Greetings, I currently have the Amd Athlon Xp 2400+ T-Breed 266 fsb and 256 L2 cache. My mobo is the Ecs K7S5A Pro, Chipset: SiS735. (Note: I know that motherboard isnt the best but i was a first time computer builder at the time and didnt want to take risks buying an expensive model) Anyways I would like to buy a new mobo preferably the Asus A7N8X-X AMD nForce2 400 SocketA 3DDR ATA133 USB 2.0 8x AGP ATX. Since I am going to buy the new mobo and got couple of dollars to spend on the side I was wondering wheater to upgrade to the Amd Athlon XP 2500+ Barton Core 333 fsb and 512 L2 cache or the Athlon Xp 2600+ Barton Core 333 fsb and also 512 L2 cache. First off will I see a greater performance and speed wise etc. from my Amd Athlon Xp 2400+. Second will I need to perchase a better heatsink if I decide to buy one of the two Barton types. I have the original heatsink that came with my 2400+ and it keeps it well under 35 degrees celcius but I hear that the Barton Core processors genrate a great amount of heat and the heatsinks included arent that great. I am open to any other commments regarding cpu's and mobos etc. I thank you in advanced

About CPU temp: http://www.computing.net/cpus/wwwboard/forum/5979.html I have an Asus P4P800 deluxe and Abit IC7. Using the same processor a P4 2.4C clocked to 3.24 ghz using 1.675 vcore, the Asus never exceeds 41C and the IC7 would hit 61C. They were in the same case with identical hardware. I could give you more examples if you want to. However, you could always use "science" to find out thermal dynamic and thermal management with known factors as such CPU (wattage), heatsink coefficient, environment temp to calculate CPU temp. Better yet, visit the motherboard forum to find out more. Don't be fooled by what you read of your 35C 2400+. There is just no way unless you are in freezing room.

i have a asus board . i did have a 2400 when i built but only left it in like 2 days (long enough to get my xp2600). i seen decent increase from one to the other i did have to get a different heatsink and fan. i tried several(got a small box of them now. lol) before i found what would work for my needs. i got a volcano 10+ and changed the fan ,and fitted a tornado atop. used artic silver 3 for my compound. i do also have a climate controled room 68F year round. memory also made a nice increase for me. i was first running pc2700 corsair and then i upgraded to pc3200 kingston hyper X. far as temps i usually run 34 or 35C under a full load i hit42C

Thanks just the answer I was looking for. I hope I get more from other people.

as the barton you'd buy would most likely be locked (unless you can find an old one), I'd save your cash and try and overclock the 2400 first. The bartons are only going to decrease in price, so if your not happy with the results of the overclock you could pick one up later.

and spend the money on some faster RAM instead. That 2100 will slow you down