BayReviews

The AMD Athlon XP 2500+ was the fastest processor I had until I upgraded to my new AMD Athlon 64 4000+ which is furious.

I had used this processor in my first built system for about six to eight months and during that time I never had any problems with it. I will try my best to get all of the most helpful information on this review, but since it is my second about processors I may still leave some information out (using the same layout). Please forgive me for any mistakes and do advice me for improvements.  Please refer to the How to purchase a processor guide for full details on what questions to ask yourself before purchasing a processor.


INSTALLATION :
The installation was easy even though it was my first time building my own system from scratch. I had read the instruction and other resources on how to safely install processors and I think that helped me a lot the first time. I purchased the Asus A7N8X motherboard to go with this processor since I only heard good things about Asus from one of my friends. The easy installation guide that is in the box comes in handy if you are doing this for the first time. The guide helps you get setup step-by-step on what to do to properly install you processor.

After installing the processor, you can either choose to install the stock (I did get the heatsink even though it was unboxed) heat sink (which is perfectly good if you do not plan to overclock) or one of you favorites that will keep you processor cool and performing at its best. One tip I would like to give you if you are planning to install it yourself; use Arctic Silver thermal grease when installing the heatsink. This will keep your processor performing at its best even if you overclock it.

Now when you boot-up for the first time with this processor, you would probably have to clear your CMOS to make sure you start out with a clean system, but that is not always the case. Just install your operating system of choice or if you already have an operating system installed, just boot up. One thing to keep in mind when booting for the first time is to keep an eye on the processor temperature (specially if you used a different heatsink or overclocked).

I did not have any problems installing or booting with this processor at all because everything was simple and easy. One thing I would like to mention is that the default speed set by AMD on this processor is 1100 MHz, so you have to go and change the CMOS settings to get it up to its recommended 1.8 GHz (1800 GHz) speed. Other than that I had no problems with installing this processor and using it right away. I did not have to install an operating system after installing because Windows XP had no problem working with this processor at all.