Which Barton buy?

wertret · Sep 17, 2003, 11:03 AM

Hi wise guys, i'm investing in my new rig, i already have an asus a7kn8x deluxe and 1gb of ddr 333 ram. Now i have to choose a barton but i don't know which: 2800, 3000 or 3200?

Thanks in advance.

blade5545 · Sep 17, 2003, 11:13 AM

Get rid of the DDR333, if you want the most performace which sounds like it considering the CPU's you mentioned you want DDR400 which is actually ddr3200 and you want two sticks not one so you can use the the double memory channels on that motherboard. Yea i know i have ddr333 also know as ddr2700 but thats from an older system and i am short on cash at the moment.

chissafi · Sep 17, 2003, 11:37 AM

forget those barton's, get the BARTON 2500! You can overclock it like hell, and its still Barton fast. And about the ram, ddr 400 dual channel is the only way to go (dual channel must be supported by your motherboard, check it out)

Go to ramstore.ca (if you live in Canada) Great prices, and free 4 day shipping.

Hope i helped

FluffyChicken · Sep 17, 2003, 12:04 PM

Are you guys kidding !!!
There is no need and the cost for another 1Gb of RAM just to go from DDR333 to DDR400 is a lot (far more than the CPU itself)
AND the increase in performance is little especially as the CPU will have it FSB @ 333 anyway (as I wouldn't go for a 3200+.
DO not get the memory there is no point.

If your Overclocking the 2500+ is the best bang for the money
else go for the 2800/3000 depending on price.

wertret · Sep 17, 2003, 12:28 PM

I've readed somewhere that the performance with dual channel is best with a FSB333 CPU synchronous with the ram. I have two sticks of kingston wearing a full copper jacket from coolermaster and a thermaltake volcano 11+ with the ducting mod, so i expect to overclock quite well. I think i`ll try de 2800. Anyway thanks for the support.

eyeguy616 · Sep 17, 2003, 01:03 PM

I currently have a Barton 2500+ and 333mhz ram all overclocked to 3200+ spec with 400mhz fsb. After putting ramsinks on the ram I was able to pump it up to 400mhz synchronous. It's a good gain, and before that I simply up'ed the multiplier to make my 2500+ a 3000+ at 333mhz fsb. It's real simple and just about every 2500+ can overclock pretty high without making any changes to the vcore.

Bottom line: keep your existing ram as it's already good enough and you have a ton of it. Get any of the 333mhz Bartons (2500+ is the cheapest at around $80-90 US) and you should be able to bump its multiplier a few notches successfully.

~eyeguy616

blade5545 · Sep 17, 2003, 01:05 PM

The Asus a7kn8x supports 400fsb for both ram and cpu, the cpu's the you mentioned have 400fsb for the best performance you want ram which communicates at 400fsb which is ddr3200 so everthing communicates in sync. if you use ram which communicates at 333fsb then the cpu will send data at a faster rate than the ram can accept it that will create a bottleneck which kills your performance.

Shadow Lady · Sep 17, 2003, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by blade5545
The Asus a7kn8x supports 400fsb for both ram and cpu, the cpu's the you mentioned have 400fsb for the best performance you want ram which communicates at 400fsb which is ddr3200 so everthing communicates in sync. if you use ram which communicates at 333fsb then the cpu will send data at a faster rate than the ram can accept it that will create a bottleneck which kills your performance.

stop calling 'em ddr2700 & ddr3200 and whatever, its called PC2700 & PC3200

Bane the ECF · Sep 17, 2003, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wertret
I've readed somewhere that the performance with dual channel is best with a FSB333 CPU synchronous with the ram. I have two sticks of kingston wearing a full copper jacket from coolermaster and a thermaltake volcano 11+ with the ducting mod, so i expect to overclock quite well. I think i`ll try de 2800. Anyway thanks for the support.

1) Running RAM Dual Channel synchronous with the CPU is the best way to run your system.

2) Running your RAM Dual Channel synchronous with the CPU both at 400MHz FSB is best. All Barton CPUs, including the 2500+ can achieve this easily.

3) All RAM is downclockable. You can purchase PC-3200 RAM and run it at PC-2700 or PC-2100 speeds if you wish. The higher speed rating simply reflects the ability for the RAM to control heat generation and dissapation better.

