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Please explain - OCing use Intel vs. Non-OCing use AMD

C

Chilis

Junior Member
In various threads, I notice that when providing feedback/advice to someone regarding hardware purchases, the provider usually asks about whether the person is overclocking or not - please explain why.

I'm assuming the answers lies within 2 generalizations 1) Intel overclocks better than AMD and, 2) AMD chips cost less. Does this also mean that AMD's chips are faster than Intel's when not overclocking? As I mentioned above, I see the overclocking question asked alot and was not confident I knew why. I'm in the process of deciding on hardware for my 1st home built system thus my interest in this issue. I've always purchased systems with Intel chips but have NEVER overclocked. Suddenly, I feel as though I've been wasting my $ or not getting the most out of it😱

PS - I really appreciate ALL the responses "veterans" are willing to post here at Anand's. I've learned alot about topics that were vague to me by merely reading the threads in this forum...very helpful😎
 
AMD CPU's are generally faster than Intel processors at stock speed. If you were to take a 1.6Ghz Palomino and bench it against the 1.6Ghz Northwood, the Palomino will stomp it. The Northwood chip is on the newer .13um process though so you can overclock it like a mother... Most 1.6Ghz can reach 2.2-2.4 regularly.
 
The processors are pretty much neck and neck at each speed/rating... for example 1600+ vs 1600Mhz, 1800+ vs 1800Mhz. AMD is usually the cheaper solution at each price level... except when overclocking.

AMD's at this point just don't do it well at all. They are already running hot (2000+ puts out about 70W I think), and require more cooling than a P4. If you want to overclock it, you end up sinking a bunch of money into cooling techniques wchich do nothing more than give you a very loud system and a empty wallet... for a hundred Mhz or so. This is due to their still being stuck on .18 microns.

The P4 was built to ramp up the Mhz. On top of that, they have fully switched over to the .13 micron process. You can easily OC good RDRAM, and a 1.6/1.8 Northwood P4 from a FSB of 100 to a FSB of 100 putting a 1.6A at 2.1Ghz and a 1.8A at 2.4Ghz for $130 and $180 respectively while also running at PC1066 speeds. All this with nothing more than the stock heat sink and fan. When overclocking the P4, nothing comes close to the price and performance.

 
Two months ago, Intel released the 1.6GHz "Northwood" Pentium 4 processor. This processor is able to overclock on an average of up to 2.3GHz-2.4GHz with retail cooling. Some people have been able to get higher overclocks and some people have been getting lower overclocks.

The whole point of overclocking is really just to:

1. Get more performance out of your machine while still running stabily.
2. Getting the most out of your dollar.

Because 1.6GHz Northwood processors are so cheap and can overclock to Northwood speeds that would cost them hundreds of dollars more, overclockers are switching over to cheap 1.6GHz Northwoods and overclocking them to 2.4GHz (a 2.4GHz Northwood processor, non-overclocked, would cost you $588 today. A 1.6GHz Northwood costs you about $130 today, and you can overclock it to 2.4GHz without having to spend that extra $458 for the stock 2.4GHz Northwood).

The catch to overclocking is that:

1. You're not guaranteed to recieve a chip that overclocks well. Just because Joe gets a 1.6GHz Northwood that overclocks to 2.5GHz, doesn't mean you'll get a chip like that too.

2. Stability is always an issue with overclocking, including Northwoods. If you overclock too much or raise your VCore too much, you might not have a very reliable system (like random freezes or BSODs) or you might not even be able to POST.

In today's market, if you overclock 24/7 or close to 24/7, a 1.6GHz Northwood system coupled with a motherboard of your choice (be careful which motherboard you choose though) should get you a nice and stable overclocking system (again, when overclocking, stability isn't guaranteed).

If you hardly ever overclock or never overclock at all, than an Athlon XP 1700+ or 1800+ coupled with a motherboard of your choice (again, be sure to do your research on motherboards) should get you a fast, cheap and reliable system.

By the way, Northwood processors have an "A" after their rated clock speed (like 1.6A) indicate that they are the Pentiu 4 "Northwood" core instead of the older Pentium 4 "Willamette" core. The Pentium 4 Northwood is the .13-micron 512K processor, the Pentium 4 Willamette is the .18-micron 256K processor.
 
Thanks for the feedback concerning the overclocking issue. It seems more reasonable to me that the best purchase would be to get a Northwood chip (whether I overclock it today or not). I may pay more for a Northwood than one of AMD's offerings but I would get more milage out of it. Basically, once lagging performance starts to become an issue I could then overclock the chip and milk more "bang for the buck" out of it. Would you agree or disagree with this theory?

 


<< Thanks for the feedback concerning the overclocking issue. It seems more reasonable to me that the best purchase would be to get a Northwood chip (whether I overclock it today or not). I may pay more for a Northwood than one of AMD's offerings but I would get more milage out of it. Basically, once lagging performance starts to become an issue I could then overclock the chip and milk more "bang for the buck" out of it. Would you agree or disagree with this theory? >>

Well, it depends on how often you upgrade, what you're going to be doing with this system, etc.

Give us all your info. 🙂
 
pay 600 for a 2.4 and it doesn't apply😉

or better yet overclock that to 3 ghz and you won't have to look in the rearview for a while😀

seriously if not overclocking an athlon is a goodway to go but if you plan to overclock then a
northwood is a better deal 😉

me i think with a 1.6 northwood and ddr ram well if you ever felt it was slow then just hit the throttle a little and bump it up to 2.0 or even 2.4 though 2.4 isn't guarenteed you will never have to worry much if at all about heat / fan noise again

so yes i'd say go for it
 
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