T-Bird v. "classic" Athlon

[Guest]

Are there any discernable performance differences between a Slot A T-Bird and a "classic" Slot A Athlon. Reason I ask is that I am considering upgrading my "classic" Athlon 550mhz on a K7M (original bios, circa 12/99, no upgrade) to a T-bird, but I am concerned about possible compatibility problems. Bottom line is it worth the risk?

 

[ledzepp98]

there is a discernable performance difference between the classic athlon and thunderbird, however, i wouldn't recommend getting a slot-a thunderbird. the slot-a platform is dead. it would be better to save your money and either get a socket-a mobo/t-bird or wait a litle longer and get a ddr platform. personally, i don't jump to get the latest technology based on a price/uncertainty aspect. basically, the socket-a boards are well tested and proven, not to mention cheap right now. i am holding out till the ddr platform prices drop and there are a wide range of options with many benchmarks validating performance and stability.

 

[HamsterSlayer]

There should be no difference in performance between the Socket A Thunderbird and the Slot A version. However, the only Slot version I've seen is the 700Mhz. This is not much of an upgrade when you've already got a 550 "old" Athlon. i think you should wait to get a faster Thunderbird running at 133Mhz FSB on a DDR platform. The extra bus speed and the faster RAM should give you a nice performance boost.

 

[Guest]

There is a difference between the two Procs but cos you already have the Slot MB I would advise to get a 950 ish Slot CPU if you can get one cheap enough (you can get up to 1ghz but they are rare) WWW.scan.co.uk has the 950 in stock..... if you can't find one at a good price it is woth getting the Socket version........

M

one of the first UK T-Bird users....

 

[Grizely1]

I've seen all speeds of Slot A Thunderbird at this one site. Even 1.2 Ghz.

 

[jg38141]

What site?

"Are you saying that I can dodge bullets?"

 

[Grizely1]

on PriceWatch a couple weeks ago. They probably aren't there, but they were scattered around

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info -- I am going to wait -- performance is alright for now

 

[Ncogneto]

I would have to agree withthe above posts. Your main disadvantage here is your MOBO. you only have agp 2x support an the amd irongate chipset is well, not the best. It is just a shame that the slot a tbirds dont work that well ( if at all) with the kx133 chipsets.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!