help needed configuring puter

[SYT_Shadowfax]

Hi everyone.

I'm setting up a rig for a friend. Money's short so the idea would be to get a 2400 and o/c it to around 3000+

I'm writing cause apparently there are lots of types of 2400's out (????) and I don't want to get one that won't overclock nicely!

The memory isn't a problem as I'll get whatever necessary to get around 3000+ speeds.

Here go the questions:
Would you recommend a Abit NFS7.0 as the motherboard?

Should I be looking for a specific color of cpu or something to tell me what it's o/c'ing potential is? Is there more than one version of the 2400 out there?

What memory speed should I get that'll reach the fsb needed to take the 2400 to 3000 (supposing the mult's locked).

And last but not least, should I get the 2500 barton instead? Apparently they're all locked, but if it has more cache and stuff shouldn't it be faster?

thanks for the answers!

[c627627]

Abit nForce2 mobo is great.

2500+ unlocked Barton will overclock more than 3000+. locked/unlocked:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=244237

$62 2100+ or $50 1800+ Thoroughnbred B will overclock about as much MHz-wise but they have 1/2 the cache which is worth about 100 MHz less if you want to think about it that way.

'The memory isn't a problem',
MHz speed = FSB x multiplier. FSB part is dependant on memory and is very important. PC3200 RAM does 200 FSB. But some PC3200 can overclock a lot, some not so much.

If you get a 2400+ Thorton, new ones are also locked, so you'll be stuck with a 15x multiplier on the 2400+ which is not very good as you'll definitely need a lower multiplier to make the most out of your FSB overclock.

I haven't seen a locked 2100+ yet and they do 2.3 GHz for $62.
Of course if you have PC3200 RAM, you can probably OC that to 209 FSB so that even with a locked multiplier of 11, you can hit [209] x 11 = 2299 MHz which is better than 2.3 GHz with 2100+ because 2100+ has 1/2 the cache. Good luck man.

[SYT_Shadowfax]

as of the motherboard, does Asus have anything worthwhile now? Would any mb with the nforce2 work well?
And do they have locks for the agp and pci bus??


I think I'll try out the 2100+ and see how it fares... I understand from your post that a 2400 wouldn't reach 200fsb as the chip would be limiting the o/c instead of the ram.
2.3 in PR terms equals around 3000+, right?

Ah, I think I get it. The idea is to get a chip fast enough to do around 3000+ but at the same time make the fsb be around 210, right? So then is the 1900 better suited than the 2100?

Also, how can I be sure not to get some older stepping that screws me? The store I get it at is always reordering so they don't keep a stock... but they won't let me check the codes. I live in Spain so ordering online isn't an option as it's too expensive and takes too long.

The memory will probably be 3200 or maybe 3500.
My goodness, I didn't know there were so many types with different caches and stuff... I take it everything under 2500 uses a 266fsb and only 256kb cache, right?

lol, how many questions! sorry 'bout that