Quick Question: 2k or 2.2k

[Artanis]

I'll make this short:

My MB will be the MSI Nforce 2 K7N2G-L

Now...
Either, 2000XP Athlon with 2x256MB Ram
Or, 2200XP Athlon with 1x256MB Ram


Reason: I'm not going to go into, if im going to buy more ram afterwards.
I would just like to know if 2000-2200 XP is worth 40 Bucks, which is how much 1x256 DDR 333 costs me.

 

[Artanis]

Small Add on:

This will be a gaming rig, and also used for a bit of graphics design. Im gonna use Win XP propably.

Now, if i got the 2000 I'd only get 1x512 actually, and at some later point add another 1x512 ending up with 1024MB.
If i got the 2200, I'd get 1x256 and pretty soon after get another 256 ending up with 512 in total...

P.S now im getting myself mixed up, because I want a 2200XP AND 2x512 MB of RAM..... lol.

Ok, same question remains...is a +200XP worht 40 bucks??

[edit] Lets just add this too, because it can clear things up. Since the rest of the pc will be pretty powerful, do I even need 1BG of ram? or is 512mb enough?

 

[Twitch]

I would buy a 1700+ TBRED B and two sticks of 256 meg PC3200, and then overclock the processor to Athlon 2600+ speeds, which can be done very easily on nForce2 boards.

Seriously, unless you are buying a top-end Athlon, it's almost silly to buy a mid-range Athlon so long as you can get your hands on that 1700+ Thouroghbred B core. It is a much faster processor, but way underclocked to fill a price-point.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 04/22/03 10:39 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Artanis]

Umm...thanks for that advice, but I'm not a mass overclocker. I was gonna pump up another 200Mhz or so maybe.
Anyway, the lowest available is a 1800XP.
But please can someone answer my question about the ram? I never had more than 256, so i dont really know how much 1GB of memory actually is.

 

[Twitch]

If you buy an nForce2 motherboard, you will definitely want to buy two sticks of RAM, whether you have 512 megs or 1 gig. Why? Because the nForce2 is quite a bit faster when running in dual-channel mode, which requires two sticks. If you run one stick, you will hamper the performance.

I highly recommend at LEAST 512 megs. We are already starting to see games (like Battlefield 1942) that say they only need 256 megs of RAM, but run like a three legged dog unless you have 512 megs. So there is a tangible advantage to having 512 megs. Anything above that, at this time, seems to yield negligable benefits.

As far as your response that you're not a mass-overclocker, I don't think you understand...you don't have to be a mass overclocker to get a <i>minimum</i> 400 mhz overclock on the 1700+ Tbred. They took the same chip they are selling at much higher speed ratings and much higher prices, and underclocked them so they will have a processor for the $50-$55 price-point. There are a LOT of users who--with no special effort--have these processors running at 3000+ speeds. If you know how to get into your BIOS settings, you know enough to overclock the 1700+ safely. Even I would do it, and I never overclock. It's just one of those easy ways to save money when you have a little knowledge.

Now, if you buy a 2100+ or a 2200+ TBRED B core, you will be getting the same processor you would be getting if you bought a 1700+, only it would detect at the higher speed. Hell, a 2100+ can also easily reach 2 ghz. I'm just saying if you have a T-BRED B, understand that you have a processor <i>easily</i> capable of a 30% overclock--sometimes 50-60%. In that respect, it's dumb if you don't overclock it.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

 

[Twitch]

By the way, you want to start with 512 megs. The 2000+ with 512 megs would be noticeably more pleasant than the 2200+ with 256 megs.

I was just trying to let you in on one of the worst-kept secrets in THGC...and I'm trying to tell you that you can have BOTH. You don't have to settle.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

 

[Artanis]

Alright then...
Im getting the 2000XP and I will clock to Mars and back...hehe.
Well, the price difference between the 1800XP and the 2000XP is 10 bucks...lol, so I'll just get that.
I'll make sure its a TBRED B.
Just one more thing, what else could they be selling instead of TBRED B? So i know what to look out/ask for.

 

[Twitch]

I would order from someplace that lets me choose...like newegg.com if you're in the U.S.

When talking about Athlon XPs, there are three cores in play--Palomino core, which you definitely do not want. These are hotter and have almost no overclocking headroom. Then, there's the Thoroughbred core, which was Athlon's first .13 core that ran cooler and had a bit more headroom. Then came the Thoroughbred B revision, which runs very cool and is a legendary overclocker. Here's the difference...

Athlon XP 1700+ Palomino could be overclocked around 10%.

Athlon XP 1700+ T-Bred A could be overclocked 15-20% on average. (I'm not sure if they made a T-Bred A in the 1700+, but I think they did.)

Athlon XP 1700+ T-Bred B could be overclocked 30-50% on average.

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't take showers. :tongue:

 

[fiask0]

I love newegg, i've ordered TONS of stuff from there, but beware they don't guarantee revisions or version's.

 

[Artanis]

I asked that because, I thought the Palomino Core for example, would be too old to still be in the shops...

On the website of the shop I will buy it from the CPUs dont have any core labels. I will go today and ask the guy there, hoping he actually knows what it is. He should, cuz he for example knew about twinbank and that NF2 MBs run better with DDR 333 Ram.
Ordering Online is not a real option for me. And Im gonna stick to that place Im buying from now, since they are about 10%-15% cheaper than the big chain stores here.

 

[Victory]

1GB of ram on home windows systems is pretty much a waste. 512 though is almost mandatory for a sweet running system. The Nforce2 in dual ddr mode will give you anywhere from a 5-10% performance boost. Not earth shattering, but if you're buying 512 of ram, you can get two sticks of 256 for roughly the price of one 512. So why not get the little extra boost if you can for no additional costs. I've built 4 Nforce2 boards now, and for the time being, it;s the way to go.

Save heating costs on your home, overclock your PC!!!

 

[Artanis]

Actually 1x 512 is 10 bucks cheaper than 2x256 ...
Im gonna go for 2x256 though, since I too think 1GB is not going to give me much improvement.
I was only considering it for the future, since if I will want to get more RAM, i will need to get rid of both my 2x256 because of the twinbank.

 

[shadus]

When running xp, nt, 2000, or linux, I've always felt 756mb was the break point for ram. On 95, 98, ME the breakpoint seems to be at 512mb... you can go a bit higher but there is not a noticeable difference other than in graphics programs when working with large files such. Shrug, but if you can't get 2 chips at once you're better off waiting getting the lower ammount-- you'll get more performance out of the dc ddr than you will out of the extra ram beyond 512mb.

Shadus

 

[Artanis]

Yeah, Im going for 2x256.
I just got some more cash now for easter so I will get them right away. Then, I will invest more cash in some extra cooling.

I saw a cooler in the stores, which you put in the front togehter with the CD drives... i guess it blows up and down to cool the CD-Roms. Is stuff like that worth buying ?