Best Barton Upgrade Option?

[Mr Bond]

My current system is being bottlenecked by my 1800+ CPU and I'm looking to upgrade to a barton.

My current specs are:

Epox 8rda+
AXP 1800+ @2Ghz
512Mb Kingston DDR 333 (2 sticks)
Radeon9700Pro (@355/333)
ThermalTake Volcano 7+

These are my upgrade options (Australian dollars):

AMD ATHLON/BARTON XP2500 333FSB (1.83ghz) $179
AMD ATHLON/BARTON XP2600 333FSB (2.13ghz) $194
AMD ATHLON/BARTON XP2700 333FSB (2.16ghz) $259
AMD ATHLON BARTON XP2800 333FSB (2.08ghz) $339

Which of these CPUs offers the best performance/price ratio for my system - and which are known for having the best overclocking potential? Keep in mind that I'll still be using my Volcano 7+ for cooling.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Daniel ~]

CPU AMD|2500/333 ATHLON XP BARTON R (Qty=1,Price=96.00)
@ Newegg.com ":O}

[Mr Bond]

I'm in Australia and these are the best prices I can get, btw~

[Allan]

I would get a Barton 2500+ and OC it..

[Mr Bond]

To me, the XP2600 seems the best deal (300mhz faster than the 2500 for only $15) but is the 2500 particularly known for o/cing much better or something?

Also, while I'm here, what kind of Mhz do you reckon I could get a 2600 to with the Volcano7+?
Thanks for replies....

[Holst]

They have listed there CPU's incorrectly the 2600 and 2700 are Tbreads not bartons...

Best buy is the 2500, or a good stepping XP-1800

[Allan]

Originally posted by Holst

Best buy is the 2500, or a good stepping XP-1800

...or a Tbred 1700+

[Mr Bond]

Hmmm...I thought there was something weird going on. Well, looks like I'll be getting a 2500+ then.

Any guesses on how far I should be able to OC the 2500? I ask because I don't want to upgrade unless I'm going to see a fairly significant improvement over my tbred 1800+ @ 2Ghz - so unless I can get the 2500 to ~2.4-5Ghz, I won't even bother. Is this kind of overclock reasonable using good air cooling (volcano 7+)?

[ZeroDread]

Here is a friend of mines OC...

[CCW]

The 2500s OC the best. Id get a 1700+ while theyre stil lgoing myself, theyve stopped making em so its not gonna be long before the bets steppings go. Although a 1700 in dual channel ddr against a barton in single channle at the same clock speed and FSB the barton will win

Craig

[Mr Bond]

I'm kinda annoyed actually in that I've already got 2 tbreds (a 1700+ and an 1800+) but they're both As (which is why my 2ghz@1.9V OC is all I can get).

I bought the 1800+ at the beginning of the year, pretty sure that it would have to be a "b" but no, apparently Australia gets everything months later.

The thing is, I can't be sure that even if I bought a new 1700+ now that it would be a good stepping tbred-b. But if I get a barton 2500 I should have a better chance of getting a reasonable OC (and should be able to get it to ~2.4Ghz).

So yeah, I think I'll go with the 2500+. Are there any steppings/revisions of the 2500 known to be good/poor overclockers? (or is AQUCA the only one at the moment) If so, how can I check this at the store (what should I look for on the CPU)? I really don't want to end up with a third bad AXP overclocker (2 tbred-a's are enough for me!).

Thanks again, guys.

[CCW]

Originally posted by Mr Bond
If so, how can I check this at the store (what should I look for on the CPU)?

Ask them if you can look at the chip. there will be a little black rectangle containing the stepping code. Remember that its still luck of the draw no matter how many people have had good luck with any particular stepping.

Craig