800 mhz jump

[D_Stark]

Hi. Would an 800 mhz jump in cpu speed give me a noticable indrease in speed? I would think it would, I would be jumping from a 1800XP to an 2600XP. Or should I scrap my computer and start over. A 2600XP is as fast as my system can go.

[mc2phat]

That won't actually be an 800 mHz increase. the 2600+ is 2.08 gHz, the 1800+ is 1.53 gHz. 550 mhz will be the number.

[Panama Red]

Table I just looked at says the 2600+ Barton core is 1900 MHz, 333 fsb, 512K L2 cache while the 1800+ is a Thoroughbred core 1533MHz, 266 fsb, 256K L2 cache. While the processor speed increase isn't your anticipated gain, the increase in FSB coupled with the 512K L2 cache should give you a very noticeable performance gain.

edit: Looks like there's two 2600 processors. One with 256K L2 at 2.08 and the Barton core unit I first mentioned. The Barton core would be the better choice.

[Cricket]

CPU speed isn't the only thing to consider when looking to improve system performance. Adding more RAM, upgrading to a better video card and installing a faster hard drive are other things you could do to improve the performance of your computer.

Cricket

[D_Stark]

My computer only supports 266 fsb but if I got a Barton 333 fsb with 512 l2 cache could iI still use that extra l2 cache. I could always try to overclock the front side bus.(But I've never tred that.

[glc]

Are you sure that your motherboard supports the Barton core? Maybe you better give us the motherboard model. I'm betting that the only XP2600 that's compatible is the 266 FSB 256k cache model.

[D_Stark]

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-7DX (Rev. 4.3). It does not support the Barton core. I was just wondering if I could stil use the larger cache on a Barton core.
Thanks

[glc]

It does not support the Barton core.

Then you can't install one, period. You may damage the board and/or processor if you try. That's why the board manufacturers publish CPU compatibility lists.