Hi, I'm in the process of building a new pc and need some advice on choosing a processor. I have a Abit-KT7A-RAID mobo and plan on overclocking. I'm stuck between the AMD Thunderbird, Athlon, and Duron. I have heard that the Thunderbird 750 is highly overclockable, up to 1100 mhz. Are the faster thunderbirds just as overclockible? I have also heard that the Duron 850 is good as well as the Athlons. Which one is the best performance wise and for overclocking?

Well, first things first...you can't use the tradition Slot A Athlon's on that board. Today, when people say 'Athlon' most of them are refering to the older Slot A design Athlon's. A lot of people confuse the new Thunderbirds with the older Athlon, and rightly so...according to AMD they are both 'Athlon's'!!!

Anywho, if you have to choose between a Thunderbird and a Duron, I'ld go with...the Duron! Why, cause I'm cheap...and they OC so well! I've got my 600@950, and I should be getting some quality RAM one of these days so we'll really see what she can do! Thunderbirds are cool I guess...my friends have a 1.1 and a 1.2 GHz, but they don't overclock as well...sucks really

From what I've heard, I'ld go for either a Duron 600-700, or a Thunderbird 750-850...but I'm stupid so disregard this whole post NERO!!!

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How much money do you have to spend? The Duron will overclock higher then the T-Bird. I had a Duron 600 that was stable at 1100mhz with 2.12v. I also have a T-Bird 900@1200 2.12v and a 1200@1400 2.0v. The Duron is hard to beat with its low price and ability to overclock so high. It takes about 150mhz extra out of a Duron to equal the T-Birds cache advantage. A Duron at 1100mhz is about equal to a T-Bird at 950mhz. If you want the satisfaction of a big overclock at a budget price go for the Duron. If you can spend the extra money then get yourself a T-Bird. My T-Bird 900 would only do 1000 at 1.85v and the Duron 600 would do 950 at 1.85v. If you are serious about getting the most out of your system then you will probably need to do the voltage mod to your mobo. Dont let that green/blue core fool you. My T-Bird 900@1200 is a green core.

Personally I would go with the duron as well since they are so cheap now and they overclock so easily. Even the 850 is a steal right now. Oh by the way, for a short time, AMD Released a Slot A TBird @ 1GHz. Freaky huh? I've already picked out the processor for my GF's machine and it's a duron 850. Got to love amd's cheapness and ease to overclock!

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-sect0r

I say go with the Tbird. It has a larger cache, and will oc just as well as the duron. It might not go higher, because it starts off 100 mhz slower, but the cache will compensate for that.

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People are idiots! I'm a person.

If you have the money, I'd grab a T-Bird 1.2ghz, I believe they are factory unlocked and most of them recently seem to do 1.3-1.5ghz (on the new boards). If you don't, you should give a duron a try for a quick 1ghz setup. You may want to try the overclockerz store or the anandtech forums if you want to buy a guaranteed chip.

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Editor-in-Chief
Hardware Daily
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If money is not a problem, I would get one of the 266mhz tbirds. That is what I will be getting for my new system. That would give you a little performance boost, and with the lower multiplier maybe you will get better overclocking results too.

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266MHz?? It's got 266MHz FSB support you mean. If you have the money look for a 1.2GHz T-bird Athlon. I think that's what all might Matt () meant.

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Well roughly 150mhz will replace the cache difference. Personally a duron is a much better choice when you think about it. They stay cooler when overclocking due to a smaller cache and like said above, Overclocking 150 mhz gives you a TBirds cache difference then you can push it to what ever you like. I just don't see the 200 bucks for a 1GHz Tbird worth it right now with the new processors coming out soon.

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-sect0r

A thunderbird with a 266 fsb will do nicely the larger chache will help more then spending less money on the duron, I know as I have a T-Bird and I have used a duron at the same speed as my T-Bird. My T-Bird was way way faster in programs like Diablo 2, Need For Speed Porsche, and 3D Studio Max 3. Those programs realy work a system and in my opinion, showd me what machine is better.

sect0r has a good point with the 150MHz cache equation. It does seem reasonable as well to go with the Duron with new processors on the way. However cyberbike85 makes a great point and emphasizes the comparison he made, the thunderbird is "way way" better. I tend to believe it. How real is the 150Mhz Overclock equating to the cache of a Thunderbird?

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ECS K7S5A
T-Bird 1400
NO O/C! "AAAAAUUUU"

http://koti.mbnet.fi/~tejo/pics/Testit/1260mhz/

Check out these Unbelievable Sisoft Sandra Benchmarks on the Duron600 clocked to 1260MHz!

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ECS K7S5A
T-Bird 1400
NO O/C! "AAAAAUUUU"

I'd suggest an Athlon, their have the best bang for your buck, and they are very fast.

Get a Duron you won't be sorry

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AMD-phile

I would definitely agree.. I'm running a Duron 700 with the KT7.. (not raid..)

Ryan