CPU and ram upgrade question...

  • Thread starter Thread starter warble
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warble

warble

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Hey all,
I'm thinking I'll be OK here, but I decided to upgrade my CPU and ram to make things a little more beefier on my DAW. I'm getting an AMD AthlonXP 3000+ (Barton) and a couple 512 megs sticks of Crucial DDR333 memory. If I just swap out the old CPU and ram, and change the bios accordingly (actually it may do it on it's own), I'm thinking it will boot and run just fine - right? Windows XP Pro will take the changes OK? I've changed mainboards before and have always started with a fresh install of the OS. Tried one time to swap the board in Windows 2000 - that was interesting. :D

I'm not really a newbie, just brain fried at the moment!

P.S. I'm itching to get into an AMD 64, but it's gonna be long while yet. I think this upgrade will suit me fine for the time being.
 
yeah i would think things would run just fine. maybe after the first boot, go into the bios and see if anything needs tweaking.

what kind of computer are you running now, that you would be upgrading to a barton core? and are the new parts you have already purchased / is there some special reason why they have to be these parts? I just ask cause the athlon 64 models really do show improvements over the barton cores. Also i mentioned in another post that crucial is was offering 2 gigs of RAM for 250 bucks canadian at ncix.com, that is a pretty good price for that kind of RAM
 
minofifa said:
yeah i would think things would run just fine. maybe after the first boot, go into the bios and see if anything needs tweaking.

what kind of computer are you running now, that you would be upgrading to a barton core? and are the new parts you have already purchased / is there some special reason why they have to be these parts? I just ask cause the athlon 64 models really do show improvements over the barton cores. Also i mentioned in another post that crucial is was offering 2 gigs of RAM for 250 bucks canadian at ncix.com, that is a pretty good price for that kind of RAM
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I'm running an AthlonXP 2100+ with 1 gig of ram. I know the speed won't be amazingly faster, but I'm wanting to take the old CPU/ram and build a cheap computer for my home office because right now, I'm using my comp. for both DAW and work. It's been working well, but I just want to strip down for my DAW. Already disabled some services, tweaked, etc. Don't have enough $$$ for a smokin' DAW right now.
 
warble said:
Hey all,
I'm thinking I'll be OK here, but I decided to upgrade my CPU and ram to make things a little more beefier on my DAW. I'm getting an AMD AthlonXP 3000+ (Barton) and a couple 512 megs sticks of Crucial DDR333 memory. If I just swap out the old CPU and ram, and change the bios accordingly (actually it may do it on it's own), I'm thinking it will boot and run just fine - right? Windows XP Pro will take the changes OK?
Click to expand...

There is no reason why it shouldn't but it could fail by design. XP uses those damn activation codes and if you change certain things on your computer it makes you have to activate again. It is my understanding that the CPU is one of those things. It probably won't do it automatically either so you'll have to call MS and beg for the key if indeed it does want activation again.

Changing the MB is different because that usually means altering quite a few chipsets so that devices are actually totally different. A simple upgrade to memory and CPU shouldn't do that.
 
ocnor said:
Don't waste your money on an XP3000+ when you can get an XP-M 2400 and overclock it to at least 2.2ghz using the same voltage as the 3000+.You can also run a 400fsb.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103400
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I'm not really thinking of overclocking for a DAW. If I were a gamer, yeah maybe, but I'd think overclocking for audio work would not be the way to go. I've never been concerned with that anyway. The XP-M runs at 266MHz FSB by default, right? Seems to me that overclocking could perhaps introduce possible problems I really don't care to experience.
 
nroberts said:
There is no reason why it shouldn't but it could fail by design. XP uses those damn activation codes and if you change certain things on your computer it makes you have to activate again. It is my understanding that the CPU is one of those things. It probably won't do it automatically either so you'll have to call MS and beg for the key if indeed it does want activation again.

