CPU upgrade ?

[m1abram]

Ok here are my current specs:
Epox 8k5a3+
Athlon XP 2000+
1GB PC2700
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro

So my bottleneck is the CPU. I want to know what CPU I can throw on the current MB, Epox official support is a CPU with 266, however it can be OC to 333 and has the proper AGP divider at that speed. So in theory it should support a XP with 333 FSB, however not sure if it will support one with the 512KB cache.

I found this pdf that gives me some hope.
http://www.epox.org/support/CPU%20approval%20list-%20Jan%2004-K7.pdf

So it looks like I can upgrade to a Barton 2800+

I use this machine for games, so do you think it will be worth the upgrade?

Thanks.

 

[ST|FFY]

well, most likely if u flash the bios then ur gonna have barton support

as for your upgrade, have u considered OCing?
you could go with the 2400+M for $77....saving you ~$35-$45
now thats enuf money left over for a really good HSF and change left to spare

btw: the 2400+M is also a barton core

 

[m1abram]

Originally posted by ST|FFY
well, most likely if u flash the bios then ur gonna have barton support

as for your upgrade, have u considered OCing?
you could go with the 2400+M for $77....saving you ~$35-$45
now thats enuf money left over for a really good HSF and change left to spare

btw: the 2400+M is also a barton core

Thanks for the reply, however I am not very interesting in OCing. I know you can OC and have stability, I use to OC myself. However for only $45 savings I would rather not add the risk of stability issues.

 

[punisher]

You can run whatever Socket A proc you choose, be it a Barton or a Mobile Barton, whatever. The 333FSB and divider works fine.

The board doesn't properly recognize a Barton, but all settings can be done in BIOS, the 512 L2 is recognized correctly. Voltage on mobile Barton is not recognized, but no problem.

On my 8K5a3+ I am currently running a 2600+ mobile at 2550mhz/1.65V, absolutely stable. Still haven't found the limit yet on that overclock. I bought the proc for another system but figured "what the hell" and threw it at the EPOX to test it, it stays for awhile.

If you grab a mobile Barton, and get CPU-MSR, you can overclock via software from within windows, 15X will be your top multiplier.

Stability is stability, whether overclocked or not.