is xp1700+ anygood for radeon 9700pro or is the cpu going 2 make me lose out on the power of the 9700pro? system specs are: xp 1700+ 512mb ddr 2700LL Hercules 9700pro 20 gb harddrive 400 psu win 98 Any help would be great as im thinking of updating 2 maybe xp2500+ if im losing out.

That's a good question and the answer is yes the cpu holds you back a fair amount. The following benchmark shows that a 9700pro is 40% faster than an 8500le when both are on an athlon 1000 and 60% faster when both are on an athlon xp 2700+. More significant imo is the importance of the cpu no matter what card you have. http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030120/vgacharts-05.html

I have my xp1700 clocked 2 1666 2 help but im still way off that xp2700+. Have you heard much of the barton chips? do you think the xp2500+ will be up 2 the task? Looked at the xp3000+ but the price gap is 300 pound!. Was thinking of maybe clocking a xp2500+ close 2 the xp3000+ and save a load of cash! But dont no how well they clock. Thanks for the help johnoh.

I haven't tried to oc a barton. Here are two links from people who have.... http://www.thenakedreview.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=333 http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=9988b723b1e6b93e158085fc6473669d&threadid=172258&highlight=barton

I wouldn't bother with a Barton. If you're willing to spend money for the 2500+ you'd prob rather the 2400+ less $ faster but it's not a barton with the extra L2 cache. For these speeds they're all about the same. for example in many tests the 2800+ t-bred i think it was out did the 3000+ barton. Why? because the 2800+ was clocked faster. You should take a look around at reviews to see what power for price performance you're looking for. Ie. my 2400+ outperforms the 2500+

Does the 333 fsb make any diffrence at all 2 the 266 on the 2400xp?. And i was also thinking about the 2600xp. Have a xp1700+ at the moment with pc2700LL ram. As the fsb runs at 266 and the ram is 333 am i losing out on performance from my new ram? Thanx for the help guys

Get an XP chip with 333fsb. I think one of the versions of the 2600+ has 333 fsb.