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Thoroughbred or Barton?

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Quattro

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Hello,

I have just bought:
2x 256MB TwinMOS DDR400
Asus A7N8X

Now I need to upgrade my processor, I don't know which one is best, Thoroughbred or Barton?

BTW, I want to use air cooling, I don't trust my self with water, and my VISA wont like Pelt.

I am looking to change the processor early in January,

Thanks.
 
The Barton is generally the better choice, due to its higer cache, but as of week 39, AMD started multi-locking the Barton chips. That means it wont be as good of an overclocker if you dont have good RAM (BH5 usually does the job nicely) and a good mobo. The T-Breds have been out of production for awhile now, but it's still possible to get one. As far as I know, the TBreds were not multi-locked, so it will be easier to overclock. Also, TBreds are generally cheaper
 
Quattro said:
No one got any opinion?

It's Sunday morning, what do you want? Everyone's still sleeping. :D


(I would offer an opinion, but I only have Bartons, no Tbreds).
 
CalsonicGTR said:
The Barton is generally the better choice, due to its higer cache, but as of week 39, AMD started multi-locking the Barton chips.

Does anyone have some ideas on what they have done, so as to have some pointers as how to undo it.

The >0339 Thortons do they have 512K cache on the chip or did the design change so they are not crippled after production but rather made to be low cache?
 
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Yeah my current chip is a horrible Palamino core crapper.
If the T-Breds aren't locked I'm sure I could get one of those and OC it a lot, I'd like to be able to get as close to 3.0GHz as I can using only air cooling.
 
I can get a
T-Bred 2400+ for £63
T-Bred 2600+ for £62

Why is they faster chip cheaper?
 
Get the Barton 2500+, regardless if it's locked or not. With a locked barton, you will have to use the 11x multi, which is a good multi anyways. Since your ram is good, you should be able to get around 220 FSB x 11 which is 2400mhz. I wouldnt get a Tbred, as they are starting to become old and out of production, so just get the extra cache and dont worry about the whole LOCKED thing since its not a big deal.:cool:
 
Your optimal choice would be the Barton 2600+. The 11.5x multiplier is the best choice, as 2.5ghz shouldn't be a problem with high end air cooling. But, the palpable difference between a Barton a T-Bred is nil. The Barton will bench higher, but you won't notice the difference. If a Thoroughbred is easier to find for you, it would still be an excellent choice.
 
Quattro said:
Yeah my current chip is a horrible Palamino core crapper.
If the T-Breds aren't locked I'm sure I could get one of those and OC it a lot, I'd like to be able to get as close to 3.0GHz as I can using only air cooling.

with a amd chip u wont be hitting 3.0ghz
 
McGurk said:


Does anyone have some ideas on what they have done, so as to have some pointers as how to undo it.

The >0339 Thortons do they have 512K cache on the chip or did the design change so they are not crippled after production but rather made to be low cache?

No one that I know of does, but there are some good threads on other forums where people are trying to figure it out (sanding down the PCB of dead processors and such).

But here is a thread on them. At the end Hoot says the Locked bartnons (at least his) still seem to have pretty decent potential if you can get your FSB up there.

Not sure about the thorton thing.

And,
Welcome To The Forums!:D
Feel Free to Introduce Yourself:D
 
i just recently fixxed a friends comp who had a 2500+ in it with 2100ddr and like Bon3thugz43v3r said it wont run on anything over or under 11x. because of his ram situation it was only runnin at 1.47(1700+) but the 512 cache improved the performance a little. if you go with a barton make sure that ram of yours is high quality and high speed and youll be set.
 
My RAM is DDR400 (PC3200).
That is fast enough. So a Barton is what I need then.
Something like a 2500+ locked or unlocked.
There is a way to unlock the lower multiplyers isn't there?
 
New chips are factory multiplier locked, they cannot be unlocked. You're stuck with default multipliers. For 2500+, that's 11.

So 11 x FSB which depends on RAM, in your case PC3200 which is 200 FSB so

11 x 200 and then up the FSB from there and increase voltage if you need to...
 
Right, So 2.2GHz is easily possible with the 2500+ Barton.
What can I get if I play with voltages, and increase cooling.
 
Just checked on CPU database and the highest with my board is 2.5GHz with air.
 
Just checked on CPU database and the highest with my board is 2.5GHz with air.

That sounds about right for a Barton. They usually max out around 2.4 - 2.5GHz on air, and slightly higher on water.
 
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