Upgrade Advice for Sept

Hi everybody,

Well it's been almost 12 months now and for we psychos who don't like big numbers in bank accounts but love em in benchmarks, it's time to upgrade our processors. As you can see I'm currently running a [email protected] with my Peltier cooling setup and KX7-Raid(KT333). Given those facts, I would like to hear some suggestions as to what processor I should upgrade to in the next month or two.

I believe that the max FSB I can hit with the KT333 is 180-183 or that's just as high as my cpu will go given the .18u process. Assuming that FSB is my limitation, what should I do?

I like bartons, but they all have 166 FSB giving my 17mhz FSB leg room but only equating to a 187 mhz oc.(leaving locked cuz I'll get an nforce2 ultra next summer).

Thanks to all those dudes who help me out with this sichiation.

Take a goog look at the nforce2 boards from Abit, Asus or Epox.
Recommended reading would be the motherboard forums to get a good feel about these boards. MSI and Leadteck have some good boards, but they are well know for not have the PCI lock that we oc'ers look for. The Abit NF7 or the NF7-S depending onwhich features you want, will most likely keep you very happy as long as you got the memory modules to run the high fsb. CPU wise? that will be your choice but so far the xp1700 (1.463Ghz) has been the cpu that the Silicon gods have given us for OC'ing.
xp2500 has been hitting the high marks as well. If you decide to get an Nforce2 board, spend an extra $$ on the memory modules, Dual pack/twin pack perferrably. Running dual mem modules on these boards will definately turn your head around compared to your old rig. Obviously you've got some extreme type of water cooling with a pelt... Look for the nforce2 boards with the holes already in place. some mobo makers are leaving out the holes around the cpu for some reason (cost savings?) but if you intend on using your current configuration, then that is one item that's a must. keep posting when you decide what to do.

look around at computer dealers some buy used hardware. i got a abit nf7-s 2.0, Barton 2500, and 2 sticks of geil ultra platinum cas 2 3500s, for $200cdn after taxs, about $140 American. after selling my xp2000, msi kt400mb, and 768mb pc2700. go that rout and get what i got best bang for buck.

1)Abit nf7-s rev2.0 excalierpc.com $112
2)Barton 2500+ newegg.com $90
3)2x256 Buffolo 3700 with winbond newegg.com $57/$114

If you want a gig of ram and you want speed then.........


3b)2x512 Buffolo 3200 with winbond newegg.com$86/$172


they do have a 3700 512 stick but I would not suggest it mainly because I think it is just an overclocked 3200......I would have also suggested the Buffolo 3200 in the 256 stick but it seems they arent selling that either....well good luck

EDIT: just looked at your sig....I think your corsair 3200 should be fine for around 200-215 fsb......you might een get higher...but if not you can always buy the buffolo.......

Yeah, I'm definately an avid Abit fan(3mbs, 2vidcardsi in my past). The thing is, I know i will eventually upgrade to an nforce2 and be able to change the multi without a mod(dont really want to do given the rest of my setup) but for now i'll be on my KX7 so a 1700 would be ok, but can I up the multi on that to say 12.5 with an nforce2?

yes 12.5 I htink is attainable on all board...even if they don't unlock the chips....as for the abit I think you can go all the way to 20x or whatever with the 1700.....if you are to get a 1700 you need to get something simila to what is in my sig....IE...JIUHB dLt3c........if it where me though I would head to the barton arena...and try for 2.4 with one of those babies.......it's still a monster oerclock....1.8-2.4 WOOT!.......plus with the additional cache......it's a monster

nicspits, I have 2 Abit KX7 mobo's runnning 1700+ Tbred's (see my sig for details). The multipliers are unlocked up to 12.5x without doing any mods at all. The CPU voltage is ranged up to 1.75 volts without doing any mods.

There won't be much of a point in getting an nForce2 Ultra next year; much less even an Athlon XP in September. I'd suggest that wait with your Pally. 1900mhz is not to shabby, and you will be happy that you waited if you get an Athlon64 or Intel Prescott setup to replace it.

true

I think i got the ram covered with 2x256mb of Corsair PC3200CL2.

I guess it boils down to this, is 20 bucks and possibly not being able to oc past around 2 gigs until nforce2 ultras are around $100 worth the barton.

If not, than it's a 2400 i think, what do u guys think. mmm, nf7 heaven.

If you really want to upgrade, I would suggest getting one of the 1700+ 0319 chips from SVC. With your memory and mobo, you should be able to reach 2.3-2.4 GHz (12.5 * 184-190 FSB) without any mods.

NForce2 Ultras already are around $100. Bartons are around $85.

true about the nforce2 ultras, but i dont think abit has anyboards with those in it yet. Edward2, I do believe you've sold me! you wouldnt perhaps have a link handy for those would ya?

Well you are probably going to want to shoot me. They are currently SOLD OUT. Hopefully they will get some more next week, because I want to get another one myself.

http://www.svc.com/lqtamdxp17tb.html

nicspits said:

true about the nforce2 ultras, but i dont think abit has anyboards with those in it yet. Edward2, I do believe you've sold me! you wouldnt perhaps have a link handy for those would ya?

Click to expand...

what??.................... nf7-s 2.0 is a ultra 400

amsties said:

what?? nf7-s 2.0 is a ultra 400

Click to expand...

Yes it is. And don't forget about the $95 plain NF7 Rev 2.0 either.

Edward2: This, with $4 shipping only, should come out to the same price.

Very true, Gautam. I didn't realize that Excaliber had lowered their prices so much. I had a 0310 WPMW from them, but it was not as good of an overclocker. I sold it to my brother-in-law. I think the 0310 XPMW is probably better than the WPMW I had.

Gautam, what sort of temps do you get with your 1700+ @ 2.5 GHz with water cooling? And what Vcore are you using? I need to mobo jumper my CPU multiplier to 13x or 13.5x and try for 2.5 GHz myself, but I am afraid that my CPU temp is going to keep climbing.

Thanks everyone, I believe I will get one of those pretty soon and I'll post back as to how high i take it. Thanks to all those who have helped me out. enjoy