Please help me decide which cpu to get today!

[kalrith]

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm just at a loss for which choices I should make.

These are both for sale in the FS/FT forums, and I think I'm going to get one to help me last until about 6 months after AM2 and Conroe come out (when I'll do my big upgrade). I've hit a wall with my p4 2.4c at 3.1GHz, and it's left me wanting more. If you had the choice, which processor would you choose?

I am also wondering if I will see much of a performance boost from these. You can see from my sig that my FSB is at 258 with the memory at 1:1 (DDR516). I know I won't hit that FSB with the higher multipliers, so will the lower FSB and memory speeds make this upgrade counterproductive? Another option I've considered (since I'm considering upgrading my video card) is just to go ahead and go socket 939 and pick up a cheap processor (3000 or 3200) for about $100. When overclocked to the max on air, which (out of all 3 cpu's) do you think is better for both gaming and multi-tasking (not while gaming).

I'm also planning on upgrading my video card slightly (around the $200 range). If I go PCI-e, I've seen some really good deals on used X800GTO2, so I'll probably get that. If I stick with AGP, I can get either a used 6800GT or a new 6800GS for that price. I've read the 6800GS review on AT and seen that it's pretty close to the GT at stock speeds. But how do they compare when overclocked, and is there another card in this price range (used or new) that I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[Absolute0]

i'd take a 3.2C over a 3.0E.

As for the graphics cards, 6800GS seems like a good choice, but someone told me that the AGP version is totally underclocked and can't compete with the 6800GT like the PCI-E version can.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Absolute0
i'd take a 3.2C over a 3.0E.

As for the graphics cards, 6800GS seems like a good choice, but someone told me that the AGP version is totally underclocked and can't compete with the 6800GT like the PCI-E version can.

You're right about the AGP 6800GS. It's clocked at 350/1000, whereas the PCI-e version is clocked at 485/1100. So, if I got AGP, I'll go with the 6800GT.

 

[abs0lut3]

P4 Northwood for me too. Too bad I had to settle for a Pressie 3.2 running at solid 3.8 right now (board limited) stock voltage. You might also want to think about X1600Pro AGP ($150 bucks) or the new 7800GS AGP for a just a bit more than 6800GS but superior beyond 6800GT/Ultra plus it is SM 3.0 compatible so it would last you longer.

 

[LTC8K6]

I vote for the Northy as well.

absolut3, all of those cards are SM3 cards.

 

[UzairH]

Northwood all the way - they overclock better, run cooler.

 

[stevty2889]

I would stick with the northwood as well. Temps are much better, and for a lot of things the northwood is more efficient. My northwood @3.45ghz kept up with my prescott @3.82ghz in pretty much everything, and was ahead in gaming. The only thing the prescott did better was video encoding, or SSE3 optimized applications(which there aren't many of).

 

[MDE]

Northwood all the way.

 

[Ionizer86]

Even if the two CPU's were at the same clock, the Northwood would be faster. Just a guess: the Prescott 3.0 would probably be around a Northwood 2.9 (if it existed).

 

[kmmatney]

Neither. Will you really notice much difference? What if the Northwood only overclocks to 3.5? Not much better than your 3.1 Ghz at the moment (and lower FSB, which matters to the P4).

You do get much better deals on video cards with going to PCI Express - its pretty rough for AGPers. You should only get a better AGP card if you plan on keeping your cpu for a while. Since you don't plan on keeping it, you should wait until you can do a bigger upgrade, and get a new cpu and PCIE video card at the same time.

<-- The Frugal Computer Enthusiast

 

[DrMrLordX]

Northwood, if you're going to buy anything.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

my intel 3.2 is bleh, i got it in the summer of 05 and now upgrading to amd 3800 x2 after 6 months. as for GPU i've decided to try nvidia in my current system, the 6800 128 performs quite poor as it cannot even run CS:S at high or even med settings. going back to ATi 1900xt hopefully within a month? or so

 

[secretanchitman]

northwood over presHOT anyday.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Northwood owns Presshot anytime.

 

[n7]

You're wasting money.

Keep your 2.4C @ 3.1 GHz, & save up for a better video card.
Your not going to notice the difference if you upgrade your CPU, unless you go dual-core.