xp2100+, unlocking a must?

is unlocking a must? im planning to get xp2100+ soon and i was wondering how fast it can go if i dont have to unlock the cpu and how fast it can go if i unlocked the cpu

Locked mine could get (143Mhz fsb)*13=1859Mhz
Unlocked it'll do 1930Mhz but I run it at 1912Mhz.

I get much better performance unlocked at 200Mhz fsb since it allows the memory to run much more effectively.

Welcom to the Forum!

If you don't want to have to unlock your chip, you might consider getting a Tbred since they are already unlocked. I have my 1800+ Tbred running at 10.5 * 187 FSB = 1.97 Ghz.

As deeppow said, you will get much better memory bandwidth and overall performance with an unlocked/higher FSB CPU.

Edward2 is correct to note the new Tbreds. Great performance at good prices. If you've got or are getting a KT400 or nForce2 board, their bios will automatically unlock the newer Tbred chips. A really good way to go if you're not tied to an older mobo that doesn't provide that through the board and bios.

i do feel welcome edward2. i c that the nforce2 boards unlock tbreds already. but is the nforce2 a video card or something?
i plan to get something like this board as shown on the link here
http://www.asus.com.tw/mb/socketa/a7v333/overview.htm


id like to hear your suggestion before i buy it, its onlt $115CDN and the cpu itself xp2100+ is only $165CDN. tell me what you think about the cpu and the mobo

just a warning, NOT ALL MOBO UNLOCKS YOUR TBRED!

nforce2 is a chipset for a motherboard.

I don't know much about that particular motherboard, but I'm sure you can find several people in the forum here who own that board and can tell you more about. I see that it uses the KT333 chipset, so I would think that it would automatically unlock the Tbred CPU. My motherboard (Abit KX7-333) also uses the KT333 chipset, and it unlocks the Tbred CPUs.

If you decide or cannot get a Tbred CPU, then you would have to decide whether you want to unlock it or not. The advantage to unlocking, of course, is that you can run a much higher FSB speed. This improves your memory bandwidth making the computer run faster.