Changing the MB is different because that usually means altering quite a few chipsets so that devices are actually totally different. A simple upgrade to memory and CPU shouldn't do that.
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Thanks for pointing that out. For some reason, it didn't even cross my mind. I've activated my copy two (2) times thus far, and hope not to run into problems. I have an OEM copy which is fully registered, but I suppose it's certainly possible to have to contact MS.
 
warble said:
I'm not really thinking of overclocking for a DAW. If I were a gamer, yeah maybe, but I'd think overclocking for audio work would not be the way to go. I've never been concerned with that anyway. The XP-M runs at 266MHz FSB by default, right? Seems to me that overclocking could perhaps introduce possible problems I really don't care to experience.
Click to expand...

AMD does in fact use this method for the Athlon XP-M. Basically, they test their chips and determine which chips can maintain their clock speed properly with only 1.45V of core voltage instead of 1.65V. Chips that pass this test can then be set to a default voltage of 1.45V and sold as Athlon XP-Ms. Essentially, the XP-M is the cream of the crop within its speed grade.
So it isn't really "overclocking" when you set the core voltage to 1.65V. I've been running my XP-M 2400 at XP-3200 speed for over a year without any problems. If you want to pay more money for an inferior chip go right ahead.
 
are you gonna have 2 computers side by side? i would consider dual boot and use the money all for a processor upgrade, perhaps an athlon 64 3200+, you will definately see a performance boost.

dual boots are very easy to set up,and it is like having two completely independant computers.
 
Machines won't be side to side. I'd certainly consider dual-boot otherwise.
 
ocnor said:
AMD does in fact use this method for the Athlon XP-M. Basically, they test their chips and determine which chips can maintain their clock speed properly with only 1.45V of core voltage instead of 1.65V. Chips that pass this test can then be set to a default voltage of 1.45V and sold as Athlon XP-Ms. Essentially, the XP-M is the cream of the crop within its speed grade.
So it isn't really "overclocking" when you set the core voltage to 1.65V. I've been running my XP-M 2400 at XP-3200 speed for over a year without any problems. If you want to pay more money for an inferior chip go right ahead.
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The one time I ever overclocked my computer it ruined it. When I got a T-Bird 750 this guy at a computer store was like, "Why don't you overclock you idiot?!" I just wanted to smack him around.

At any rate, those things run hot enough as it is and I have bad experience with overclocking. There isn't much use in overclocking anyway. Risk vs. reward just isn't at the right balance for me.
 
nroberts said:
The one time I ever overclocked my computer it ruined it. When I got a T-Bird 750 this guy at a computer store was like, "Why don't you overclock you idiot?!" I just wanted to smack him around.

At any rate, those things run hot enough as it is and I have bad experience with overclocking. There isn't much use in overclocking anyway. Risk vs. reward just isn't at the right balance for me.
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Mine normally runs at the same temp whether or not it's overclocked [32c-34c] There is a big difference in perfomance between 1.8ghz and 2.2ghz and a 266fsb and a 400fsb. There is no risk as I only use 1.65v with an 11 multiplier which is what a normal XP chip uses anyway.
I'm sorry that you had bad luck with your T-Bird but that chip is like a toy compared to the XP-M's. The old motherboards were not up to snuff for overclocking either. If that guy still works at the computer store maybe you should smack him around.:D
 
ocnor said:
Mine normally runs at the same temp whether or not it's overclocked [32c-34c] There is a big difference in perfomance between 1.8ghz and 2.2ghz and a 266fsb and a 400fsb. There is no risk as I only use 1.65v with an 11 multiplier which is what a normal XP chip uses anyway.
I'm sorry that you had bad luck with your T-Bird but that chip is like a toy compared to the XP-M's. The old motherboards were not up to snuff for overclocking either. If that guy still works at the computer store maybe you should smack him around.:D
Click to expand...

I didn't OC my t-bird. You had to draw on the processor to do that. My MB had the dip switches that had to be soldered on with other MBs so I could easily have done it, but I wasn't about to destroy my computer for a few extra clock cycles that don't get used. The one that fried itself was a P150. It torched its L2. I've never done it since. When you can get the processor you are overclocking to for <$50 more it is worth it not to have to risk your system to get that performance.

That store went out of business a long time ago. Too many idiots working there.
 
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