Looking at getting a new processor, and I have narrowed the field down to three processors:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton" 1.83 GHz ($75)
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ "Thoroughbred" 2.08 GHz ($84)
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ "Barton" 1.9 GHz ($85)

Everthing else is the same specs except on the L2 Cache. The Thoroughbred has 256K instead of 512K.

Also I need a heatsink and fan for it also.

What is everyone sugestions on combination of Processor and heatsink.

Other relevant info:
Motherboard: ASUS An78x-x
Memory: 1024 MB Corsair XMS Low Latency PC2700
I might do some overcloking to the processor, but only a little if I do.

Thanks

Go with the Barton 2500+. It has the largest cache of any of the Athlon processor, uses the least power per MHz, and produces the least heat. The larger core is more forgiving with cheap heatsinks as well (better heat transfer).

99% of Bartons will hit 2.0GHz at stock voltage. Most of those even hit 2100MHz at stock voltage. Both are simple, and safe, overclocks.

As far as heatsinks, there is no reason to go with a very expensive one, just make sure that the heatsink fan flows enough air (over 25CFM), but it quiet enough to prevent being a nuisance (35dB or less). A good choice for a cheap, quiet fan, would be the speeze WhisperRock or FalconRock heatsinks. The FalconRock would be preferrable, since it has a copper slug in the base that will help to get rid of heat.

The FalconRock is $10.50 over at newegg: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-150-023&depa=0

Heatsinks like the FalconRock are the way to go, since the heatsink flutes out from the base, and allows the larger 80mm fans to be used. The 80mm fans are usually used for cases, and since they can turn slower than a 60mm fan of the same flow rating, they are much more reliable, and much quieter.

Good luck!

-Plack

Arg! Seek42 managed to log me out once again... That above post was me.

-Plack

I recommend the Thermaltake Silent Boost ($25-$30) it is a good value for a copper heat sink, and a quite fan.

i would go athlon 2800+ (barton, 2.08gHz) and a Zalman CNPS6000-Cu heatsink/fan. that HSF when set to silent mode still provides all of the cooling required by an AMD processor to keep it running, with only like a 21dba noise level. It's only 28 bucks on newegg and the last i checked, the processor itself was only like 90 bucks.

Yeah, I'm running a Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu, and sweet Jesus does it work like a champ. It dropped my CPU idle temps over 20C by itself.

You could opt for a Mobile AMD processor. They only use 1.45 (some of them actually...some use more) volts as opposed to 1.65 volts. Most nForce2 boards recognize them.