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[Fatalah]

Is it worth it to go from an AMD processor 1.7 gHz to 2.1? What kind of increase in performance should I expect? Is it like 10% faster? If so, I'm not interested-- But I'd like some help.

 

[rc213]

Are we talking same generation?

 

[Shogmaster]

2.1Ghz? Doesn't sound like a 939 pin A64. I cannot condone spending money on anything but a 939 pin A64.

 

[Diablos]

Are we talking Athlon XP? And are you talking about a processor upgrade or simply overclocking? When it comes to Athlon XP's, the increase in front side bus speed is much more beneficial than going from, say, 1.7GHz to 2.0GHz.

In fact, I am using a 2400+ - stock settings are 2.0GHz/266MHz FSB. Because it's a t-bred and I'm not into loud annoying heatsink fans, I actually bumped the FSB from 266 to 333 but also lowered the CPU speed from 2.0GHz to 1.83GHz. Basically, it's a 2500+ but with 256K of L2 (instead of 512). The result is performance that has a noticable improvement over the stock settings, but the CPU doesn't get too hot (based on it's specifications that is), in fact it's about the same. Even though I'm OCing the FSB, I lowered the external CPU speed; so it all evens out heatwise, but I still get a performance boost.

If you're overclocking, leave the external CPU speed alone and try to get your FSB up to 333MHz. If you want a new CPU, go for it, but going from 266->333 (or 400 if you don't mind extra heat) is much more beneficial.

If you're using an Athlon 64, I have no idea because I don't own one.

 

[AntoneM]

are we talking about AMD Athlons? AMD 64 (socket 754)? or AMD 64 (socket 939)? obviously the jump from an AMD Athlon at 1.7 GHz to an AMD 64 3200+ (Venice core) at 2.2 MHz is going to be a huge dramatic change.

 

[Shogmaster]

are we talking about AMD Athlons? AMD 64 (socket 754)? or AMD 64 (socket 939)? obviously the jump from an AMD Athlon at 1.7 GHz to an AMD 64 3200+ (Venice core) at 2.2 MHz is going to be a huge dramatic change.

Venice 3200+ is 2.0Ghz, not 2.2Ghz.

 

[Fatalah]

XP 2100 at 1.7 to XP2600 at 2.1, both are Athlon thoroughbreds. Both at a FSB max at 266. Its a soyo dragon ultra platinum 333 (this board won't support anything faster than a 266fsb)

 

[Diablos]

NOT even worth it. What you need is a new motherboard so you can overclock that CPU's FSB to 333 (or, as I said, 400 if you don't mind some extra heat).

 

[Shogmaster]

XP 2100 at 1.7 to XP2600 at 2.1, both are Athlon thoroughbreds. Both at a FSB max at 266. Its a soyo dragon ultra platinum 333 (this board won't support anything faster than a 266fsb)

I guess it could be up to 15% difference in things like games that are CPU bottlenecked... Should be noticeable, but nothing huge IMO.

 

[Diablos]

Believe me, buy a board that supports 333/400FSB and overclocking. Bump the FSB up to 333 or 400FSB and you will have a much more noticable performance increase than you would by getting a 2.1GHz Athlon XP with a 266MHz FSB.

 

[Firest0rm]

Thats the exact jump that I just made. I went from 1.67 Ghz to 2.1 Ghz, for me it was from an Anthlon XP 2000+ to an Anthlon XP 3000+. Games run faster for me now, I'm pretty satisfied with it.

 

[Fatalah]

Thanks for the quick tips guys. Really helpful.

 

[Diablos]

So what are you gonna end up doing?

 

[Fatalah]

From the comments, and the tips from our computer guy at work--upgrading my motherboard is my best bet and'll last me in the long run.

 

[Lil' Dice]

I went from an 2000XP to an A64 3000, and i don't realy notice too much of a difference. It's just marginally faster...