Thoughts on Barton 3200+

[tpmeade]

How did everyone think the 3200+ performed....Do you think it deserves the rating? Also what did you think about the reveiw over at Tomshardware?

Tom's conclusion:
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030513/athlon_xp-22.html

I was surprised by this since other sites praised it.

[Brian]

Tom's Hardware, I think, is a very trusted site. I have looked to them for the final word before I buy something, but until we (The Tech Lounge) test it ourself, I can't make proper judgement on Tom's review.

At least they don't suck up to sponsors :-P

[handrail]

got 0wnz3d by the P4 over on tom's. but it still will be cheaper to buy an AMD over a P4.

don't think it really need's to be called the 3200. I think it would be equally impressive if they called it the 2900 as it still keeps up with the 3.0Ghz P4 for most processes. Calling it the 3200 is just marketing, and as we all know marketers lie like that soap made by those pioneer ladies at the colonial village re-enactment things.

[Kurtis]

hopefully sometime soon AMD will send us one and we can tell you ourselves :(

[tpmeade]

Hey Kurtis...do you guys get to keep what companies give you for review.

[bigapl]

if they do i wanna start my own site

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

it depends on the company
somtimes they do, sometimes they dont

(im not kurtis, but thats probably gon be his ansewr heh ;) ...or soemthing along those lines)

[Kurtis]

actually we always keep the stuff.

the only exceptions are the very few sponsors who ask for the items back. often times companies that only sell cameras or monitors will ask for the items back, but we have gotten several cases, and a motherboard and some high-performance memory, and we get to keep it all. I expect that if a huge company like Samsung was to send us a monitor, we would get to keep it.

It depends, but almost always we get to keep it, a nice little perk of owning a review site. But don't fool yourself, this is not easy work, we spend a LOT of time on this site and testing products and writing reviews.

[Mixam]

actually we always keep the stuff.

the only exceptions are the very few sponsors who ask for the items back. often times companies that only sell cameras or monitors will ask for the items back, but we have gotten several cases, and a motherboard and some high-performance memory, and we get to keep it all. I expect that if a huge company like Samsung was to send us a monitor, we would get to keep it.

It depends, but almost always we get to keep it, a nice little perk of owning a review site. But don't fool yourself, this is not easy work, we spend a LOT of time on this site and testing products and writing reviews.

Actually no to the Samsung thing you said. David at Extentiontech got 2 Samsung lcd's to review. If I remember correctly it was one 19" and one 15". They had to return them.

As a general rule vendors will not want the product back. Some small stores will want it back. And manufactures often ask for it back too. Though most cpu's video cards motherboards are for keeps. Basically it depends on the price. Not many companies will let you keep a $2000 monitor for instance but they don't mind if you keep a $150 motherboard or ram.

In summary it depends on the company. At monster-hardware we rarely have to give anything back. In fact if they say they want it back after the review we generally don't review it unless its really really cool. You see contrary to popular belief most reviewers don't get paid. Getting free hardware helps to make it worth while. But I tell you for the amount of work it is to run a site, its just not worth it just for the free hardware. I could be working a job at Mcdonalds for the amount of hours I work on the site and be able to buy the stuff. The big sites with advertising are an exception to this rule. They get paid and they get free stuff.

[tpmeade]

I would like to say keep up the good work guys and if you have any over flow my email is tanner-meade@uiowa.edu! :D

[Edbo245]

Being a Amd fan myself I would like to say that I think Amd got alittle ahead of them selfs by naming it 3200+ & I think 3000+ or maybe even 2800+ rating would have worked better. And about Tomshardware I think that they review all products pretty well.

[Kurtis]

I lost a bit of respect for Toms when they did all that crap with Nvidia. I won't go into detail about it, but if you know what im talking about you probably lost respect for them too... greed = bad!

[nark]

I lost a bit of respect for Toms when they did all that crap with Nvidia. I won't go into detail about it, but if you know what im talking about you probably lost respect for them too... greed = bad!

yeah, sometimes i just cant seemt to trust their reviews. Their reviews once in a while seem to be unresonalby skewed.

Back to the topic. For the price, i dont think the 3200+ is worht it. By spending $200 less, you can get the 3000+ and then overclock it a bit.

[Kurtis]

I have a rig setup with a hamster on steroids. he spins that wheel fast as hell. i just gotta figure out how to make the wheel compute... uhh... yeah...

