Best option right now -> P4 Northwood?

[cowdog]

Having waited for the A64 price increases (rolls eyes) and socket 754 mobos that actually have a pci/agp lock (rolls eyes again), I have started to think that the best (oc'ing) system option right now is something like a P4 2.8C or 3.0C. Northwoods cpus are proven and at this late stage in their cycle, they are probably at their oc'ing best. 865/875 mobos are rocking along and offer pretty much everything one could want. Any recommendations on an 865/875 mobo? I was thinking Abit AI7 simply because I think I'll have a good shot at 1:1 with one of my memory sets and the price is sub $100. Asus boards get rave reviews, but dang they aren't cheap.

So unless I were to wait for the next round of action with new sockets for both A64 and Prescott#2 (April? May? later?) and be willing to fork over for a new vid card and maybe a new case (will that be required then?), I think my above assessment holds water.

Any thoughts or comments?

edit: I have recently come across some oc results from people with P4 NW 3.0 D1 stepping (in Europe). Great to sicko great results (4 Ghz on stock cooling?). Is that something that is or will be available in the US, anytime soon? Might just be that one super lucky cpu too.

 

[tallman45]

For the money the Asus P4S800D-E Deluxe 655tx ($105) offers 875 like performance, maybe not as overclockable but with the $60-$70 that you will save over a P4C800-E Deluxe you can go up a level in CPU and have very similar performance.

As for waiting, well new technology is always coming out, get what suits your needs today there is more than enough performance in virtually any system you will build to last for a while.

 

[McArra]

A64 is the best performer @stock and overclocked for everything except encoding.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: McArra
A64 is the best performer @stock and overclocked for everything except encoding.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: McArra
A64 is the best performer @stock and overclocked for everything except encoding.

But a-64 isn't Northwood.

(see topic's title)

The 2.80c is at the best "price-performance" spot for Northwoods ~$180 and usually o/c'able (mine hits 3.4Ghz at default voltage).

I recommend the Abit IC7g ($113 at NewEgg) which is a nice o/c'ing MB (no lan).

And it isn't such a loss if your memory is forced to run at 5:4.

 

[cowdog]

I am not convinced I will get best performance with A64, given equal dollars spent. Looking at Xbit labs comparision of cpus (over $200), a p4 at 3.4 GHz does very well against the A64 chips. If I can get 3.5-3.6 GHz (crap shoot I know), I will have very favorable performance compared to an A64. A64 oc'ing is even more of a crap shoot, esp. with the current mobo options. 2.2GHz from a 3000+ or 3200+ seems to be the max possible. Now a 2.8c is about $40 less than an A64 3000+, and 3.4 to 3.6 GHz on air is not out of the question. It seems to me that AMD is losing the price-performance race for my price range and willingness to oc. Feel free to try and convince me otherwise, but that's how it is looking right now. My last 2 systems were AMD. I am also a bit peeved at AMD for today's announced market strategy, which I think will backfire.

 

[myocardia]

Cowdog, Apoppin recommends almost exactly the same motherboard I recommend, the Abit IC7 (not the g). It's available here at newegg for $113. It has the 875 chipset, instead of the 865 chipset, and is a proven overclocker. It's the board that I plan on buying for MY P4C chip. But, I would recommend getting the 3.0C, because it seems to be a much, much better overclocking chip than either the 2.8C or the 2.6C. Plus, if you don't get as high of an overclock as you were hoping for, you'll still more than likely be higher than the other two chips.

 

[oldfart]

You are getting good advice. Abit IC7 875 mobo and a 2.8 or 3.0C is a good bet.

 

[cyman83]

i just got an abit ai7 with 865pe chip and a 2.8c. its doing 3.5 @ 1.6v. its beats the crap out of my barton 2500+@3200+ at encoding.

 

[Tom]

cowdog-

I concur with your assessment. Not that that it isn't possible to build a nice A64 setup, I just think the P4 cpu/motherboard combo gives a better overall value at this point.

Partly that's because I don't see much real value in the 64 bit feature for several months or longer, and the game advantage everybody talks about doesn't seem very significant to me in terms of actual game playing.

While the advantages of the P4 are more substantial, mostly Hyperthreading and lots of good motherboards to choose from.

 

[Showtime]

Im in the same market and was wondering about the 2.8 prescott? How's that oc? I've read that around 3.6+ghz it starts outshing C chips at the same speed.
I'm also contemplating that globalwin silent stream cooler for it.

Any thoughts.....

-show