Case Studies
AMD ATHLON XP 3000+ & ASUS A7V600
MD released the XP 3000+ on Feb. 10, 2003, to compete with Intels popular P4 3.06GHz processor, pushing back the Athlon 64s launch date (AMD didnt actually launch the Athlon 64 until late September of 2003). The processor ushered a new core to the CPU arena. With the XP 3000+, the Barton core replaced AMDs former champion, the Thoroughbred. AMD also placed the Barton core on the XP 2500+, XP 2800+, and later the XP 3200+. At 2.167GHz, the XP 3000+ has the same clock speed as the AMD Athlon XP
the system to crash, the feature lets you reboot and enter BIOS. If you really hurt your system, you may need to use the CrashFree BIOS 2 CD to safely boot your computer. System Specifications We put the XP 3000+ and A7V600 into a full tower Antec PLUS1080AMG Performance Plus (which includes an Antec TruePower 430-watt PSU) and then loaded the case with an array of goodies, including a Seagate ST380013AS Barracuda SATA 7200rpm hard drive. The A7V600 supports standard IDE cables, so we could have used a standard hard drive, but we used the same rig to test several motherboards, so we chose the SATA drive and its easy-to-connect cables. Next, we added a Lite-On LTC-48161H 48X/24X/48X/16X CDRW/DVD-ROM and a GlacialTech Igloo 2510 heatsink/fan combo. The heatsink is aluminum, but it has a copper base, which 3DMark2001 SE Increase conducts heat better. We recommend using a similar heatsink when 1315 you overclock; cheap, aluminum heatsinks may not cool your processor quickly enough as you turn up the heat. We also chose an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra-based Leadtek WinFast A350 Ultra TDH (My Vivo Edition) with 256MB RAM, and used the latest NVIDIA drivers available at the time (version 45.23). Overclocking The A7V600 doesnt have Windowsbased overclocking software, so we used the boards BIOS (Phoenix Award Medallion BIOS version 6.0, ASUS Rev 1005) to make adjustments to the voltage and CPU settings. The first thing we noticed was that the motherboard was underclocking the XP 3000+. By default, the board set the CPU multiplier to 10.5X and the frequency to 133MHz (266MHz; 1.4GHz clock speed). We ran Futuremarks 3DMark2001 SE just to see how it performed at that speed, and the system posted 10742.
northbridge and the VIA VT8237 southbridge. We downloaded VIAs latest 4-in1 driver (version 4.48). The Socket A motherboard supports FSB speeds up to 400MHz and has plenty of strong features, including SATA connectors (the board supports RAID 0 and 1) and a 3Com Gigabit Ethernet port. Three DIMM slots support up to 3GB of PC2100 or PC2700 DDR RAM. The slots also support PC3200 and PC4000 DDR RAM, but the motherboard is not dual channel. ASUS tested PC4000 memory on the A7V600, but its
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (Barton) ASUS A7V600
Stock Performance Overclocked Performance Clock Speed 2.167GHz 2.42GHz Frequency 166MHz 186MHz Multiplier VCore 1.65V 1.85V CPU 6426 7157

PCMark2002

Memory 5067 5527

HDD 1266 1210

3DMark 2001 SE 13928 15243
2700+ (which has a Thoroughbred core), but it outperforms the older processor, thanks to the Barton. Both old and new cores have a 128KB L1 cache, but the Barton has double the L2 cache at 512KB. AMD doesnt put duplicate information in the L1 cache, which means that the Barton core can access up to 640KB of data before turning to the systems RAM. The XP 3000+ has a 333MHz FSB and 13X multiplier. Unfortunately, the 101mm Barton core is much larger than the squat Thoroughbreds 84mm. The Barton also has about 16.7 million more transistors. The core isnt as large as some Intel cores, but it generates much more heat than the Thoroughbred. Motherboard We plugged our XP 3200+ into an ASUS A7V600 motherboard. As you can see from the motherboards name, ASUS based the A7V600 on the VIA KT600
Qualified Vendor list is brief and doesnt contain many popular brands. We used a pair of Kingston KHX3200AK 512MB PC4000 modules without any trouble. If you want to stick to qualified vendors, you can find the list at the bottom of the A7V600s page on the Web site. Oddly enough, the board doesnt have any FireWire connectors, even internally. It does have four external USB 2.0 ports (and internal ports that support another four), but we were disappointed to find that the board lacked the popular FireWire port. If you have an iPod or another device that depends on a FireWire connection, youll need to plug a FireWire expansion card into one of the boards six PCI slots. The A7V600 has several overclockingrelated features. COP (CPU Overheating Protection) cuts the power when the system determines that the CPU is too hot. We also like CPR (CPU Parameter Recall). If you boost the processor too far and cause

