surferdude7's Full Review: AMD Athlon XP 2600+, 2.08 GHz (AXDA2600BOX) Retail...
The AMD Athlon XP 2600 processor gives you QuantiSpeed architecture to give you the next generation in speed and performance. The Athlon XP 2600 is known as the Thoroughbred and will fit in a Socket A (Socket 462) motherboard.
For best performance I recommend a motherboard made for the processor and one with a 333 MHz front side bus though it will work in many motherboards with a 266 MHz FSB.
The Retail Kit
When upgrading a computer you can buy this processor in the OEM version and a Retail version. The OEM version is just the 2600 processor with a one year warranty. The retail version has a 3 year warranty and comes with a heat sink and cooling fan.
The processor itself is very small and thin with a lot of gold pins on one side and on the other side you can see the tiny processor and around it in a thin brown type board with four rubber tabs, one tab in each corner. The rubber tabs are made for protection on the processor when the heat sink is applied.
The heat sink is a monster compared to the processor with the cooling fan attached on top of the heat sink.
Installation
Installing the XP 2600 processor is rather easy, on the motherboard where the processor goes is a small lever that you raise up. Then you place the processor in all the tiny holes and it should slip in real easy, no force is needed and it will fit in one way only. Then you push the lever back down and that locks the processor tightly in the socket.
After the processor is installed you then place over it the large heat sink and cooling fan with a clamp inside the heat sink. The instruction need to be followed if you have never done an installation before. You will put a lot of pressure on the clamp to get it to snap in place so it will hold strongly against the processor to help cool it. Once the heat sink and fan is in place the processor is now hidden.
The AMD Athlon XP 2600
The Athlon XP 2600 runs at 2600 but it is only a 2.08 GHz processor. (It will run with any Intel 2600 processor and on some things outrun it.) The first 2600 processors that came out had a 266 MHz front side bus but shortly after the release of the AMD Athlon XP 2700 Processor they started releasing the 2600 in a 333 MHz front side bus.
Operations per clock cycle are 9, Floating Point Pipelines are 3, Integer Pipelines are 3, Full x86 decoders are 3 and it has a 333 MHz Front Side Bus. Total cache is 384KB with the L1 cache at 128K and L2 at 256K built-in the processor. Other features are QuantiSpeed Architecture and 3D Enhancement instructions with 3DNow! Professional.
The QuantiSpeed Architecture is for rapid execution of applications to enhance the performance of them and the 3DNow! has 21 original instructions to give you the best graphics possible.
Over-Clocking
The AMD Athlon XP 2600 processor can be over-clocked but be warned you must unlock the processor which is risky if you don’t know what you are doing. All warranties are gone if you mess with the processor.
If the risk doesn’t bother you then the speed boost performance by many people are from 2800 to over 3000. If you over-clock be sure you have a way of cooling the processor to prevent it from over heating, the heat sink and cooling fan that comes with the processor is not enough when you over-clock.
For now the XP 2600 has all the power I need so I won’t be over-clocking it for now.
Overall
The AMD Athlon XP 2600 is an excellent upgrade for any computer with smooth fast performance. Even my slow Internet connection of 56K seems to run smoother than before.
The retail price for the processor with the heat sink and cooling fan is about $329, I got mine at Multiwave Direct Online Store for $254.
To get the most out of the processor you need a good motherboard so I went with the Asus A7N8X Motherboard which is a great performer made for the XP 2600 with the 333 MHz FSB.
Windows XP Professional edition runs smooth without any problems with the XP 2600 processor which is designed for Windows XP.
Again AMD has proven to be a performer with quality and performance.
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