I have the chance of getting one of these and already have a XP2500 @ XP3200 speeds. If I was to get this chip could I expect to clock it further or will it depend on the chip it self. I was looking at upgrading to a prescott chip and new board but this might give me enough grunt for now?
can your motherboard take it is the most important thing u have to think of, some mobo's allow u to over clock to the speeds of other CPU's but if u put one that runs at that speed with out being over clocked and then try to overclock that one u may not be able to get anything more out of it, i think, as i say, im kinda new to modding, all i do it get what i want,,make sure its compatible, wack it in and it works, lol
If you are already at XP3200+ courtesy of your XP2500+ there's little point forking out ANY cash for another Barton. A XP2500+ has near enough the same chance of hitting the same o/c as an XP3200+, and since it's most likely superlocked it even has the same multiplier so it's not like your mobo or RAM may allow for a much better o/c. Stick with your XP2500+ @XP3200+ IMHO. If you want more you could try an XP-M which seem to have a slightly higher o/c (on average). Still worth the money though? If you go Prescott be sure to get LGA775 rather than Skt478, although NW on Skt478 is the better choice, LGA775 has a poor pinless connection, expensive DDR2 and PCIe (depending on model) and demands a unjustifiable price premium. You'd probably find NW on Skt478 would equal the perf od Prescott on LGA775 and for a lot less cash. Another key factor is that Intel will be surely abandoning LGA775 when the enhanced P-M is designed, even if they don't Intel change mobos and sockets like most people change their underwear. So TBH I'd seriously point you towards Athlon64, either Skt754 for both perf and good value or the Skt939 for top level perf ... but then there shouldn't be much you truly need that XP3200+ can't provide you with.
I guess I'll give this barton a miss this time round. The next upgrade looks on face value and bang for your buck will be the Intel NW chip. I can also get a conversion backet for my waterblock that should ease the pain from upgrading.