Audio Codec Northbridge (VIA KT600) Gigabit LAN controller I/O Controller BIOS (Phoenix Award) Game Port Connectors Power LED Southbridge (VIA VT8237) USB 2.0 Connectors ASUS WiFi@Home slot
The system started to struggle as soon as we rebooted and began changing settings. After troubleshooting for a while, we determined that the Barracuda ST380013AS hard drive was causing the problem. We replaced the faulty drive with another ST380013AS and reinstalled Windows XP Professional Edition without any trouble. Once we were back in the BIOS, we opened the Advanced Settings tab and set the multiplier to 13X, the CPU frequency to 166MHz, and the voltage to 1.65V. We were surprised to find that the BIOS locks the CPU VCore field by default. We unlocked the field by changing the CPU VCore Setting field, which was just above it, from Auto to Manual. If you leave the CPU VCore Setting field on Auto, the motherboard will choose the voltage as you overclock. But if you want to squeeze every last MHz outof the CPU, youll need to raise the VCore Setting manually.
With the new settings, the system posted 6426 (CPU); 5067 (Memory); and 1266 (HDD) in Futuremarks PCMark2002, and 13928 points in 3DMark2001, a 3087-point increase. We started overclocking by raising the CPU frequency. The system responded well, and we were able to reach 182MHz before the system became unstable. Raising the VCore voltage to 1.7V helped a little,
but the system didnt consistently complete benchmarks until we upped the voltage to 1.85V. At 186MHz (372MHz; 2.42GHz clock speed), the system posted its highest benchmark scores: 15243 in 3DMark2001 and 7157 (CPU); 5527 (Memory); and 1210 (HDD) in PCMark2002. The system completed the benchmarks at 187MHz but produced significantly slower scores. We had already raised the voltage to the motherboards max (1.85V), and we didnt have any reason to believe that we were about to kill our computer, so we raised the frequency to 188MHz. The system crashed when it began to load, and we couldnt save WinXP. After reinstalling the OS, we returned to the default settings. The CPU Frequency Multiple field listed multipliers up to 25X, so we began raising the multiplier, as well as the frequency and voltage. Unfortunately, the higher multipliers destabilized the system almost immediately. With the multiplier at 16X and the frequency at 149MHz, the system crashed again and destroyed the OS; at 20X, the system wouldnt POST. Thats not to say that we werent able to run WinXP at all with raised multipliers. The system was able to run the benchmarks with a multiplier as high as 18X, but it posted a 3DMark2001 score of 13483. Final Word We pushed the XP 3000+ further than we expected. At 2.42GHz, it posted a 1315-point 3DMark2001 score increase. The only processor in our tests that came close to that kind of increase was the XP 2500+. As we go to print, the XP 3000+ costs $203 in 1,000-unit quantities. The A7V600 is also a solid overclocking component. Dont put this motherboard in a casual users computer, however, or youll end up adding a FireWire card or installing a new motherboard to take advantage of dual-channel technology.

by Joshua Gulick

Overclock Comparison 3DMark2001 SE
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (IDE Hard Drive) Stock Performance 15360 Overclocked Performance AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Stock Performance Overclocked Performance AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Stock Performance Overclocked Performance

