Newbie needing help with Barton XP2500+ system...

[adlamb]

I am looking into building a system which is centered around an AMD Barton XP2500+, and after reading the review on the overclocking potential of this processor have decided do this in order to maximise my system's output. Do I need to buy a specially modified version in order to overclock this processor or is it just a case of changing the settings once the standard processor has been purchased? I ask this because i have recently seen an XP2500+ claiming to be an XP3200+ with overclocking on E-Bay for £80 + p&p, and have also seen standard XP2500+ available for under £60 + p&p. Is the extra money just going towards the settings which you need to overclock the XP2500+ or is the processor physically different?
The system that i am building will primarily be used for music production and internet use and i need some advice on suitable motherboards, sound cards and cpu coolers.
Motherboard & Soundcard - I know that the motherboard has to support various spec's in order to be able to overclock the XP2500+, and was thinking about either, ASUS A7N8X Deluxe 2.0, ABIT AF7-S, or Epox 8RDA3G nForce2 Ultra 400. I am a little confused about the audio with these boards as have been told that a seperate sound card is not always required, but taking into account that music production will be the main use of the system, do i need a soundcard to maximise the musical potential of the system, and will the choice of motherboard effect this?
CPU Cooler - Again after reading the review on overclocking the XP2500+ i understand that a decent cooler is required to get maximum results, i have also noticed through looking around the web that there are new water cooling systems available, are they worth considering or is it better just to go for a bigger top spec' air cooler?

Finally, (as if that wasn't enough!), I know that all of these decisions are down to personal preference but please recommend the motherboard, soundcard (if required), and cpu cooler that you would use for an overclocked XP2500+ system used for music production. Please also add any other components that you would highly recommend such as RAM or HDD. I want the system to be powerful and expandable but also want to keep an excellent cost to perfomance ratio that everyone talks about so much.
Please, someone feel sorry for me and help me out...MANY THANKS!!!!

[Applecrusher]

wow....
i have a 2500+ and it runs at 3200+ speeds easily.. all you need to do to get it to these speeds is go into the bios and change the fsb to 200...
As for the soundcard, the onboard sound is usualy very good, especially the soundstorm... although i have never heard it....
I have an Epox 8RDA3+ and if it anything like the 8RDA3G, the 8RDA3G wll be a good buy, BUT the ABIT one is used by many and is loved by even more... so... its your choice there...
And as for cooling, Water cooling isnt required... for the price of a cheap water cooling you can get an AWSOME air cooling setup... try the Coolermaster Aero 7+ or Thermaltake Volcano 12!!
(is this not my longest ever post???)

[faisal_uk]

yeh i'm also in a similar position to you adlamb, i am going for the Asus A7N8X deluxe - its meant to be best for overclocking as it has on board protection if you take it too high, and getting a coolermaster Aero 7+ to go with the CPU as it is good enough for processors up to and above XP 3200+
Just get any normal AMD XP OEM processor, that guy on ebay will be chatting **** - all it means is that he has had it up to the equivalent of 3200+ - but they should all do that.

As for the sound card, you will definitely need one, think they are all PCI, so just whack it in a spare slot. Onboard sound might be good for playback - but you need a decent card for recording and production. I would recommend one of the Terratec cards that support true 24 bit recording as the audigys dont because they are just for games and movies really. Probably something like a Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space 8Ch 24Bit Digital/Analog Sound Card (about £70). But if you want something really good then you will need an Audiophile card but they are cash!

A good sound card will also reduce latency time so if your recording stuff in you wont notice a delay in the computer processing what u played.

You will also need a minimum of 512MB DDR Ram - and a decent make (1GB will make a huge difference when running Cubase SX, Logic etc.)
I am getting 2x512MB Samsung DDR PC2700

Also at least a 120GB HDD - Western Digital drives are probably best

Hope that helps!

