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Is northwood 1.6a really the way to go right now???

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$pade

Senior member
the northwood 1.6a looks very good and kind of reminds me of the celeron 300 (most overclockable chip at that time and the reason I started oc) but how well does it compare to the athlon xp in terms of price/performance. I think motherboard and ram prices are now equal for both platforms especially if you use ddr ram, so it all comes down to the cpu cost. Both the northwood 1.6a and xp 1800 retail boxed seemed to go for around 150, so lets try to compare them.

at stock speed:
athlon is faster without a doubt
northwood runs cooler and I believe the retail fan is quiter?
if u pair the northwood cpu with an 845d board or any intel based board, u will get a fool proof combo. the amd system will probably be just as stable but you have to be careful about mobo selection and system configuration...

but nobody runs them at stock speed here:
average oc result for xp 1800: 1757 Mhz (true mhz)
average oc result for 1.6a: 2326 and i hear 2100 is guaranteed?
(from overclockers.com)

now the big question is: Which one is faster, the athlon xp at 1757mhz or northwood at 2326?
 
I was dead set on getting an AMD Thoroughbred within the next few months, but it looks like that's been delayed for at least a few months. AMD is milking the .18um Palomino core WAY too much. They're getting way too hot to be able to keep a system quiet and cool without resorting to watercooling(which I've gotten out of).

So the Northwood definitely looks like the best processor at the moment for the overclocker that wants a quiet and cool system that can absolutely fly.

Hell, I even own a bit of stock in AMD. But I know how to be a smart consumer, and not some blind fanboy for (insert popular hardware manufacturer here).

Although if one is not overclocking, AMD wins hands down on price versus performance.

Defster

PS... I doubt you'll be pulling 1.7Ghz+ out of an XP without some VERY VERY high end aircooling or at least straight watercooling. Look at OCers.com and note that 20% of the very high overclocks do not use Plain-Jane aircooling. Take that into consideration when you realistically consider what you could get out of a luck-of-the-draw chip.
 
def

ya, the amd may win w/o oc'ing. but taking the northwood to 133 fsb really doesn't seem like oc'ing at all if by oc'ing you mean running the cpu beyond spec. i mean this thing runs real cool and stable at 133 fsb w/ standard hsf and no increase in voltage.

i guess it depends on how you define ocing, but the northwood at 133 fsb seems a lot better to me than any of the amd chips w/ only a 10% oc.
 
This may sound like a dumb question, but what is the difference between the 1.6a Northwood, and the higher ones like a 2.0 GHz Northwood.

Are they the same chip or different?

Does the higher base speed allow for higher overclocking?
 


<< This may sound like a dumb question, but what is the difference between the 1.6a Northwood, and the higher ones like a 2.0 GHz Northwood.

Are they the same chip or different?

Does the higher base speed allow for higher overclocking? >>



Same chips, just different core clock speeds. I hear the 1.8A, 2.0A, and 2.2A are harder OC at a 133fsb. Stick with the 1.6A. I don't OC, so I went with the 2.0A (the 1.6A was also not available when I bought my 2.0A).
 
I love AMD and currently the heavest used systems in the house are based on AMD cpu's but my next build will be a northwood P1.6a, lol, the nicest thing about intel cpu's is that if they are going to do the overclocking dance they generally do so straight out of the box with stock cooling and only minor voltage bumps if any. I love my AMD rigs but must admit that of all the oc'd systems I've built my old C300a probably was the most dependable,I'm curious to see if the P1.6a will be the same way 😀
 
I don't think you could go wrong with the Athlon XP or Northwood right now. Whatever your preference. I would wait and see what Throughbred will provide.
 


<< what's the eta on throughbred? >>



I'd give it at least 2-3 months before you can have it in your hands. Maybe more.

Kramer
 
I debated the same thing for about a month. After reading every review I could find on Northwoods and Athlon XPs, all the boards and chipsets that support each, and surfing through dozens of forums to see what actuall users had to say, I ended up getting a P4. There would have been no question about it if I had no plans on overclocking, cause the XP spanks the P4 clock for clock. But for someone who plans to o/c, in my mind, the P4 is the way to go right now. I picked up a P4 1.6A and an Asus P4B266, and I'm currently running at 140fsb, or 2.24Ghz. No voltage increase, stock HSF with AS3. Totaly stable and low temps. I wouldn't say that anything is guaranteed with the 1.6A as far as speed, but yes, the vast majority of 1.6A owners have reached 2.1 or higher.

In my mind:
Non-o/c - Athlon XP
o/c - P4


Note: Lets try not to turn this into a flame war people😀

 
I was planning on getting a Athlon XP 1800+, but I've found that I can get a P4 1.8A for the same price. This is due to the fact that I like the SIS 645 motherboards for the P4 so they are cheaper than the one that I like for the Athlon. Then, the fact that I save the $30 that I was planning on spending on a nice HS/F since I can go with the retail HS/F on the P4. I decided to go with the 1.8A because lately it seems like not as many people are able to hit high speeds with the 1.6A's and even at stock speed the 1.8A is fast enough for me. I am planning on overclocking though. My system is set up for an Athlon with all kinds of cooling so I should be able to easily hit 2.4GHz at 133MHz FSB with the 1.8A.
 
Just ordered my Northwood setup...Intel has done it again! From the Celery300>450, celery 366>550, celery 600@928 that i've had, this seems sweet.
 
i just put together a XP 1800+ for a friend and then clocked it to 1725mhz at 1.8 volts without any problems on a Abit KG7 motherboard. it definitly could have went higher but thats all he wanted to go. temps according to mbm was idle mid 30s to full load mid 40's i wouldnt say those were to hot of temps for a amd and this was air cooled with a alpha 8045 heatsink with a sunon fan on top..............



Jen
 
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