Athlon XP Bartons and dual channel RAM compatabili

[matcraig]

I'm looking ito buying a new processor. I looked at the AMD Athlon xp 3200 Barton but found out that it requires FSB400 only and Dual Channel RAM only. Do the barton 2800 and the 3000 have the same contraints as well, becuase my motherbaord does not support dual channel RAM. I found no documentation anywhere about the subject. Please help.

 

[SidVicious]

<A HREF="http://users.erols.com/chare/786.htm" target="_new">This Chart</A> should help you understand the specifics behind the model rating.

If you can provide us with your motherboard's brand, model and revision, we will be able to give you a much more accurate answer about compatibility and the ideal upgrade path, this information is usually found printed, etched or painted on the motherboard itself.

Although the 3200+ require PC-3200 memory (AKA DDR400) to run at its nominal 2.2GHz clockspeed (11 x 200MHz), Dual Channel memory is not a requirement but it will provide a marginal gain in performance.

You may be better off buying a <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-401&depa=0" target="_new">Mobile Athlon XP 2500+</A> instead, it is meant to run at 1.866MHz using a 133MHz FSB but unlike its more expensive 3200+ sibling, it will let the user change the multiplier, allowing a lot more flexibility when it comes to setting non-standard frequencies.

Most XP-M will happily run at a frequency exceeding 2.3GHz on air cooling with a voltage bump depending on the quatily of the core. A higher FSB is desirable since it increase the available memory bandwidth but even if you are limited to a 133MHz FSB, an XP-M running at 2.4GHz (18 x 133MHz) will smoke a 2.2GHz 3200+.

Overclocking is the best way to get the most performance out of your hard earned money.



Watercooled Mobile Barton 2500+ @ 2.6GHz (200MHz x 13)
Abit NF7-S V2.0
2x 512MB of Samsung TCC4
Sapphire Radeon 9700 128MB @ 360/310
2x Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM RAID-1

 

[Crashman]

XP3200+ does not require dual-channel operation mode. In fact, dual channel mode does very little for any XP series processor, because the bus speed (200MHz clock, 400MHz data rate) perfectly matches RAM with a 200MHz clock, 400MHz data rate (DDR400, aka PC3200).

If your board doesn't support the 200MHz bus clock however, you have a more serious problem. What board do you have?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[matcraig]

I have an ASUS A7N8X-X N-force2 chipset. I also have two sticks of 256Mb PC2700 RAM. The mobo supports FSB400.

 

[matcraig]

I'm stuck with my PC2700 RAM for a while.

 

[Crashman]

Your board will work fine with the XP3200+ and your PC2700 RAM. Your board allows the memory to be clocked at a slower rate than the CPU bus and will even make that adjustment automatically. You will loose a little more performance, but overall it will be a good performer.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[matcraig]

ok. Now, how will the 3200 perform (with the decreased performance of not having PC3200 RAM) compared to the 3000 or the 2800 Barton? If I can get just about the same performance out of a fully utilized 3000 or 2800 than with an under-utilized 3200, going with one of the earlier models would save money. The only test reviews I can find with the 3200 are with FSB400 and DDR400.

 

[pat]

This board is based on the nforce2 400 chipset, not the ultra 400 one, meaning that it doesnt have dual channel, so any memory should fit in.

As for the upgrade to a 3200+, I doubt it worth it. I guess that you'll be better with an unlocked mobile 2500+, cranking up the multiplier while staying into your memory tolerance.

Let say your memory cannot run more than stock pc2700 speed(166 mhz), then putting the multiplier up to 14.5 and the voltage up to 1.65 will give you a nice 2.4 GHz, 200 MHz better than the 3200+. I was running mine at this speed with a thermaltake silent boost cooler. Experimentation will lead you to the best performance vs stability compromise.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by pat on 12/21/04 12:40 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[pat]

except that this chart list them with 453pins while they are 462 pins CPU...

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[SidVicious]

462 holes in the socket, 453 pins on the CPU.



Watercooled Mobile Barton 2500+ @ 2.6GHz (200MHz x 13)
Abit NF7-S V2.0
2x 512MB of Samsung TCC4
Sapphire Radeon 9700 128MB @ 360/310
2x Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM RAID-1

 

[Crashman]

With the mismatched memory speed I'd think it would perform similarly to the newer 400 bus 3000+ and a bit better than the older 333 bus 3000+

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>