[nark]

I have a rig setup with a hamster on steroids. he spins that wheel fast as hell. i just gotta figure out how to make the wheel compute... uhh... yeah...

its all about how you represent data. One word: Abstraction. Heck you can make a toaster a very powerful computing device. Making the hamster one shouldnt be too difficult

[Kurtis]

but the hamster is sorta fat... and hes not so bright either... hmmm maybe i should upgrade and get one of the hamsters that are in shape :P

[Hippy]

No way!!! This is one project sure to keep you going for ages till you have tweeked the hell outa it!

1) i bet the poor little bugger gets thirsty while doing running so just move the water bottle over to the wheel and postion it so he candrink and run - less time wasted not processing info while off-wheel.

2) You got the wonder is the wheel good enough for the hamster. Is it UV reactive? Is it the latest model? Could it be better aligned or need new grease? All very important questions and could effect the way your hamster views the wheel - if it aint cool he aint gona want to be in there.

3) Cage or cardboard box? You see a good cage will have better airflow and dependant on the layout of it you could maximise the cooling to such an extreme that the hamster sees the wheel as a PLACE TO COOL OFF eh? Cardboard boxes get stuffy.

3) I bet the wires your using to go from the hamster wheel to your monitor are not rounded. A good set of rounded cables (Copper braided for EMI protection) will surely make everything run sooooooooo much better and will be worth the extre $$$ and time/hassel replacing all your current wiring.

4) Entertain the little fella while he works - http://www.hampsterdance.com/ - has a wicked, soul moving selection of classic hamster sounds that will rock his world and get him running even faster.

GO FOR IT!!!

[MaNiAk21]

I don't trust Tom's, never have, since I read their first review I could tell it was payed for... but in my case on the subject, why buy a 3200+ when you could have a 1700+ and overclock it to 3100+ speeds... which translates, lower FSB but higher clockspeed. 8) :D

[Rich]

I think the review of the 3200 was accurate. At one time, I beleive the model numbering was accurate, but when Intel introduced the FSB800 and the hyperthreading, that was pretty much the end for the head to head comparisons. Don't get me wrong, the Bartons are great chips. If you really want the performance of a 3200, get a 2500 and OC it. $90 chip for $300 performance. In terms of those numbers, I think Intel takes a hit, although I have heard that the P4 2.4C's are also extremely overclockable, not sure what prices they are running at now. 8)

[MaNiAk21]

Yes, the 2.4Cs overclock like monsters, giant overclocking MONSTERS, better than the 1700+ Tbred B JIUHB that I have even... :o :x

[Brian]

I don't like to bash other sites, but Tom's has a history of favoring certain sponsors. They also like to sue people who expose the truth. Remember the whole THG / AMDMB thing?

[MaNiAk21]

Yeah, I don't trust Tom at all, and he just keeps making it worse and worse for himself with his exploits...

[Rich]

I have found that Tom's seem to cater to a different audience. A lot of their reviews do have a lot of info, but I personally don't care what the lightest laptop is now. They do have a lot of good How-to articles. Their CPU and Vid card reviews are very comprehensive, but when everyone send you their cards and CPU's it is a lot easier to give a broad range of products.

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

toms isnt very trustworthy

if u know about the Toms/amdmb thing, its really quite sad actually

and then theres toms vs [H] (im pretty sure in my dryinken state ive got things right lol...)

[knucks]

I'd never get a 3200+. For it's price, I rather get a 3.06 GHz P4 that smokes the 3200+ in nearly everything.

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

id get a 2500+ if i wanted a barton and oc it lol
or one of them miracle 1700+

[MaNiAk21]

Yes, mircale indeed, saved me tons of money. :P :D

[BioNiKaL]

thats almost what im getting for my birthday an athlon xp 2600+ barton core hoping to clock to a 3000+ as soon as i can afford cooling

[BioNiKaL]

my mistake the 2600+ doesnt come with barton core but a higher fsb my local pc store has 2500+ with barton core 512L2 cache etc and assures me he has plenty to go round... www.zipcomputers.com.au

[Rich]

Don't know how the 2600's overclock, but if they work as well as the 2500, then you should be good. Although I have found that some work better than others. I got mine up to 12X * 200 @1.725V It was mostly stable, but would sometimes decide to reboot. dropped it down to 11.5X and has been very stable.