Thoughts
Our look at the AMD Athlon XP-M Barton 2500+ yielded a number of positive results. It fits straight into a desktop S462 board without modification (uPGA XP-Ms excepted), is fully unlocked for multiplier selection, defaults to only 1.45v at 1.83GHz, and overclocks prodigiously. Perusing forums across the web, it appears that our results are firmly in line, and even below, what others are managing. We've mentioned that the Barton architecture was a potent one, so a ~2.4GHz Barton was expected to do well in most benchmarks.It's naive to assume that just because our sample hit close to 2.4GHz every XP-M Barton 2500+ will. Yet we feel confident in stating that most should exceed Barton XP3200+ levels if given enough voltage.Thinking about value for money for a second or two, £150 is enough to purchase a decent nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboard and an mobile Barton XP2500+. That's less than the price of an Athlon 64 Model 3000+, notwithstanding its excellent performance. Readers who already own a decent S462 board with, say, a slower processor should, we feel, explore this avenue before jumping ship to either the Athlon 64 or Pentium 4 camps. The low-voltage nature of the CPU can also be used to power an ultra-quiet system, should the user be so inclined.
The results speak for themselves. High performance doesn't necessarily have to be limited to the Athlon 64 or top-end Pentium 4 CPUs. What's more, it can be achieved with a £70 CPU.
We'll leave you with the tantalising news that Mobile Barton XP2500+s with a stepping beginning with I - IQYFA, for example, have been reportedly hitting 2.6GHz on air. There's food for thought.
