Intel users, would this be a decent upgrade?

[Ardan]

I know my stuff, and have built many systems but I'm foreign to Intel chipsets lately. So did I my research and came up with the following:

1. $183 2.8Ghz Pentium 4-C Retail
2. $85 Abit IS7-E

Is that okay? I'm looking for a cheap upgrade, and I *know* that I can stand to improve in what I do for moving to a Pentium 4 system. I have an XP 3200+ right now, and my goal is to outfit a soon-to-be-upgraded 700Mhz Athlon system a sibling is using with this NF7-S rev 2 and XP 3200+. I will be getting some OCZ DDR400 High-Perf RAM soon (2x512Mb) and will be getting the CPU/mobo in the summertime.

Now, what I am mainly curious about is the retail fan. Okay, so I noticed the price difference between OEM and Retail Intel CPUs is almost non-existent....but is the HSF good enough? I have some Arctic Silver Ceramique around that I would use to atttach it in, and my case has 1x120mm fan in the rear and the front. The room temperature, in a basement in Minnesota, is around 64-68 F at any given moment...68 being the highest it will ever be. I will be overclocking it, but only to 3.2Ghz if I find the increase could benefit me. I won't be going any higher than that anytime soon. What do you think?

I was also thinking of MSI's PT880-based board that was reviewed on HardOCP. I noted what they said...that the North American version is $59 and doesn't have the gigabit NIC or Firewire. I will never use Firewire or have a need for a gigabit NIC card anytime soon. Would that be a better decision? That could put my total $ required at $239 and i'm sure it would go down as the months progress. The Athlon 64 3000+ I was considering is $211 all by itself. I like the stability of the Pentium 4 and its chipsets, and the compatibility. I also always strive to be unbiased with consumer products, which is why I came to this conclusion that a P4 upgrade is for me. Anyone have some thoughts about the motherboard? I have my sights set on the P4 2.8Ghz Northwood, because the P4 2.8E was branded as "don't bother" by many reviewers and the Prescott cores run pretty hot, as we all know. So I just need help on the motherboard selection.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!
Please, no AMD vs Intel replies

 

[o1die]

If you want to save some more, you might get lucky and find a 2.8c in newegg's refurbished section for $138 shipped, without heatsink. They usually have the Intel stock heatsink for $5 shipped. Only drawback is the 7 day warranty. I've only seen them available twice in the 2 years I've checked. They sell out in seconds. The abit is7-e is about $41 without any accessories or backplate. I only order them if I have a spare pc or parts in case they're doa, but so far, all the refurbs have worked for me except one enlight power supply.

 

[smahoney]

If you are only going to be doing some moderate overclocking than the stock heatsink with the AS Ceramique should be fine provided that there is adequate airflow in your case. The VIA PT880 chipset is very new and I would suggest looking at review it with an updated BIOS when you decide to buy. I like Abit as my first choice for a motherboard and the IS7 is very stable.

 

[joe2004]

You research is perfect, good choice.

 

[Ardan]

Originally posted by: smahoney
If you are only going to be doing some moderate overclocking than the stock heatsink with the AS Ceramique should be fine provided that there is adequate airflow in your case. The VIA PT880 chipset is very new and I would suggest looking at review it with an updated BIOS when you decide to buy. I like Abit as my first choice for a motherboard and the IS7 is very stable.

Thats what I was thinking of too. Well, I didn't look it up but someone mentioned that it was nice, but that it was new. So, I figured the IS7-E is a good choice. I always liked Abit, as the choice of my current motherboard would show, and it seems that reviews painted it in a good light. If the 875P motherboards drop in price by June or July, would they be a better choice?

Okay so, the stock 2.8C heatsink and fan is just fine for moderate overclocking? My case has great cooling in it...I use rounded IDE cables and my main HD is SATA. my 2500+ @ 3200+ is only about 40 or 41C under load, too.