New CPU

[WaTaGuMp]

I am running a P4 2.8 and was thinking about jumping to a 3.2 to be my final upgrade till I do a PCI system down the road maybe next year. Is the 3.2 alot faster then the older 2.8, mine is 512 cache and would be getting 1mb and some more speed. I read some reviews but not alot and I like to get 1st hand info from people that own one. I dont O/C anything so just looking to gain a little more performance here. BTW I am using a socket 478 forgot to put that.

 

[TheStu]

the 3.2 would put you into Prescott range, and I never have been a fan of those... my suitemate has a skt 775 prescott at 2.8 i think and he has to pull the side off his case all the time so his machine doesnt overheat (he has a Dell, so it may just be lack of fans)

I really dont think that you will see that significant of a boost... you woul dbe better off saving the cash for a whole new system

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: TheStu
the 3.2 would put you into Prescott range, and I never have been a fan of those... my suitemate has a skt 775 prescott at 2.8 i think and he has to pull the side off his case all the time so his machine doesnt overheat (he has a Dell, so it may just be lack of fans)

I really dont think that you will see that significant of a boost... you woul dbe better off saving the cash for a whole new system

Yeah I was reading about the Precott and heat issues but I have a big volcano so I prob wouldnt have heat issues. Its more about maxing out the most I can get being on a top tier AGP system without having to make the jump to PCI just yet.

 

[Vette73]

Either overclock the one you have now, very easy, or don;t mess with it. i would not spend money to make that little bit of a jump for something you will probable not notice at all.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Either overclock the one you have now, very easy, or don;t mess with it. i would not spend money to make that little bit of a jump for something you will probable not notice at all.

Tried to OC with it couldnt do well enough to make any difference really.

 

[Ionizer86]

Not worth it at all. A prescott 3.2 gets beat by a northwood P4 3.0 (the type of chip you have, except at 2.8) rather frequently. I'm guessing the upgrade would be like getting a ~northwood 2.9, if one existed. You'd only be gaining ~100mhz of northwood performance, if that makes any sense.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Not worth it at all. A prescott 3.2 gets beat by a northwood P4 3.0 (the type of chip you have, except at 2.8) rather frequently. I'm guessing the upgrade would be like getting a ~northwood 2.9, if one existed. You'd only be gaining ~100mhz of northwood performance, if that makes any sense.

Makes perfect sense if the Precotts suck that bad.:Q

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
I am running a P4 2.8 and was thinking about jumping to a 3.2 to be my final upgrade till I do a PCI system down the road maybe next year. Is the 3.2 alot faster then the older 2.8, mine is 512 cache and would be getting 1mb and some more speed. I read some reviews but not alot and I like to get 1st hand info from people that own one. I dont O/C anything so just looking to gain a little more performance here. BTW I am using a socket 478 forgot to put that.

Not really worth it. The Prescott runs a lot warmer, and while it has 1mb of cache, the cahce latency of the prescott is a lot worse as well so that actualy slows it down. I would just try a mild overclock to your 2.8 and keep it until you can switch to something PCIe based. Don't know what speed your 2.8 is either(400mhz FSB, 533mhz FSB, 800mhz FSB), or what motherboard you have. Not all socket 478 motherboards support all socket 478 chips, so it may not even support a prescott.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: stevty2889

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
I am running a P4 2.8 and was thinking about jumping to a 3.2 to be my final upgrade till I do a PCI system down the road maybe next year. Is the 3.2 alot faster then the older 2.8, mine is 512 cache and would be getting 1mb and some more speed. I read some reviews but not alot and I like to get 1st hand info from people that own one. I dont O/C anything so just looking to gain a little more performance here. BTW I am using a socket 478 forgot to put that.

Not really worth it. The Prescott runs a lot warmer, and while it has 1mb of cache, the cahce latency of the prescott is a lot worse as well so that actualy slows it down. I would just try a mild overclock to your 2.8 and keep it until you can switch to something PCIe based. Don't know what speed your 2.8 is either(400mhz FSB, 533mhz FSB, 800mhz FSB), or what motherboard you have. Not all socket 478 motherboards support all socket 478 chips, so it may not even support a prescott.

800 FSB P4P800SE a long time ago best O/C I got out of it stable was like 220 FSB.

 

[DrMrLordX]

You could try getting a 3.2C or 3.4C if you can find them.

 

[Acanthus]

Dont upgrade, completely not worth it.

 

[Geomagick]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Dont upgrade, completely not worth it.

I have found that to get a real increase in performance that you can see you need to increase the clock speed by about 30% or more, assuming you leave everything else alone.

Save those pennies and get a shiny new system later on. The P4 2.8 is still a respectable CPU and unless you demand top of the line performance from games and other demanding applications then there is no real point to upgrade at the moment.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: George Powell

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Dont upgrade, completely not worth it.

I have found that to get a real increase in performance that you can see you need to increase the clock speed by about 30% or more, assuming you leave everything else alone.

Save those pennies and get a shiny new system later on. The P4 2.8 is still a respectable CPU and unless you demand top of the line performance from games and other demanding applications then there is no real point to upgrade at the moment.

I completely agree, especially with up and coming socket changes and all new designs on the way, its wise to just save up and wait longer.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: George Powell

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Dont upgrade, completely not worth it.

I have found that to get a real increase in performance that you can see you need to increase the clock speed by about 30% or more, assuming you leave everything else alone.

Save those pennies and get a shiny new system later on. The P4 2.8 is still a respectable CPU and unless you demand top of the line performance from games and other demanding applications then there is no real point to upgrade at the moment.

I couldnt agree more on the FSB thing, I have been building comps long enough and have seen how much is GREAT overclock does compared to just bumping it up 20 FSB. I feel 50 FSB minimum to even be worth keeping a chip O/Cd, hence why I dont run this O/Cd 20 FSB more and stable, waste of time for maybe what 2-3 FPS. If the 3.2 isnt that great which it seems after finding some reviews I will stay with this till I decide to build a PCI-E system. :beer: