Kony, thanks for a very useful answer. It is much appreciated.
can I ask you and anyone else here a few more questions to do with
choosing a suitable processor to replace my Duron 700.
It seems from your document that my PSU can possibly power
something like a Palomino drawing up to 64 Watts.
You may be taking it a bit too literally. Remember that it's just a rough
estimate, that it considers 3V + 5V rating and other items than just the
CPU consume 3V or 5V power.
I'm running a normally clocked Duron Spitfire 700 (31 Watts max)
and I have been toying with the idea of installing a Duron
Applebred 1800 (57 Watts max).
It would be a substantial performance improvement, but not necessarily the
best choice, depending on your motherboard, which you didn't mention.
But from your document I see that my PSU could possibly support up
to a Palomino 1700+ (64 Watts max). In that case I guess I should
I be considering one of the T'bred cpus as they heat up less than
Palominos.
Or better still, a Barton XP2500, IF the board supports it. Keep in mind
that the power consumption difference between one speed grade and the next
(few) is slight, the particular video card you use could easily make more
of a difference than which cpu. At worst you could simply buy the best
the motherboard can handle, if you get an extra 6 months out of the system
because it was a little faster, that 6 months might cost the price of a
replacement power supply, perhaps $40... your yearly TCO (total cost of
ownership) of system(s) could be lower by upgrading as much as possible,
dpending on what the board will accept. If it's an old board using
PC100-133 memory I wouldn't upgrade it at all though, newer boards have so
many desireable features and greater performance, not to mention that the
motherboard itself was designed for lower amperage CPUs, it might not be
that the system power supply is inadequate but the motherboard power
supply, or even that it "used" to be adequate but over time has degraded
(capacitors) and is less capable of powering a modern CPU whether it be
the Duron or Palomino or (any other).
As our discussion in this thread has mentioned, the T'bred 1700
needs a max of 49 Watts. That smaller step up from my current 31
Watts seems more sensible. However the 1700 is not that easily
available locally so should I go for a T'bred 1900 or 2100?
That should work, though you may need the retail version w/heatsink or to
purchase a heatsink too, the 'sink on the old duron likely isn't suitable
for these processors.
On the other hand one recent poster
Msaid this:
"Don't forget that this [Duron 1800] processor runs at a full 1800
mhz, which is the equivalent of an Athlon XP 2400 and almost as
fast. It's a great choice budget processor."
So maybe I should stick with the Duron 1800? You can see I am
getting confused. I don't want to upgrade my PSU as I want to keep
this present system as a working system and build a second one
sometime soon.
The Duron is a good value but only you can decide the budget,
price/performance ratio that suits you, and further what you'll need out
of the system in it's aux. role after you build the 2nd system. If your
motherboard will run one and since you're building another system anyway,
that may well be the best value upgrade in your situation.
Are my power calcuations sound? Or am I overlooking some other
important factor when it comes to power requirement?
With a power supply you shouldn't really be trying to add up component
wattages to the end of consuming all of a power supply's capacity. The
more you push the limits of the unit's capacity the shorter it's lifespan
will typically be... it's not just a matter of 10W difference between one
CPU or the other until you reach an absolute upper limit where the system
won't POST at all or starts crashing under the most stressful tasks. Keep
in mind that if your motherboard supports multiplier chances, and you buy
a T'Bred (I don't know about the Durons) you can choose the CPU multiplier
yourself, so you have control over how much power the CPU uses... an
XP2000 running at a reduced, manually set 11X multiplier would result in
same power consumption as a stock speed XP1700 T'Bred (assuming same
voltage rating, on occasion that varies too).
As an aside, in a recent thread
http://tinyurl.com/2jjdk you said
some mobos with my KT266A chipset support T'bred and some do not
but I figure my dealer will know what cpus he's already made work
with the mobo I got from him.
That sounds reasonable, providing that if you follow that advice and it
turns out the CPU isn't supported, the dealer won't charge restocking fees
if it doesn't work (due to the motherboard). Online searchs of your
specific make/model and revision of board may find other users who've
already upgraded, may give you more ideas if the dealer hasn't tried any
particular CPU family.
