Sarissi Posted July 10, 2004 Report Share Posted July 10, 2004 I just replaced my Athlon XP 2500+ 333 FSB with an Athlon XP 3000+ 333 FSB. What I did not expect, was a truly significant performance increase. Everyone here who has used Win98SE knows how long it can take for everything to load in the System Tray. With the 2500+ it took a while. However, with 3000+ it so fast loading everything in the System Tray, that it boggles my mind. Similar boot time decreases are noticable in Win 2000 Pro and Mandy 10.0 CE Powerpack! If I were not into 3D CGI, I probably would not have considered upgrading the CPU. Decreasing Render times is a worthwhile goal, particularly if you use Bryce 5, which is notorious for looooooong render times. Depending on what you are doing, it can take over 30 hours to render a scene in Bryce 5. I was looking to strictly upgrade from 1 GB ram to 2 GB ram, na dmade the 'mistake' of browsing the cpu section on eBay. So I ended up getting the 3000+ retail (NIB) for $149.99, 2 x 512 MB DDR333 for $149.98 (total), and a Geforce FX 5200 128 MB 8X AGP for $49.00 (all + s & h). Not a bad compromise, as it turned out. The compromise, is going to 1.5 GB ram, instead of 2 GB (2 x 512 + 2 x 256 MB). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 I noticed a difference from going from my 2500 to over clocking it to a 3200+ Do you still have the chip around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted July 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Cyberjackle; As a matter of fact, I do. It is going to go into my 'everything else' system, where the high level of performance is not needed, since Bryce won't be on that one. I don't do overclocking. I am not even an avid gamer. I'm not even into animation. Just single frame renders (think picture, like a painting), only using 3D CGI, instead of 2D. For me, $149.99 (+ s & h) is the most I have paid for a brand new CPU (retail pack or OEM). In fact, once I get another case, this whole setup gets transferred to the new case, and the Chaintech goes into this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero0w Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Overclocking an XP 2500+ to 3200+ has noticeable increase in system performance, but my 2500+ won't be stable at that speed. I am curious, how does the benchmark differ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted July 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Zero0w; In 3D CGI, stability is paramount, especially when rendering. The reason, is that the cpu is crunching all those numbers to render the scene. High performance + stability is even better. Benchmarks can be misleading, as the 3D CGI ones use Newtek Lightwave and Maya for those. I have neither and cannot afford either (Lightwave is somewhat cheaper than Maya). Besides, for Maya you need a Workstation card (nVidia Quadro), and a very high end system. Even Daz Studio uses Hardware OpenGL in the workspace (UI). Lest folks get confused: gamers think rendering is strictly a graphics card thing. For 3D CGI, it uses the CPU to do the number crunching, while Preview render (in the UI) can use the graphics card. Preview is so that you see what you are working on, textures and all. I will have to install Daz Studio Public Beta again to see what the new render time is. With the 2500+ the default scene took 3 minutes and 26 seconds to render. In Linux you have a choice of Maya, Houdini (maybe some other commercial mainstream apps) on the high end, and, Blender and I think PovRay on the low end (price wise). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero0w Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 I know the 3D apps you have been talking, I am just curious whether 3000+ is really that good when comparing with 2500+, does it show in some benchmarking game / apps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 I can't compare mine from using Maya or anything but i use mine a lot with gentoo comipling everything and my overclock has never had a problem, for what it is worth. From what i heard from a lot of hardware geeks is that the 2500+ is(was) the best to overclock and stay stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted July 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2004 (edited) Cyberjackle, I have to concede the overclocking ability of the 2500+. I would rather get a better CPU, than take the chance of frying the one I have. I can't afford to fry CPUs. Well, the two 512 MB DDR333 modules just arrived. Time to move that heavy DMP printer stand (w/printer) - made of 2 x 4s and 3/4 plywood, and not on casters. Then unhook computer (fulltower on floor, and on casters). I did find out that all of the stuff I requested from the family trust (see list below), has been approved, and it will hopefully be this week. (all from Staples) Envision EFT920 Flatscreen 19 inch CRT 2 Maxtor 120 GB ata133, 7200 RPM hdds (replacing my two 61 GB hdds) Tripp Lite 1000 VA 8 outlet UPS (replaces my Internet Office 500) twinpack HP 15 (black) cartridges one HP 78 (color) cartridge 1 case of 10 reams, Staples 30 percent recycled copy paper My GeForce FX 5200 128 MB 8X AGP will be delivered on Wednesday. Waiting for 2 software apps from Curious Labs: Poser Pro Pack and Carrara Studio 3 Sidegrade from any Poser. Well, I guess it is time for me to shutdown and do the RAM upgrade. hehehe Edit: Well, the additional ram works fine. In Windows 2000 Pro and Linux, though Win98SE choked at boot. I am going to try a reinstall of 98SE to see if that will work (works fine with 1 GB). Edited July 12, 2004 by Sarissi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirogen2 Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 One simple test: check the time one Seti@Home unit (or whatever) takes on 1. Linux 2. Windows. (at the same CPU speed :lol: ) Then compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted July 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 It does not matter right now for me. Mandrake refuses to install with my new hardware setup (2 new hdds). All my hdds are ata133 if that matters. Mandrake hangs at installing bootloader (where I normally place it, in the root superblock). So, I am temporarily off Linux, and on a Win98SE and Win2K Pro dual boot (using System Commander Personal Edition). Once I get the few items I need for the second system, Mandrake will be installed and that will be my internet PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted August 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Well, I finally got my Mandrake 10.0 CE Powerpack installed and more importantly: running! Now I am extremely happy... I thought I would have to swap CPUs and go back to factory defaults in the BIOS. All I did was go back to the original ram modules and set the cpu offset dip switches for the 2500+. Now to set thing back to preferred configuration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwiftDeath Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Hmm I have a 2500. Maybe I should overclock it, I have it set to 177 fsb I beleive, what do you guys think its best to raise it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 I have mine set to "aggresive" & 200fsb cat /proc/cpuinfo processor : 0 vendor_id : AuthenticAMD cpu family : 6 model : 10 model name : AMD Athlon XP 3200+ stepping : 0 cpu MHz : 2204.865 cache size : 512 KB It's a 2500+, keep in mind, YMMV B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted August 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 (edited) Me? I am the wrong one to ask. I don't believe in overclocking. My Athlon XP 2500+ is a 333 Mhz FSB Barton Core (166 x 2). So yours is already overclocked to 354 Mhz FSB. My belief is to get a better CPU if you can afford it, AND, if your motherboard can handle it. I still haven't maxed out on the cpu, since this mobo can handle both 400 Mhz FSB and DDR400. Next step beyond this system will be AMD64 in terms of performance. Edit: first paragraph is for Swift Death. Edited August 2, 2004 by Sarissi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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