to find out the exact model and then check out the specs and upgrade potential.



Jason

 

[carholmes]

yea i was afraid of that

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: carholmes
munky, waht you said can work, right. Just get any XP, unlock it and run it at 133mhz with a higher multi

Yeah, in theory it should work. But the eMachines board might not have any kind of OC features, not even adjusting the multi.

 

[formulav8]

If you are up to it, you can hard set the cpu to a higher multiplyer. Its not real easy to do though.

There are a few guides on the internet. You basically will either connect a bridge or 2, or cut a bridge or whatever.

There is a very good guide I saw before but do not remember where I saw it.



Jason

 

[carholmes]

well i found out that there is a 2.0GHz XP that runs on 266mhz (133mhz) fsb. Its a 2400+ Thoroughbred-B with a 256 L2 cache.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...m&item=270030132492&fromMakeTrack=true

 

[evenmore1]

Right, FSB is the main issue. Only if they have a 400FSB MB will they be able to get backwards compability. For example, for my motherboard (just like theirs) the best you can possibly get is the 266FSB edition of the Athlon XP 2600+ 2.133 Ghz. However, they are rare and expensive. That 2400+ that you listed is the 2nd best if you can get it a good price. It runs at 2.0 Ghz. The next best would probably be the Athlon XP-M 2500+. It runs at 1.867 Ghz, very similar to the desktop 2200+ except that it uses less power.

bottom line: A whole system upgrade is better, but an XP 2400+ is decent for overclocking.

edit: there are a few on ebay. Here's one: Athlon XP 2600+ FSB 266