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Product:
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Upgradeware XP-TMC Athlon XP Multiplier Upgrade Kit |
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Price:
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$40 (CAN) / $28 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Bytewize Computers
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Author:
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Hi-TEK
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Date:
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August 4th, 2003
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Rating:
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To start performance tests, I assembled the following pieces of hardware to complete the system:
- MSI KT3 Ultra 2 Motherboard (Socket A/333MHz FSB)
- AMD Athlon XP 1700+ CPU TBRED-B
- 512 MB Kingmax Tiny BGA DDR 333 RAM
- Visiontek Xtasy G4 440MX video card
- Maxtor D40X-GL 60 GB Hard drive
- D-Link DFE-530TX NIC card
- Generic 44x CDROM
- Generic 300w Power Supply
To test the effectiveness of the XP-TMC, I manually locked the AMD Athlon XP 1700+ CPU TBRED-B mutiplier
settings at 11x by adjusting the toggle switches on the bottom of the unit. This step is not
necessary for more modern motherboards since the mutiplier can be adjusted in BIOS.
Upgradeware provides a clock frequency table on their website, which lists the appropriate multiplier
setting for each rated AMD XP CPU. Once the machine was powered, I then proceeded to raise the FSB (Front
Side Bus) settings from the stock 133MHz in small increments and kept testing the system for stability.
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On my second attempt I was able to get the FSB up to 145MHz effectively increasing the performance of the
CPU from stock 1467MHz (11x145) to almost 1600MHz. The AMD Athlon XP 1700+ CPU TBRED-B cores are known for their
amazing overclocking ability and I'm sure with more time I could have easily pushed this system beyond
2000MHz using standard air cooling. One important point to keep in mind is that you also need to factor in
additional heat that will be generated from a CPU and should deploy a series of case fans to keep
temperatures to a minimum. Over the next few days I will be running a series of application benchmarks
to gage the performance and overall stability of the system.
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Conclusion:
The Upgradeware XP-TMC Athlon XP Multiplier Upgrade Kit is a good product that is targeted towards a specific
group of individuals. Due to its limited nature and purpose, I can only see a select few individuals in the
overclocking community that will actually find this product useful. The installation is very straightforward
and can be completed in less than 30 minutes. The included 2-page reference sheet is adequate but could be
more comprehensive as well as include warning guidelines and troubleshooting sections. There are specific
conditions that need to be met such as having an AMD XP CPU unlocked prior to use. Since the XP-TMC is a
multiplier adjustment module, consumers are still required to adjust voltage requirements in BIOS manually
to compensate for new power requirements. Where the product shines is that you can effectively hardware control
your multiplier settings (5.0x-24.0x) for your CPU as well as use newer Thoroughbred and Barton cores on older
Socket A motherboards. Most users looking to get into overclocking will no doubt be looking for cheaper unlocking
kits that are currently on the market as well as migrate over to high performance motherboards from ABIT, ASUS,
DFI, Gigabyte MSI and Soyo which allow multiplier, voltage and FSB setting adjustments all done from within BIOS.
Overall, I'm rating the Upgradeware XP-TMC Athlon XP Multiplier Upgrade Kit a final rating of
7 out of 10. If you have any questions regarding this
review be sure to visit the Bytewize Computers website for more
information or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Works on all Thoroughbred and Barton cores
- Hardware controlled multiplier (5.0x-24.0x)
- Simple installation that can be completed in less than 30 minutes
- Allows older Socket A motherboards to use AMD XP CPU's
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Cons:
- More expensive than existing unlocking kits
- AMD XP CPU must be unlocked prior to use
- Voltage adjustments must be done from BIOS
- Modern motherboards include all the necessary overclocking features in BIOS
- Limited segment of the overclocking community will need this product
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