13928 15243

14213 14727

Components Pricelist 218

Tel: 27 500
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West Street

VAT N 05 All Prices Include VAT At 17.5%

Display Adapters

Web:www.n2csystems.co.uk

July 2005

Socket A
University Of Sheffield Supplier

Motherboards

Socket A - 462

Sheffield

S1 4EU
AMD Sempron 2400+ 333FSB AMD Sempron 2500+ 333FSB AMD Sempron 2600+ 333FSB AMD Sempron 2800+ 333FSB

Socket 754

52.95 59.95 68.95 78.95 58.95 69.95 79.95 94.95 116.95
ASRock K7S41GX VGA & AGP8X, DDR333, 5.1 Audio, LAN, USB2, mATX Asus A7V400-MX VGA & AGP8X,DDR400,5.1 Audio, LAN, USB2, mATX Asus A7V600-X KT600, AGP8X, DDR400, 5.1 Audio, LAN, USB2, SATA Asus A7N8X-E Del nForce2, USB2, Firewire, 5.1 Audio, GbLAN, SATA
32.95 44.95 46.95 64.95 62.95 72.95 76.95 74.95
Please Ask For Grahics Cards Not Listed
AMD Sempron 2600+ HT Please Ask For Latest AMD Sempron 2800+ HT CPU Prices or CPUs AMD Sempron 3000+ HT Not Listed AMD Athlon 64 2800+ 512K Cache AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 512K Cache

Socket 939

Asus K8N nForce3, AGP8X, DDR400, 7.1 Audio, USB2, SATA RD Asus K8N-E/Del nForce3, AGP8X, GbLAN, USB2, 6X SATA RD, Firewire Asus K8N4-E/Del nForce4, PCI-E, GbLAN, USB2, 8X SATA RD, Firewire Asus K8V-SE/Del K8T800, AGP8X, GbLAN, USB2, 4X SATA RD, Firewire
Socket 939 Asus A8V K8T800, AGP8X, DDR400, LAN, 5.1 Audio, USB2, SATA Asus A8V/Del K8T800, AGP8X, GbLAN, USB2, 4X SATA RD, Firewire Asus A8N-E nForce4,PCI-E,GbLAN, 4X SATA RD, USB2 Asus A8N-SLi/Del nForce4, 2X PCI-E, 2X GbLAN, 8X SATA RD, Firewire Socket 478
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 512K Cache AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K Cache AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K Cache AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 1MB Cache AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 1MB Cache - Dual Core

Socket 478

Intel Celeron D 320 2.4GHz. 533FSB Intel Celeron D 330 2.66GHz. 533FSB Intel Celeron D 335 2.80GHz. 533FSB Intel Pentium 4 2.40A Ghz. 533FSB 1MB Cache Intel Pentium 4 3.00E Ghz. 800FSB 1MB Cache Intel Pentium 4 3.20E Ghz. 800FSB 1MB Cache

Socket 775

Intel Celeron D 325J 2.53GHz. 533FSB Intel Celeron D 345J 3.06GHz. 533FSB Intel Pentium 4 505J 2.66Ghz. 533FSB 1MB Cache Intel Pentium 4 530J 3.00Ghz. 800FSB 1MB Cache Intel Pentium 4 540J 3.20 Ghz. 800FSB 1MB Cache Intel Pentium 3.20 Ghz. 800FSB 2MB Cache
116.95 154.95 209.95 369.95 419.95 ASRock P4VM8 800FSB,VGA&AGP8X, SATA RD, DDR, 5.1, USB2, mATX Asus P4P800S-X i848 800FSB, AGP8X, DDR, 5.1, LAN, USB2, SATA 56.95 Asus P4P800-E/Del i865P, AGP8X, 7.1 Audio,Gb LAN, SATA, Firewire 68.95 Asus P4C800-E/Del i875PR, 7.1 Audio, GbLAN, RAID, SATA, Firewire 74.95 Socket 775 99.95 Asus P5S800-VM SiS661,VGA&AGP8X, DDR, 5.1,LAN, USB2, SATA 149.95 Asus P5P800S i848P, AGP8X, DDR400, 5.1 Audio ,LAN, USB2, SATA 192.95 Asus P5AD2/Del i925X, PCI-E, DDR2, 7.1, GbLAN, 4X SATA RD, Firewire Asus P5AD2-E/Prem i925,PCI-E,2X GbLAN & WiFi-G, 8X SATA RD,1394b 62.95 Asus P5ND2-SLI nForce4, DDR2,2X PCI-E, 2X GbLAN, 6X SATA,Firewire 92.95 118.95 139.95 169.95 218.95 16.95 32.95 62.95 24.95 42.95 82.95 18.95 54.95 26.95 52.95 12.95 18.95 16.95 11.95 17.95 32.95 54.95 38.95 11.95 18.95 38.95 14.95 24.95 38.95 59.95

