2339MHz!!!

     With a little effort and a minor voltage tweak, I was able to achieve 2339MHz (14 x 166MHz) at 1.75v . At 200MHz bus, the CPU would only do 2200MHz and not one bit more. To verify that the new motherboard was not holding me back, I tried the CPU on both the ABIT NF7-S and ABIT KX7-333R motherboards. Both motherboards failed to beat 2339MHz while still remaining 100% stable.

(click on images for larger version)

CPUID

Sandra CPU Benchmark

Sandra Multimedia Benchmark

Sandra Memory Benchmark

RC5-72 Benchmark - 7,285,418 keys/sec

Conclusion

     I hate to say it, but the AMD Athlon XP 2700+ is a bit of a disappointment in the overclocking department. However, the CPU does perform very well at default clock speed. There is a huge difference between the performance you see at 133MHz bus and what you see at 166MHz bus. The chip was even able to run at 200MHz FSB without any problems at all, which is a giant leap in performance over 133MHz bus based CPUs. At 200MHz FSB, the test system felt like is was pumping steroids through it's veins. But let's be realistic, most people would purchase this CPU as an upgrade wanting nothing more than to have a 2700+ CPU...No more, no less. If you are purchasing this CPU with that mindset, then the 2700+ is a great buy.

     As far as getting the most bang for your buck, the 2700+ just doesn't impress me at all. You only get a small increase in performance over the 2400+ and it costs nearly twice as much. The 2400+ is even a far better overclocker (see it here) which is another big reason the 2400+ is a far better buy. Sure, there is such a thing as "luck of the draw" and it is possible that there are better 2700+ chips out there, but judging from what I've seen so far, I'm keeping my 2400+.

You can purchase the AMD Athlon XP 2700+ at Memory4Less.com