4) The Barton 2500+ is the most overclockable CPU in the Barton family. Most 2500+ CPUs are simply relabeled 2800+, 3000+, and 3200+ CPUs.

Bane

wertret · Sep 18, 2003, 05:06 AM

But can my kingston sticks be overclocked with my mobo a the heatsinks? It's esasy to go from 166mhz to 200 without overvoltage?

FluffyChicken · Sep 18, 2003, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by blade5545
The Asus a7kn8x supports 400fsb for both ram and cpu, the cpu's the you mentioned have 400fsb for the best performance you want ram which communicates at 400fsb which is ddr3200 so everthing communicates in sync. if you use ram which communicates at 333fsb then the cpu will send data at a faster rate than the ram can accept it that will create a bottleneck which kills your performance.

Not true ONLY the 3200+ is 400 (2x200Mhz)
all the rest are 333 (2x166Mhz)

It is NOT worth the slight increase in performance you'll get (and you will not notice it) going from PC2700 to PC3200 (you will only see it on benchmarks and then only slight). Only thoose that 'must have' and 'money doesn't matter' would do that. Nothing compared to where the money can be spent better (faster HD for example).

wertret, you'll have to test to find out.

shuki · Sep 18, 2003, 06:48 AM

I just bought a barton 2500 from newegg.com $85 shipped. Default is 166 (333) but that sure ain't gonna last long here heh. Default 166 fsb nabbed a 38,156 in aquamark. Now lets just pump it up real quick to 200 and see what happens.... brb.

shuki · Sep 18, 2003, 06:57 AM

oh man, went into my nf7-s BIOS. There is the option for CPU speed. Usually BIOS detects which cpu you have in there and ther is two options. One for whatever cpu it detects and one for manual. Well I go in there and select cpu and there are not two choices but THREE. Manual, 2500 and 3200. Selected 3200, save and exit and reboot. Now at 3200

aquamark up to 42,046 with the click of a button

Of course I do have an nf7-s and 2x256 pc3500 though

Anyhow, I would buy the 2500 barton... in fact, I did

Bane the ECF · Sep 18, 2003, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wertret
But can my kingston sticks be overclocked with my mobo a the heatsinks? It's esasy to go from 166mhz to 200 without overvoltage?

It's possible to overclock RAM to 200MHz, but the general track history of overclocking RAM that much is generally low...in other words, RAM doesn't typically overclock as well as Athlon CPUs. You'll just have to try it and find out.

~~Crash Override~~ · Sep 18, 2003, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by FluffyChicken
Not true ONLY the 3200+ is 400 (2x200Mhz)
all the rest are 333 (2x166Mhz)

It is NOT worth the slight increase in performance you'll get (and you will not notice it) going from PC2700 to PC3200 (you will only see it on benchmarks and then only slight). Only thoose that 'must have' and 'money doesn't matter' would do that. Nothing compared to where the money can be spent better (faster HD for example).

wertret, you'll have to test to find out.

*BUZZER*

WRONG ANSWER

The 3000+ has 2 variants

The 333FSB and the 400FSB.

The increase in available bandwidth from PC2700 to PC3200 is theoretically 500MBPS incease and if you dual channel it then 2700 = Potential 5400 and 3200 = Potential 6400 which is 1GBPS speed increase

To me that is indeed quite a bit of difference in speed

However I will say I would also go for faster drivers. Western Digital Raptors will do me just fine once they get a bit larger

Vampyromaniac · Sep 19, 2003, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Override
The increase in available bandwidth from PC2700 to PC3200 is theoretically 500MBPS incease and if you dual channel it then 2700 = Potential 5400 and 3200 = Potential 6400 which is 1GBPS speed increase

To me that is indeed quite a bit of difference in speed

On AMD, you are limited by the fsb, so dual channel does not double the bandwidth. For 400MHz fsb, max is 3200 no matter what.

FluffyChicken · Sep 19, 2003, 04:44 AM

Crash, you are right in the 3000+ is available in 400 but I have never seen anywhere that sells them (in UK anyway) although why you would buy one when a 2500/2600+ is a lot cheaper are beyond me. As for the memory increase, they are theoretical for the memory, not real world computer performance You should always go on real world.
Theoretically many graphics cards should perform far better than they do