Upgrading IS-7 (i865PE)

[Maggot]

This box, an IS-7 Asus with 2 -512MB dimms Corsair xms3500 and a (s478) Northwd P4-2.6A at 3.0 GHz, runs WXPP-sp2.
The ram must be at 5:4 or it locks on boot. BIOS locks agp/pci to 66/33 and game accell is turbo .
Cooling is aggressive w a HSF on ICH5R chip and waterblocks on P4 and R360 (this 9800XT/256 was BIOS- flashed from a 9800 Pro).

I'd like to move up the proc and DDR-RAM. Has Prescott ramped up to be worth it yet? What RAM would be better than the xms3500 without silly "early adopter" prices. I use the machine for email and word processor.
Just pulling yer leg! I like combat flight sims and doom3- but most important is ...optimizing eye candy and having fun tweaking it there.

Thanks!!

 

[MDE]

For Doom 3, upgrade the video to a 6800GT or Ultra and maybe go to a 3GHz+ CPU and overclock it. Otherwise there isn't really much to upgrade.

 

[KDKPSJ]

First of all, are you sure you have 2.6A (BTW, there's no 2.6A, but 2.66A), not 2.6C? Anyway, if it's 2.6A and look forward to play DOOM3, I suggest you Prescott. It seems like SSE3 gives pretty good effect.

About RAM.. I don't see why you should switch XMS3500 to other module. Just don't use PAT (Game accellerator). Not only it doesn't give much performace boost, you need very low-latency module in order to use it with 865 by ABIT. (BTW, IS7 is made by ABIT, not ASUS)

 

[Maggot]

"...Just don't use PAT (Game accellerator). Not only it doesn't give much performace boost, you need very low-latency module in order to use it with 865 by ABIT. (BTW, IS7 is ABIT)...." -You
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Abit Asus : Oops! I often do that (since I also have a P4T-E).

Gees, I was *so* excited abt that PAT when I first got the "Springdale version that had PAT enabled, just like 875" did! It must have saved me a whole $25 at the time. This is the first I hear about IS7 being so finicky abt ram for the PAT to work well .... somehow I'm not very shocked, tho.
Well, I'm always a bit behind the curve, but Thanks.

As for the proc, well I am too confused to do it justice now, but ithere were only two 2.6 GHz Northies at the time. This P4 has a 800 MHz bus, enabled hyper-threading, with 512 MB of L2, a s478 at .13µ ...

is that a P4-2.6C?
What the heck was the A version, I gotta wonder.

Anyway, it's wrong to call it EITHER now, right? !!
If you know the correct 3 digit name, please tell me! I wonder how well folks are adjusting to the new Intel name game, tho. It doesn't make half as much sense as the metric system (which I know cold, tho I deplore Celsius) and after all these years, most Americans are still hopeless in metrics!

 

[MDE]

Only new chips are being named with Intel's model numbers, so don't worry about it. Any Northwood 800MHz FSB HT enabled chip is a "C" version, so that's what you have, a 2.6C.