It finally arrived!

Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
edited June 2003 in Hardware
I'm baaaaaack :celebrate


I finally got my K7D Master-L... it's fully functional (I'm typing on it right now) except for the PS_Fan header tach... but for $160 shipped, vs. $221 from Newegg after tax and shipping, I can live with that...

My only dilemma now is dual 2400s or 2500s? As I said over @ AMDMB, I'd really like 2 2800MPs, but I'm not spending ~$650 on 2 CPUs... so I'll be buying the 2400s or 2500s and OCing them...

The board offers up to 1.85v, and I can probably get away with a ~140MHz FSB (36MHz PCI) if it makes any difference...

So yea... 2 2400s or 2 2500s, and why?

Comments

  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited June 2003
    Well 2*2500+ goodness of course. OC them a bit and you are rollin.

    Why not get the Bartons?

    Someone else is getting a Dual 2500+ system. Omega is it?
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    That's what I was thinking, but I'm a bit nervous about borking the mods for changing the multi...
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    My vote is for the 2x2500+ I agree with you about the 2 mp's thats a bit on the deep end I would say, but my budget is lower than probably anyone's at the forums also.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    I doubt that... I only have a job during the summer, and I have to bankroll a car (and a frigging expensive one at that), my aquarium, and my computers on that... but regardless of how much money you have, $600-$700 for 2 cpus is a bit rediculous... it's not as rediculous as 1 cpu for that price *cough*P4*cough* but it's not far off... and I have to get a new GFX card and some RAM for it too... I'm kind-of-sort-of thinking about springing for a 256MB R9800, but that's awfully steep for a GFX card... a 9700 Pro is more likely I think...
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2003
    mmonnin said
    Well 2*2500+ goodness of course. OC them a bit and you are rollin.

    Why not get the Bartons?

    Someone else is getting a Dual 2500+ system. Omega is it?

    Yup.

    Get the Barton 2500+. When using Dual CPUs the more L2 cache the better. I'm going to be converting my 11x multi Barton 2500+ (FSB333) to 15x multi Barton (FSB266). I'm currently testing the CPU in my Epox boards for what they'll OC to. The First Barton did 2.00ghz @ stock voltage (15x 133 = 2.00ghz) but will only do about 2.20ghz @ v1.85 MSI K7D max voltage - oh well, I was hoping for 2.4ghz :shakehead ) .

    I'm going to let it fold for a couple of days, to burn it in and then I'll test the 2nd one.

    After that it's Bridge blowing time!
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    Well, I surprised myself earlier today- I've got my AIRGA 2200 in the K7D-L (the same one that does 2.1GHz in the A7N8X) and I just maxed out the voltage @ 1.85 and started bumping the fsb- it's stable @ the max. fsb, even w/pc2100 ram and a full load of PCI cards (USB2, SCSI, sound) :wow: so If it'll do 150x15 or 16 with the 2500s... that would be a good thing :D
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    Just wondering why you would possibly want to buy 2x2400's as opposed to 2x2500s?

    Voted for the 2x2500 for Obvious reasons.

    NS
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited June 2003
    I guess it's really all about price. If money is no object then there really is nothing to think about. The more power the better.

    I imagine though that if you did settle for the 2400's you'll just be regretting it at a later date. My motto is, if in doubt get the better one, regret and dis-satisfaction are no good for the soul. It's only money after all.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    Nightshade & Spinner... the reason I'd consider the 2400s is because I have this amazing ability to bork stuff. With the 2400s, I'd have a total of 2 bridges to connect (I think). With the 2500s, I'd have something like 8- which means 6 more opportunities to f*** it up, and kill the CPU(s)...
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2003
    1 L5 bridge to connect for MP operation and two L3 bridges to blow (with a 5v line) to get the 15x multi per CPU.

    Murphy's Law does command respect however....
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited June 2003
    I see. Well that adds a new angle, but I wouldn't let your worries about shorting out the CPU carry too much weight with your choice. At the end of the day, you could just get someone else to do it for you. At least then if it goes pair shaped you have someone to blame. ;)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    True... there's some guy on ebay selling modded 2500s as 2800mps for something like $140 each- so that's $80 more to have him do it... not bad, but not great... on the other hand, if he does it and borks it, it's his loss, not mine...
  • HotrodsunHotrodsun Salem, OR
    edited June 2003
    I put my vote in for the 2500's, when I grow a set I'll put them in my dually.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2003
    Definitely go with the 2500's. As Omega said, go with the larger L2 cache. I'm planning the same upgrade for both of my dual rigs, the MSI board and the Asus board. Blowing bridges is no biggie, just pay attention when you are doing it so that you don't apply voltage to 2 different bridges at the same time. They make a cute little flash when they blow and it doesn't mar the surface of the proc so you can reconnect it easily with conductive paint if you need to connect it back later.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    Okay... 2500s it is...

    Couple questions:
    1. How do I blow the bridges?
    2. Which bridges do I blow for a 15x Multi?
    3. Is a 16x Multi too much to ask?
    4. How do I connect the L5s- do I need anything but a conductive ink pen?
    5. Which L5s do I connect?
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2003
    Okay, here's some answers for you::)

    1. I blew the bridges with an old AT psu I have laying around, but you can also do it with a jumped ATX psu. For blowing the bridges, I took the power lead from a dead fan and soldered sewing needles to the fan leads after cutting it off the fan. Then I carefully moved the lead that connects to the +12v out of the 4 pin socket and moved it into the +5v position in the 4 pin molex socket.

