So Many Questions HELP

[deekemon]

Hey people, left a post last night, got a response that was of much help. However I will have to apologize for just now thinking of a billion more questions I could have included. Hope you guys don't mind.

First on the agenda, Front Side Bus. I was told the for this was the speed of the interaction between the cpu and the other hardware components through the motherboard, Is this right??? As for the older model athlons (sub 2000 xp) the standard is 266? The newer models at 333, and the newer P4's at 533. Well my question here is performance difference between the 533 and 266. Its double the amount but does do you see a difference is daily usage???? (Keep mind I do alot of gaming and what not)

LoL another nOOb question, Cache. I was told it was on chip memory. Is it all that important? the difference between Barton's 640k and like XP 2000's 256k is it significant?

Amd Athlon 1700 0309 WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? LOL I ask this because I am feeling pretty bad right after the 2500 Barton vs. P4 debate. I know longer find the 2500 Barton worth the $175 when for that money there is the P4 2.53. Well, so heres a range of new questions. Undisputed amd rules lower price range, and I am thinking going a lower model (anything past XP 2400 or 2500 Barton too much money) and upgrading later on. Perhaps a XP 2000 or the new 1700 0309 (WHICH I KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT)

Is this a good plan? My question in this is well, it isnt the 512 cache and the 333 bus and I plan on doing alot of sound and video on this computer, can a lower model handle it? Yes, overclocking sounds like a very very tempting option. I have had my eyes on the Vantec Aeroflow for awhile. I think the possibility is definitely there.

Alright um Lol, appreciate any responses to this that is if you can make any sense of it.

Thanks,

Jake

 

[rcj187]

front side bus.. athlonxp is 133MHz DDR.. effectively 266 (DDR = Double Data Rate) or 166MHz DDR for newer models (333 effective)
now intel use QDR (Quad Data Rate) fsb. this is where the 533 comes from - 133*4=533. if possible you want to go with the highest base speed ie 166MHz athlonxp.
cache- this is high speed memory on the processor die itselfthe more information it can fit in the cache generally the faster the processor is. processors use complex algorithms to predict what data is going to be called and tries to store that data on the cache. because the cache is on the die and running at full processo speed there is very little delay in accessing that data. athlonxp tbred cores have 128kb L1 cache and 256kb L2 cache for a total of 384kb. Barton core have 128kb L1 and 512kb L2 for a total of 640kb.
amd athlon1700 0309 ..the 1700 represents its pr rating as im sure you know. the 0309 is its date code year 03 week 09.now the new tbred b cores are excellent overclockers. you will have been recomended this if you want to oc. the reason the date code is important is because there are also palamino cores and tbred a cores.. neither of which are as good oc. the date code is on the processor itself so you will have to look when you buy to make sure its the right one.. also the later the date of manufacture the better it is likely to be as they perfect their manufacturing process over time.. early ones wont on average be as good as new ones..
if you are going to oc yes go with the 1700. it will easily hit xp2400 speeds (2GHz). if you dont know if you want to oc go for around the xp2400/2600 area as at stock speeds they offer very good bang for buck. make sure you get an nForce2 motherboard as his will make it very easy to oc and its also the undusputed fastet best motherboard for amd cpus.
hope this answers a few of your questions

I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

 

[deekemon]

I hear the 2500 Bartons oc alright, do you think I could get past 2.1 ghz with it?

 

[rcj187]

a lot of people seem to ha ve got past 2.1ghz with the 2500 so i dont see why you shouldnt get somewhere similar. there are no guarantees with overclocking tho..

I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.