Does Barton Core = Quantispeed ??

[BALOO]

I'm looking at buying a new computer that will have somewhat more than 'the bare necessities of life' (up to £1600ish). A processor speed of 3000 seems the best compromise and an AMD Athlon will enable more goodies in other areas than a Pentium.

Now, I've found out what what Barton Core and Hyperthreading mean (well, sort of) but whenever I look at the various company websites, most of them mention the Athlon with 'Quantispeed' Is that the same as having a Barton Core ??? When I spoke to Mesh (I'm seriously considering the extreme 3000+), they said it was - but I wasn't sure that the person I was talking to had any more knowledge than myself!

If anyone can recommend a system (a good 17/18" TFT screen is the main priority) that is a good fast all-rounder, please feel free
Cheers!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BALOO,

The difference between the TBred and Barton Cores is the amount of L2 Cache. The TBred has 256k and the Barton has 512k.

The Barton 3000+ runs at 2.17GHz (w/333Mhz FSB - Part number AXDA3000DKV4D) & 2.1GHz (w/400Mhz FSB - Part number AXDA3000DKV4E). The TBred ended at 2800+ which runs at 2.25GHz.


Here is the sales pitch for QuantiSpeed:

QuantiSpeed architecture, the latest technological enhancement to the award-winning AMD Athlon processor core, provides for extra performance in the cutting-edge features users need most. At the heart of QuantiSpeed architecture is a nine-issue, superscalar, fully-pipelined core. This provides more pathways to feed application instructions into the execution engines of the core, simply allowing the processor to complete more work in a given clock cycle. Additional features of QuantiSpeed architecture include a superscalar, fully-pipelined floating point engine, hardware data prefetch, and exclusive, speculative Translation Look-aside Buffers (TLBs). Combined, these features help boost overall productivity and allow a system to boot and load applications quickly. In the end, users will enjoy an effortless computing experience.

Software applications and Internet plug-ins run lightning-fast because they are optimized to take advantage of innovative QuantiSpeed architecture and 3DNow! Professional technology, found exclusively in the AMD Athlon XP processor. AMD has generated benchmark data for the performance results of the AMD Athlon XP processors that PricewaterhouseCoopers has independently audited. Visit the AMD Web site at www.amd.com to view the data and audit results.

If I were to build a comp for performance keeping to the best bang for the buck, this is what I would build:

MSI K7N2 Delta-LISR Motherboard
AMD 2500+ XP Barton Processor
512k DDR PC-3200 RAM CAS 2.2.2.
LG or Lite-On 52x24x52x16 DVD/CD-RW
Western Digital 800JB 80Gb 7,200rpm Hard Drive w/8Mb Cache
MSI MSI Ti4200-VTD8X GeForce4 Ti4200 128Mb Video Card with Dual Head, DVI, and VIVO
NEC MultiSync LCD1760V-BK 17" LCD Black Monitor
Logitech Dual Optical Mouse
Logitech BLACK Elite Keyboard
Logitech Z-560 400W THX 4.1 Analog Speakers
Antec SLK3700AMB w/Smart Power 350W Power Supply

If you wanted to splurge a little, I would make any or all of the following substitutions:

2x Western Digital Rator 10,000rpm SATA-150 Hard Drives (on the SATA RAID, with a 16k Stripe)

Logitech Cordless MX Duo

Logitech Z-680 500W THX 5.1 Digital Speakers

Antec Lanboy w/350W Antec Smart Power w/Blue LED or Antec Sonata w/True Power 380W Power Supply

Take Care,

Richard

[BALOO]

Thanks Richard!
I had read an explanation somewhere but I'd completely confused myself - your post sorted it (as usual). Unfortunately, I havn,t got the guts/knowledge to contemplate buiding my own computer so I've eventually gone for the mesh Extreme 3000+.
TCS - thanks for the tip, I had a good look but by the time I added a tft screen it would have taken me over budget!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BALOO,

Always glad to help. If one day in the future you would like to build your own computer. I would be happy to review the hardware you were thinking of using and help with any problems as you try building your first computer.

It is a very rewarding experience when you build your first computer.

Take Care,

Richard

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

ASFKAP,

I do like Future Mark's 3DMark2001SE as a benchmark to test your computer's 3-D Performance.

To get to the 3200+ speed you need to set your Multiplier to 11x and raise your FSB to 400Mhz. Before you do this, you will need to change your cooling for the CPU. The stock AMD 2500+ heatsink/fan will not cut it.

Your other option is to leave the multiplier at 12.5x and raise the FSB little by little to see how high you can get. If you can get between 175Mhz and 185Mhz you will see a good boost in performance. (Right now I am running my 2500+ at 12.5x with a 182Mhz FSB, 2.28Ghz but with serious cooling.)

Take Care,

Richard

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

ASFKAP,

Thermaltake has several cooling options:







They are all excellent cooling options. I am personally using the SubZero4G.

Take Care.

Richard