    2. For hard coding the multiplier, I use this guide to look what is available and what bridges I have to blow or connect. For the 2500, you will only have to blow the 2 rightmost L3 bridges to change the default 11 multi to a 15 multi. Also, from this page , you can change the hard coding of the fsb sense speed from 166 to 133 by opening up the third L12 bridge. Finally, you will need to connect the end L5 bridge to enable your mobo to sense the proc as a MP capable proc. I used some superglue gel to fill the pit in but I've heard that it isn't necessary to do this, but I figured that I would insulate the cut anyways.

    3.16 multi, it depends on how well the procs overclock. If you can max out at 150 X 15 and looks like you still have some headroom, then you might try hard coding a 16 multi.

    4.Covered this in answer 2.

    5. Answered in 2.;)

    Hope this helps you out, it took me a while to remember the websites I linked to. I forgot to bookmark the ocinside site.:rolleyes:
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2003
    Forgot to attach a pic of my bridge blower. Here it is:
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    I just bought 2 retail boxed 2500s from PixelUSA... I also bought 2 smartfan2s and another set of antec's cobra cables... now I just have to stop by SVC and pick up 2 SLK-800s and a gig of RAM...

    Has anyone noticed that the retail heatsink on the 2500 is a hell of a lot heavier than the heatsink on a 1700, even tho it's approximately the same size? The base is still silver, and it's no thicker than the base on the 1700 (palomino) heatsink... I'm thinking it's silver-plated copper or something...

    I'll post pictures of the heatsink and stuff when I get home so you can see what I mean... right now, I have to go back to school :rolleyes: (12:30-2:30 on fridays :D ) so I don't have time...

    On a side note, if I fark this, I'm gonna send the 10 people that voted for the 2500s a bill for $23.39 each to cover replacement cpus :D:D

    One more thing- will my KX7 run the bartons so I can make sure they're good, or am I gonna have to buy another mobo or send my A7N8X back and wait for it to test these guys?
  • FlintstoneFlintstone SE Florida
    edited June 2003
    Hey Geeky1, I'm thinking about the same mod for my K7DMaster-L and am greatly looking forward to your results. Good Luck and I hope it works because if it does, I'm next on the bandwagon!

    Flint
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    My vote is for Bartony goodness.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2003
    Well Geeky, if you fark those 2 procs up, then I will be too as I just ordered 1 last night from Newegg. I plan to do a little bit of experienting with it in my various rigs and see how or if it will run. I'm planning to set the fsb sense to 133 fsb on it and then I will be trying it in my A7N8X, KG7-R, EP-8KHA+ and MSI K7T Turbo2 boards, which will cover the AMD 761, KT266A and KT133A chipsets. I will most probably end up with it in the Asus board though after I finish testing the others out. All of these boards will correctly run a Tbred B but the Asus board is the only one checked out officially for Barton. I figure that I will hold off testing in the dually boards until I can afford 2 at the same time and I know that both Asus and MSI have come out with bios revisions that cover Barton MP's for their boards.
  • panzerkwpanzerkw New York City
    edited June 2003
    Dual CPU are all the rage these days, agh. Not that much information I could find about setting one up however.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    well, I've got 1 of them running unmodded in my KX7... that system has been incredibly flaky tho, so I'm thinking the generic ddr400 I have may be going already (it's only a month old!) since it's done this with all the athlon XP cores... Palomino-Barton... so I'm running memtest86 right now... if that ram tests good, then I dunno what I'm gonna do, 'cause I have to make sure these CPUs aren't defective, and I can't do that if they're crashing constantly... maybe I'll go to fry's and buy an 8rda or something :D
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2003
    According to Thrax only hte KX7 v1.1 are certified Tbred/Barton compatible. I guess the v1.0 are hit or miss.

    I know my former 8K5A2+ (KT333) only liked 1 of 3 Tbreds I tried it with. It would only boot on a restart, but not a cold boot (600w PSU) with the 1st two. I dropped in a 3rd Tbred and Viola! a normal PC - Go Figure :scratch:
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    Omega... yea, that's what thrax told me in the thread I started about it... but they're working fine in it (well, one of them is anyhow.... I haven't tested the other one yet...)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    Tis hit and miss, big time.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited June 2003
    Thrax... do you know what they changed between v 1.1 and v. 1.0? I'm wondering why the 1.1s work fine with the 2200s and the bartons and stuff, but the 1.0s don't... :confused:
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2003
    Omega65 said
    According to Thrax only hte KX7 v1.1 are certified Tbred/Barton compatible. I guess the v1.0 are hit or miss.

    I know my former 8K5A2+ (KT333) only liked 1 of 3 Tbreds I tried it with. It would only boot on a restart, but not a cold boot (600w PSU) with the 1st two. I dropped in a 3rd Tbred and Viola! a normal PC - Go Figure :scratch:

    That's really strange, my old 8KHA+ board, which is a generation earlier board than either the KX7 or the 8K5A2+ didn't give me a bit of problems with either the XP2400 or the Tbred A XP1700 in it presently. Of course, both of those are 133 fsb procs, so maybe that has something to do with it too.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2003
    It's probably a timing issue and a matter of Mobo testing. Highly optimized (Read Fast/OCable) Motherboards that are released before the desired CPU stepping can't be guarenteed to work with a new CPU. Slower mobos that stick to the CPU guidelines probably will.

    The Old KT133a based KT7A's usually worked with Palominos/Tbreds even though Abit said they weren't supported, while reports were that the KT266a based KR7s didn't like Tbreds at all. And with KX7's (KT333) Tbred/Barton support was spotty. Even to the point where Abit said to RMA the board so they could fix it.

    One thing I must say though is that even though they trail the NF2 in benches, my KT400 mobos have been ROCK SOLID! (2 Epox's and 1 Abit)
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