New CPU question(s)

[chorner]

Hey guys,

This has probably been asked a million times but regardless, here goes.

Which would be the best CPU to buy for overclocking purposes out of the following -

INTEL
-P4 3.0C
-P4 3.0E
-P4 3.2C
-P4 3.2E

AMD
-A64 3200+


The reason for these selections is that they are all around the same price point (and $400 CDN or less)

I already have a decent Athlon XP 3200+ based system, which is fine but am setting it up as a secondary system for my g/f's useage. I would assume there wouldn't be a GREAT increase inperformance, but either way I'd hope to gain atleast a 15% increase.

Anyways, how far do you think on 'average' would I be able to take those CPU's up to in MHz? Any advice? This time around for some reason I'm leaning towards an Intel based system, just because I've loved them and gotten alot more -or so I thought- out of my Intel systems than I have AMD.


p.s- I'll be using this for a mix of graphics/programming/web design some encoding, and games as well. So a bit of everything.

 

[myocardia]

The only two cpu's you should really should even be considering are the two best overclockers out of that bunch, the 3.0C and the A64 3200, although the 2.8C is a considerable overclocker, also. The average 3.0C does upwards of 3.6-3.7ghz on air, the average 2.8C does 2.4-2.5ghz on air, and the average A64 3200 does between 2.3-2.5ghz with air cooling.

 

[JBT]

The A64 3200 is also the best performing at stock so also consider that depending on what you are doing with it. Once OCed it should be that much better esspecially for gaming.

 

[jhurst]

Originally posted by: myocardia
The only two cpu's you should really should even be considering are the two best overclockers out of that bunch, the 3.0C and the A64 3200, although the 2.8C is a considerable overclocker, also. The average 3.0C does upwards of 3.6-3.7ghz on air, the average 2.8C does 2.4-2.5ghz on air, and the average A64 3200 does between 2.3-2.5ghz with air cooling.

He obviously means 3.4-3.5 for the 2.8C. Depending on what you want to spend, you can get a very good 2.8C chip for about $30 cheaper and it will run around 3.5ghz. Or spend more and OC to around 3.6ghz. There are no guarantees for overclocks, but that is the norm speed for those chips.

Stay away from the Prescotts (E).

 

[chorner]

Thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated.

So forget about the 3.2's and E's altogether I take it. Although if the E would overclock up to around 3.6-3.7GHz range, would it not be a better performer than an equally clocked P4 C at that point?

As for the Athlon 64, you make a good point .. its tempting (and my last 2 systems have been AMD) but I've yet to try out a good high-end P4 system and am inclined to just try it out -the platform- for the hell of it; regardless of the A64 scoring a little higher in benchmarks. I'd always loved my P3 systems, which were absolutely rock stable and fuss-free.

Not to say the current Athlon platforms aren't stable -havn't had any real problems at all with stability with my current rig, except for the fact that this Asus A7n8x has so far eaten and spit out 2 sticks of DDR400, and a new Pioneer DVD rom. - might be luck of the draw, but I've always had atleast 1 or two small problems when the AMD platform.

Might just be bad luck? I doubt it though ...

 

[myocardia]

Haha! Yeah, I did mean 3.4-3.5ghz for a 2.8C. And no, at the same clockspeed, a P4C will always outperform a Prescott (at the speeds we're capable of overclocking to now, anyway). Besides, are you willing to spend an extra $200 or more on a GOOD watercooling setup, so you can overclock a Prescott to 3.6ghz?

 

[RussianSensation]

2.8C@3.5ghz for $160US or A64 3000 +@2.4+ghz on this $92 US Board if you can find it for a reasonable price in Canada.

 

[chorner]

myocardia, I suppose not ... I've been thinking about buying a good watercooling kit actually, but I would be buying it with overclocking as an afterthought and noise reduction as the main point ... not that I wouldn't use it for overclocking purposes though but if its that much hassle to overclock the E version forget it.

