In our review of the Athlon XP 3200+ and XP 3000+ a couple of months ago, we discussed how AMD and Intel have been going through their current line of processors and "enhancing" them. Rather than introducing higher clocked processors, each company has either increased the cache of their processor, increased the Front Side Bus (FSB) speed, or both.

Now AMD has gone back down their CPU line and changed what is known as the Athlon XP 2600+. This CPU has come in two flavors up until now. Previously, you were able to purchase an XP 2600+ with a 266MHz FSB or a 333MHz FSB. The XP 2600+ was the highest clocked Athlon XP CPU mated to the 266MHz FSB. (The Athlon MP 2800+ CPU utilizes the 266MHz bus too.) Now it is time for the XP 2600+ to move to the Barton Core as will all of the Athlon XP processors eventually.

With the XP 2600+ moving to the Barton core, the clock speed of the CPU will go down but the FSB will go up. With the added cache, the Barton core outperforms the previous Thoroughbred core at equal clock speeds. This increase translates to roughly a 300MHz jump in the performance rating clock for clock; thus, the XP 2600+ is able to move from 2083MHz on a 333MHz FSB down to 1916MHz on a 333MHz FSB. In the case of the 266MHz FSB version of the previous XP 2600+, the clock moves down from 2133MHz, but the FSB moves up on the Barton core.

Take a look at the following chart to see where the chips stand as of now.

Chart of AthlonXP CPUs

With the FSB on the XP 2600+ moving to 333MHz, soon many users using KT333 and older motherboards will find they are unable to upgrade beyond an XP 2400+. There are a select few KT333 motherboards that will support it, but they are few and far between.

The Athlon CPU has been a longtime favorite for the overclocking enthusiasts. As the Athlon product line has aged, the level of success in overclocking has changed with each new core. Not only has the Athlon CPU changed, new motherboards supporting higher FSB speeds and memory timings have enhanced the overclocking experience. Currently, the best motherboards for overclocking the Athlon XP CPU are based on the nForce2 chipset from NVIDIA. Many have found that nForce2 motherboards from various manufacturers automatically unlock the multiplier on Athlon XP processors. Be sure to check out other users experience before you purchase an nForce2 motherboard for overclocking purposes.

For our overclocking tests, we used the ABIT NF7-S Ultra 400 nForce2. This board does in fact unlock the CPU and has no problem running up to a 220MHz FSB. Time and time again, this board has proved to be a real work horse.

When the XP 3200+ was introduced a few months ago, it became apparent where the end of the line was for the Athlon CPU. The XP 3200+, using a Barton core, operates at a speed of 2200MHz while riding on a FSB of 400MHz. Most users work very hard to push their Athlon CPU beyond this 2200MHz threshold no matter what core their Athlon CPU is based on. While this is not good news for purchasers of the higher end processors trying to overclock, it has played out rather well for purchasers of the lower end Athlon XP CPU.

You definitely know that through SEO, your business will benefit hugely, so you have to make sure to find the right Link Building Company that can help you gain your goals SEO on lookup motor rankings, finding the best Link Building Company for your business is a lot more crucial than ever. Link building Company will help you | Simple Website Templates. Every great website and web design needs a starting place or point. Our own newly redesigned website started from a basic template that was heavily modified to suit our needs and the same can be done for you. Using our simple sea website templates on our site you can buy website templates

To see the XP 2600+ run at the XP 3000+ speeds without adjusting the voltage was very nice indeed. Taking into account the XP 2600+ is priced near $100 and the XP 3000+ is over $250, you have to consider it a steal. When you consider there is not an Athlon XP 3500+ to be purchased anywhere, the XP 2600+ looks even better as long as you are willing to overclock it a bit.