I'm looking to buy a faster processor, I currently have a stock XP2200+, 512mb of Crucial PC2700 ram and an Abit NF7-S v2.0 motherboard, Coolermaster Aero7 Lite, Artic silver 5, Ti4200 128mb, seagate Barracuda 7200rpm ATA using Abit serielle2 adaptor.

I've been looking for a faster processor for gaming and I have ssen a Barton 2800+ for £65, which is reasonable money. I was wondering whether it would be worth paying extra for a 3000+ or 3200+. In real-world terms are they much faster considering they cost a fair bit more than the 2800+?
P.S. I'm no benchmark geek, I couldn't give a stuff what score it gets providing it does what I want well.

I have considered buying a mobile barton for overclocking but I'm not sure I can be bothered to overclock for the sake of a few quid. Seems like a headache and invalidates the warranties. I don't trust myself enough not to do damage.

I kind of expected that overclocking could be done using some sort of user-friendly windows utility in 2 minutes that works out how far it can push your chip based upon your exact setup without compromising reliability. I really can't see the fun in adjusting voltages etc in the bios for hours on end to get the fastest stable settings.

What frequency does the 2800+ run at anyway?
Will it be much of an improvement over the 2200+ I already have? Is it worth paying half as much again for the 3000+, or even an extra £10 on top again for the 3200+????
Will my existing setup be a problem?

Thanks. Any advice much appreciated.

I don't think the results will be as great as you hope.

How are you running your current setup? I'm guessing you have a 2200+ Tbred that's unlocked? If I was you, I'd experiment & see what she'll do. With PC2700 RAM, you should at least have your CPU clocked at 11 x 166mhz (1833mhz) with your RAM running in sync.

Have you tried pushing that PC2700 to see how much you can get out of it? 175mhz should be no prob (CPU at 10.5 x 175)...you may hit 185mhz (CPU at 10 x 185). If you're lucky, you may even hit 200mhz (CPU at 9 x 200).

I'm not sure if it's unlocked or not?!? How do I tell?

Is there an easy way to overclock??, perhaps a windows based utility with a slider bar that you can just drag up or down to adjust performance, then it calculates out all the cr@p for you????

So you don't think a new 2800+ Barton chip would offer much of an improvement over a stock 2200+ t/bred then??

Thanks.

actually, there is an overclocking utility for your board

http://www.nvidia.com/object/sysutility_1.08.5.html

"I kind of expected that overclocking could be done using some sort of user-friendly windows utility in 2 minutes "

In 7/04 overclocking still takes thought or experience. That is not a bad thing.

Your current setup can be overclocked to be as good or better than any of the setups you propose.

I would get a mobile Barton 2500+ and some PC3200 ram. AMD Mobile cpu's are always unlocked. Simply switch the fsb to 400MHz and the ram to 400MHz and you already have a 3200+. Then raise the vcore a little. Then see how far you can push the multipiler. You should be able to get a mobile 2500+ to at least 3400+ - 3800+ if you have great cooling. The biggest inprovment would be to buy a Western Digital 36GB Raptor hard drives. Even a better video card will help.