Memory

Memory Prices Changing Daily!
128MB PC133 BRANDED SDRAM 256MB PC133 BRANDED SDRAM 512MB PC133 BRANDED SDRAM 256MB PC3200 DDR400 512MB PC3200 DDR400 1024MB PC3200 DDR400 128MB PC100 SO-DIMM 256MB PC100 SO-DIMM Please Ask About 256MB DDR SO-DIMM Compatibility With Your Laptop 512MB DDR SO-DIMM 128MB Compact Flash Memory Card 256MB Compact Flash Memory Card 128MB Smart Media Memory Card 128MB Secure Digital Memory Card 256MB Secure Digital Memory Card 512MB Secure Digital Memory Card 1024MB Secure Digital Memory Card 512MB Mini Secure Digital Memory Card 128MB MultiMedia Card (MMC) Well Beat Any 256MB MultiMedia Card (MMC) Local Price! 512MB MultiMedia Card (MMC) 128MB USB2.0 Memory Stick - Pen Drive 256MB USB2.0 Memory Stick - Pen Drive 512MB USB2.0 Memory Stick - Pen Drive 1024MB USB2.0 Memory Stick - Pen Drive
72.95 82.95 84.95 124.95 PCI Express 128MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon X300SE - TV Out & DVI 36.95 128MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon X600 Pro - TV Out & DVI 54.95 256MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon X800 - TV Out & 2X DVI 86.95 256MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon X850XT Platinum - TV Out & 2X DVI 112.95 128MB DDR Asus Geforce 6200 - TV Out & DVI 256MB DDR Asus Geforce 6600 - TV Out & DVI 49.95 256MB DDR Asus Geforce 6800GT - SLI, TV Out & 2XDVI 58.95 256MB DDR Asus Geforce 7800GTX - SLI, TV Out & 2XDVI 112.95 Monitors 142.CRT Relisys 0.28DP 164.CRT Relisys 0.27DP CD-ROM/DVD/CD-RW 19 CRT Relisys 0.26DP Liteon 52X CD-ROM 12.CRT Samsung SM793DF Dynaflat 0.20 96KHz. - Black or Biege Liteon 16X DVD/40X CD-ROM 22.CRT Samsung SM997MB 0.20 1920x1440 Liteon 52X32X52X CDRW 23.CRT Samsung SM1100DF 0.20 2048x1536/75Hz. Liteon 52X32X52X/16X CDRW/DVD Combo 32.TFT Relisys 0.297 1024X768 LG 4163B 16X Super-Multi All Formats/Dual Layer DVDRW 42.TFT Xerox - Glass Panel, Solid Alloy Base, Black & Silver Pioneer DVR-109 16X Dual Format/Dual Layer DVDRW 48.TFT Relisys 0.26 1280x1024, Speakers - Black, Silver & Black or Biege Plextor PX-716SA SATA 8MB Buffer16X Dual Format/Dual Layer DVDRW104.TFT Iiyama 0.26, DVI & Analogue, Speakers - Silver, Black or Biege Phillips Rabbit USB2 CDRW/DVD Combi - Stand Alone DVD/MP3 Player 62.TFT Xerox DVI & Analogue, Glass Panel, Solid Alloy Base, Black & Silver Firewire & USB2 CDRW/DVD 52X32X32X/16X 62.TFT Samsung SM710MP - Built in TV Tuner & Speakers - Silver Firewire & USB2 LG 4163B Super-Multi All Formats/Dual Layer DVDRW 76.TFT Acer - 1280x1024, Built in Speakers Sound Cards 19 TFT Xerox DVI & Analogue, Glass Panel, Solid Alloy Base, Black & Silver Mercury 6 Channel PCI Sound Card 9.95 Hard Drives Genius Soundmaker 4.1 12.95 40GB 7200RPM 2MB Buffer IDE Creative SB Live 24Bit 7.1 Digital 22.95 80GB 7200RPM 2MB Buffer IDE Creative SB Audigy 2 Value - PCI, 24Bit, 7.1, Dolby Digital 36.95 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer IDE Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS - PCI, 24Bit, 7.1, DTS, FireWire, THX 58.95 120GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer IDE Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro - PCI, 7.1, DTS, External I/O, THX 149.95 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer IDE Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS - PCMCIA, THX, 7.1, 24Bit, DTS, Dolby Digital 88.95 200GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer IDE Terratec Aureon 5.1 Fun - Optical In & Out 29.95 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer IDE Terratec Aureon 5.1 USB - External 5.1 Surround, Optical In & Out 44.95 300GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer IDE Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96 - 24Bit, Optical, MIDI, Front I/O Module 119.95 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Serial ATA - UDMA150 Terratec Aureon 7.1 FireWire - External 7.1 Surround, 24Bit, Remote 149.95 120GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Serial ATA - UDMA150 Terratec Phase 88 PCI - 24Bit, 7.1, 8 Analog I/O, PC & MAC 214.95 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Serial ATA - UDMA150

64MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon 7000 - AGP4X, TV Out 128MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon 9250 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 256MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon 9250 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 128MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon 9550 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 128MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon 9600XT - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 256MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon X700 Pro DDR3 - AGP8X, VIVO & DVI 256MB DDR Asus ATI Radeon X850XT Platinum DDR3 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 128MB DDR Geforce FX 5200 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 128MB DDR Asus Geforce 6200 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 128MB DDR Asus Geforce 6200GE - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 256MB DDR Asus Geforce 5700TD - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 128MB DDR Asus Geforce 6800 - AGP8X, TV Out & DVI 256MB DDR Asus Geforce 6800 Ultra - AGP8X, TV Out & 2X DVI
24.95 32.95 48.95 49.95 92.95 149.95 349.95 34.95 52.95 79.95 109.95 178.95 389.95 44.95 69.95 189.95 379.95 69.95 99.95 289.95 424.95 64.95 72.95 108.95 98.95 159.95 334.95 126.95 149.95 149.95 214.95 226.95 269.95 229.95 299.95 36.95 44.95 48.95 58.95 64.95 74.95 98.95 118.95 48.95 62.95 69.95 82.95 99.95 129.95 59.95 108.95 106.95 138.95

Modems

PCI V.92 56K Intel Ambient Modem Creative PCI V.92 56K Modem - OEM USB V.90 56K PCMCIA V.90 56K Modem External Serial V.90 56K Hardware Modem U.S. Robotics USR015633 V.92 56K External Serial Modem
9.95 12.95 22.95 24.95 26.95 62.95
Products are not sold on a trial basis & we do not certify fitness for any particular purpose. A restocking fee of 25% will be charged on returns that are non-defective. All products are covered by a 1 year RTB manufacturers warranty, unless otherwise stated. Faulty products covered under warranty will be returned to the manufacturer - please allow up to 30 Days for replacement or repair. Please ask in store for a copy of our full terms & conditions. E&OE. Prices subject to fluctuation without notice.
200GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Serial ATA - UDMA150 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Serial ATA - UDMA150 300GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Serial ATA - UDMA150 40GB 5400RPM 2MB Buffer 2.5 Laptop Drive 60GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer 2.5 Laptop Drive 80GB 5400RPM 8MB Buffer 2.5 Laptop Drive 100GB 5400RPM 8MB Buffer 2.5 Laptop Drive