[andybasford]

I bought one off the guy who sells them on Ebay, KLChan is it? but I wouldn't get one off him now as any new 2500+ will overclock to 3200+ speeds with decent cooling(I reccomend the Aero7 Lite from Ebuyer@£11) he basically guarantees the overclock and will send you a new one if it doesn't make it.
The best overclocking board is the NF7-S but the ASUS has more features & go faster stripes.
Also, make sure you get 3200 RAM at least cos you'll be moving the FSB up to this speed on the overclock

[Allen]

An XP2500+ for under £60 will clock to XP3200+ speeds if you have PC3200 RAM and your mobo can support a 200MHz FSB. If you are thinking of getting the A7N8X Deluxe 2.0, get the A7N8X-E Deluxe, it's the new one and very good it is!

Onboard sound is still Soundstorm, which everyone on here will tell you is the best onboard sound so you will not 'definately need' a soundcard, and you can go upto 200MHz FSB to get the XP3200+ speeds.

Faisal, you'll wanna get PC3200 RAM if you intend getting the XP2500+ to XP3200+ speeds, unless you know for sure that the Samsung will reach those speeds ok.

[Allen]

Originally Posted by andybasford

I bought one off the guy who sells them on Ebay, KLChan is it? but I wouldn't get one off him now as any new 2500+ will overclock to 3200+ speeds with decent cooling(I reccomend the Aero7 Lite from Ebuyer@£11) he basically guarantees the overclock and will send you a new one if it doesn't make it.
The best overclocking board is the NF7-S but the ASUS has more features & go faster stripes.
Also, make sure you get 3200 RAM at least cos you'll be moving the FSB up to this speed on the overclock

They are rip-off merchants. All XP2500+'s will reach XP3200+ speeds, so he's probably buying them bulk and getting them cheap and making a fortune selling them as CPU's that will definately do XP3200+ speeds, when they do anyway!

[faisal_uk]

To big al:
thanks for the tip about the Ram - i am not really bothered about overclocking - but might be in the future - and i am getting PC2700 Ram because it was going cheap, will probably just get and AMD 2500/2600+

so if i do want to overclock i need PC3200 and what will the motherboard FSB have to be at? will it be 400MHz?

[Allen]

200MHz, with the memory set at the same speed. I have PC3200 in my A7N8X-E but coz my crappy CPU is only a 133MHz chip the memory is also running the same!

[faisal_uk]

thanks for your help mate

[Matt_2000_17]

I would seriously recommend the A7N8X Deluxe. The features it has are excellent, especially the NVidia Soundstorm. Its a good board for overclocking. I got my 2500+ to 3200+ speeds very easily, but it did heat up abit coz my fan doesn't support 3200+ speeds. I won't be changing my board & chip until 64-Bit becomes a little more mainstream.

[spazman]

I got EPoX 8RDA3+ with Barton 2500+ runs a 3200+ speeds no problem and a great board.

[adlamb]

Thanks everyone for all your help... Gets me a little closer to that ideal system. And stops me gettin ripped off from that guy on E-Bay.

[CrapshoT]

in my asus a7n8x bios i can run the ram at 200mhz by upping the mem %
so have a look in your bios Big Al m8 try running the mem at 150% or whatever gets closest to 200
but my 2500xp runs at 3200 speeds just by raising the fsb havent really messed on
trying to find its max yet!
most decent pc2700 ram would do 200mhz nowadays just loosen your timings a little

[Allen]

Originally Posted by CrapshoT

in my asus a7n8x bios i can run the ram at 200mhz by upping the mem %
so have a look in your bios Big Al m8 try running the mem at 150% or whatever gets closest to 200
but my 2500xp runs at 3200 speeds just by raising the fsb havent really messed on
trying to find its max yet!
most decent pc2700 ram would do 200mhz nowadays just loosen your timings a little

Yeah, I know it's a possibility, but I've only been running this system for about a week, just breaking it in! Will try mucking about with it on my next reboot.

[chris123]

just wondering i'm thinking of getting the 2500+ and overclocking as well, if i do adjust the FSB to 200 (with a decent air cooler) will it be stable all the time, even during lengthy gaming sessions?

Cheers

[Byatt]

So long as your RAM can cope with running pc3200 speeds at the latencies you specify, yes.