Barton 2600 vs Athlon XP 1800

[Onezentide]

Hi everybody...

I have a question for all the CPU experts out there.

I currently run an MSI KT3 Ultra 2 Mobo with an Athlon XP 1800+ and 512 DDR 2100 RAM (mushkin).

I plan on upgrading the BIOS, install a Barton 2600+ with 512 DDR 2700 RAM (mushkin also).

Do you think it is worth it? How much speed gain do you think I should see?

Look forward to your thoughts!

 

[Alkaline5]

The only noticeable speed gains you will see will be in games, and to what degree will depend slightly on your video card. When I had a GF3Ti200 and went from a 1700+ w/256MB PC2100 to a 3000+ w/512MB PC3200 I saw about a 30% increase in my Q3A and SuperPi scores.

 

[biostud]

go for PC3200 so you might be able to O/C the processor.

 

[Dman877]

Originally posted by: biostud666
go for PC3200 so you might be able to O/C the processor.

I agree. Get a single 512 mb stick of pc3200 so you can use it in a future system too.

 

[Ionizer86]

Ya, the ram needs an upgrade. The Barton 2600+ usually has a 166 bus, so running it at 133 bus will lower its clock by 80%: from 1917 to 1533. If you want to speed things up, I'd say go with better ram or go with a mobile Barton 2400+, which has tweakable multipliers.

 

[CptObvious]

I went from an XP1800 to Barton 2500 (didn't do the OC because my mobo supports up to 333 FSB). I actually noticed a performance increase in Windows (programs started faster, menus seemed snappier). I think it is worth it

 

[Onezentide]

Thank you all.

 

[Onezentide]

Thank you all.

 

[Onezentide]

Does increasing the RAM to 1GB from 512 increases the speed a lot?

I am the master of running XP pro with 20 things opened at the same time.

 

[Onezentide]

Does increasing the RAM to 1GB from 512 increases the speed a lot?

I am the master of running XP pro with 20 things opened at the same time.

 

[kamper]

Originally posted by: Onezentide
Does increasing the RAM to 1GB from 512 increases the speed a lot?

I am the master of running XP pro with 20 things opened at the same time.

You only need to hit the post button once

the increase in ram will only help if you're using more than 512, which only you can judge. Watch the Task Manager when there's a lot of stuff running, or, for a better indication, try to notice the delay when you switch to a program that hasn't been running in a while. If it's significantly more than when switching between programs that you've been using alot (and if you can hear your hard drive going nuts while trying to bring up the old prog) then more ram will help.