Q: How do you know if its the CPU or the RAM holding you back?

[xts3]

How do you know if its the CPU or the RAM holding you back? Right now I'm pretty happy with my system but my system can post just fine at 3.0GHz and above but it kicks out of prime95 within the first few minutes. I have a Northwood 2.4B on a P4B-533-E. Note that I got a tone of stuff in this system 4 Drives, +2 DVDROMS (one RW) + AGP + PCI sound /w ATA RAID.

I have to increase the VCORE to 1.575/1.6 to get it to to stabilize at @2943. I've tried my hand at insane vcores but (1.70+) my motherboard beeps like crazy (can't you turn off the warnings??). I am using PC2700 but I am using a 4/3 ratio, right now my fsb is 163 my memory is 122.66.

If I can upgrade the proc for less to a 2.8C for less then $30 should I do it, or would the marginal performance o/c ability increases not be worth it?

 

[charloscarlies]

If I can upgrade the proc for less to a 2.8C for less then $30 should I do it, or would the marginal performance o/c ability increases not be worth it?

If you can do that for less than $30 definitely go for it. The 2.8C's are great overclocking chips. The rest of your setup might limit your overclock though. By the way 3 ghz from a 2.4 really isn't all that bad at all.

 

[Jeff7181]

Since your RAM is running below spec, I'd say you're at the limit of the processor.

A motherboard might actually be a smart(er) upgrade rather than a processor if your current motherboard doesn't support dual channel memory. Every P4 before the P4C with the 800 Mhz bus and dual channel RAM (with the exception of ones using RDRAM) was limited by the speed of the memory. You have a 533 Mhz effective bus, with only 400 Mhz of memory bandwidth with PC3200 RAM. You would need to buy PC4200 RAM to eliminate the memory bottleneck on a single channel 533 Mhz bus Pentium 4. OR... switch to a dual channel motherboard, and then even your PC2700 RAM can provide enough bandwidth between the two channels. That should unleash some hidden performance in your current CPU.

 

[myocardia]

I agree with Jeff completely. I think you would gain more performance for less money, if you spent a little over $100 for an Abit IC7: link, or even with an IS7: link.

 

[Big Lar]

Just a note from expierience here, but when you hit the point of spped, where it takes a substantial amount more of voltage to get higher, you have actually hit the threshold for the cpu in question. Back it down to where it ran the fastest at the normal voltage, and live with it.