Eitherway, I suppose you're right. Are the "heat problems" true of the E stepping, or just another rumour floating around. I read a little bit of the past Anandtech article on the heat dissipation of a handful of CPU's and from the quick glance I took it didn't look like the maximum heat generated by the E series wasn't that much, if really anything higher?

Anyways .. thats all irrelevant I guess I think I will go with a 3.0C and see what I get out of the sucker. I'm sure there will be atleast a 15% speed increase over my current XP 3200+ setup, especially overclocking it to 3.6Ghz or so if I can manage.

I like AMD ... but I still like Intel even better for some reason.

Another question though; would it be worth it to wait it out another few months for PCI-Xpress to hit the market? If I waited another 3 months, -I have yet to check out the Intel roadmap- I would assume they'll be offering up to 4Ghz in the Prescott (E) variant no? And that would mean dropping again, the price of the 3.0C and 3.2C's ... and I would assume they'll be supported as well with the next Intel chipset release?

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

Yeah, but if you wait another 3 months then BTX will be on the horizon.

Then if you wait for that you could get the Radeon R500 in another three months.

Then 3 months after that the Pentum4 4.5GHz will be ready.....

It just goes on and on.....

I've decided to build my next computer @ Christmas, no matter what is out at that time (of course, if no new games are out by then - 2 specific ones I'm thinking of - then maybe I won't build a new system).



-D'oh!

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: AnnoyedGrunt
Yeah, but if you wait another 3 months then BTX will be on the horizon.

Then if you wait for that you could get the Radeon R500 in another three months.

I highly doubt the R500 will be out in 6 months from now. More like a refreshed(faster/efficient) version of the R420 core.

 

[MegaWorks]

2.8C or 3.0C

------------------------------------------------------
AMD Athlon XP T-Bred B DLT3C 1700+ @ 2.3GHZ (1.775v) 400FSB = 3200+
Abit NF7-S V.2 (nForce2-U400)
Corsair TwinX XMS 3200LL 512MB @ 2-3-2-6 (2.6v)
Sapphire Radeon 9500 Pro 128MB
Antec TrueBlue 480W
Thermalright SLK-947U with 92mm Vantec Tornado @2800RPM
Antec PlusView 1000AMG
Cambridge SoundWorks MegaWorks THX 550 5.1

 

[chorner]

Annoyed Grunt,

I think maybe I you missed my point, or I didn't put it across well enough hehe

My point in asking about waiting for PCI-Xpress was because of the complete change-over in industry standards. Such as when ISA slots were eliminated, it wouldn't have made much sense to buy a bunch of ISA periferals (sound, network, modem etc.) if I couldn't carry those base periferals over for some time afterwards.

SO to rephrase that, would it be wise If I am buying a new system to completely rid myself of the 'older standards' and buy a new system based entirely around PCI-Xpress and SATA etc.

 

[MichaelZ]

go with a 2.8C or 3.0C for a decent 600-700 mhz overclock. just hope you get a good overclocker.

as for waiting, if you want to overclock, probably better to get tried and true hardware such as the current northwoods C and i875 boards. if you wait, well obviously we won't know how well the new stuff overclocks until reviews and such are avilable.

since you said you're getting it for overclocking purposes, i'd say better to get it now rather than wait for uncertain hardware with unknown limitations.

 

[chorner]

cool, sounds good


Okay, and just to be an arse ... whats the best motherboard you can buy for overclocking, stability and features for the P4?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: chorner
cool, sounds good


Okay, and just to be an arse ... whats the best motherboard you can buy for overclocking, stability and features for the P4?

Either the Abit IC7-G or the Asus P4C800 Deluxe.

 

[chorner]

Cool ... seems the Asus is a little better out of the two for stability and overall performance -not that the boards differ in performance all that much, but I'm a nut when it comes to that haha-.

How about the MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R (Intel 875P) board? Apparently its a workhorse when it comes to overclocking, and its options.

edit - forget that, the MSI doesn't have the amount of memory tweaking, and smaller voltage increments that the Abit and Asus boards have Looks like its the Asus P4C800 Deluxe for me.

Thanks for all your help guys/myocardia; much appreciated