Confused on which CPU I should get......

At CompUSA I might be able to get a 2500 Barton unlocked for $150. I can also get a locked 2500 Barton for $86. Or a 2800 Barton locked for $136.

Locked 2500 Barton = 11x210=2310 - $86
Locked 2800 Barton = 12x210=2520 - $136
Unlocked 2500 Barton = Endless - $150

210 being the FSB of the chip. If, in fact my mobo will go that high (Asus A7N8X Deluxe Retail + Kingston HyperX 512mb PC3500). Do you think those chips will do 210 FSB on my board?
Which would be the best decision do you guys think?


Edit: Can anyone confirm what the multiplier is on the 2800 Barton locked?

I'm guessing 12 at the default FSB of 166. As I'm typing this, I'm running 11x210 @ 1.77Vcore (1.75 in bios), 2.8Vdimm (2.7 in bios) with timings of 2-2-2-11 and Chipset voltage at 1.7V. It's very stable. I was also able to achieve this same OC on my A7N8X 2.0 non-deluxe, but I don't think you can adjust the chipset voltage in the bios like the NF7-S. There is a relatively simple mod to make it variable on the A7N8X series however.

You can get unlocked 2500s for $110 from medianettech.com free shipping. Last week they were $99, but as they grow more scarce, that'll probably go up more.

Otherwise, with your motherboard and ram, a locked one will do fine also.

Hoot

at this site is an unlocked barton 2500? Which model number do I need for unlocked one?

AQXEA0330

or

AQXEA0334

The motherboard and RAM you have are good, and they can get 210FSB easily.

You should probably go for some bh5; Kingston hyperx 3200 (non-A) , or Kingston hyperx 3000... that kingston 3500 has ch-5. Most people report getting better results with bh5 chips.