RE: FSB Speed Value

Hi everone,
Which would you reccomend:
AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 266Mhz FSB, 2.0Ghz
AMD Athlon XP 2500+, 333Mhz FSB, 1.83Ghz

Basicly, Is the performance between teh 2 FSB Speeds enough to spend a little bit more, for a lower clock speed?

Thanks in advance

at the speed in which your processor is running at, the gained 170 MHz isn't going to boost your overall speed tremendously. Your front side bus will allow for your main memory (RAM), your Processor, your AGP slot, and your northbridge chip to talk at a faster rate for the Athlon 2500. THIS is where you should probably see the better investment. If you plan to play any games at all, a faster AGP bus (along with AGP graphics card) will get you a much "faster", reliable picture. Also, when you choose a motherboard (if you are upgrading that as well) then try to purchase one with an 8x AGP slot for best performance.

The only thing I might want to remind your of with that last suggestion, make sure your motherboard can handle the 333 MHz FSB.

Please feel free to PM me if you want any other suggestions on building your computer.

AdamΠ

Get the 2500+, no question about it. The fsb allows faster ram for better performance, it will outperform the 2400+ in spite of the slower clock speed. Additionally, the 2500+ overclocks well, making it one of the best cpu values around.

Oka,y I hear that AMD stock Heatsinks and fans allow AMD overclockers to reach some good speeds before requiring spc. fans. Does anyone know what the MAX Core clock speed that a 2500+ can reach w/ its stock fan?

Thanks

That always depends on the chip, the cooling (ambient temp), and a dose of voodoo magic. The highest shown at http://www.cpudatabase.com/CPUdb/Showamd.cfm is 2450 MHz w/ the stock fan. You probably won't get that high, and you don't need to. The 2500+ stock is sufficient for all current tasks, and a mild oc is a bonus

Okay, cheers. Is there a forumla for converting AMD model numbers to Intel clock speeds (2000+ = 2Ghz Intel,) just so I can see how this is doing in Intel land?

I still cant believe a AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 2.4Ghz is over 3.8Ghz in Intel speed. HOLY ****

Thanks

The AMD performance ratings give an idea of the intel clock speed, but it is only a rough approximation. The processors do better in different areas, so the actual performance correlation varies depending on what you are doing.
This difference between clock speed and performance is the reason why Intel is moving to "processor numbers" like the 540, 550, 560 instead of 3.2 3.4 3.6ghz.