Please help me decide on which processor to buy...

PyKoTic

Junior Member
Sep 10, 2000
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I currently have a p2 350 with 128mb 125mhz ram, keep in mind that i got the highest clocked ram when i bought my comp, which was 125mhz ram, 133 wasnt out yet.
I also have an ATI radeon 64mb vivo retail, love it so far. 19 " viewsonic ps 790.
and an msi-6163 pro bx board, which i'm not changing until the ddr chipset boards arrive and when they mature.

Right now i'm just changing my cpu, and i've made two choices, a p3 700E or an 800E.

These prices are in cdn. so i'm just speculating on which one i should get, right now i think the 800, since i wont be upgrading the cpu for another long while.
And i don't plan to overclock anytime soon.

here are the prices: 700E - $414 with tax, 800E - $483 with tax, a $69 difference, personally i think its worth it, but please let me know what you guys think...
Thanks.
 

Shudder

Platinum Member
May 5, 2000
2,256
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100mhz is a pretty big difference for only 70 bucks.

I can't make the decision for you, but a few months away it would really really suck if you wished you had only spent 70 bucks for a faster PC.
 

MoneyMINTR

Senior member
Oct 23, 1999
233
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a lot of people, including me love the P3 700E.

It's great for overclocking because you could set the FSB to 133MHz and achieve 933MHz with ease. The 800E is a little bit more difficult to get 133MHz, but I'm sure there are some P3 800E's that can be pushed that well.

anyway you should do a forum search to find out what other people have been saying about the 700E.

Here are my specs if you're interested.
P3 700E @ 1GHz
 

webguy

Member
Aug 20, 2000
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Pycotic, If you are not going to ditch that old BX based board, I recommend to wait a few months and get the new board and chip together. If you decide to go with the chip, 700e'c o/c better then 800. If you are going to overclock at all get the 800. Or if you want to save some money you can buy the 700 and overclock to 875 with an FSB of 125. I was going to go ahead and wait for the ddr chipset, but I figured that by the time those are mature, everybody will have like 1.5gig machines so 700 or 800 will be like having what you have now.

Ohh Yeah is that $414 USD for 700e if so you are getting Robbed..
 

Killer Ape

Golden Member
Dec 29, 1999
1,352
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If you're not going to OC,as you say, then spend the extra $ and get the 800.

If you have the SLIGHTEST urge to try overclocking, get the 700E (especially if its a cB0 stepping).

I'll throw in another option. If you do want to try overclocking, a c533A or c566 running on a 100MHz FSB at 800/850 perform virtually equal to a non-OCed 700E, at about half the cost. This is based on my own benchmarking and other's opinions will vary. If this is primarily a gaming rig, this could be a good choice.

If a primary use for this machine is image editing (Photoshop etc.) or handling big spreadsheets, I'd stick with the P!!! and opt for the 800E.
 

Syborg1211

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2000
3,297
26
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400 bucks for a processor?!? hopefully, that is not us dollars, if so, it is not worth it at all. You can get a retail p3 700e e for 190 bucks in us dollars around.
 

Killer Ape

Golden Member
Dec 29, 1999
1,352
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Guys, read his post. He says they're Canadian Dollars. $414 CDN = $280 US, which is still pretty steep for a 700E.