Upgrading to Pentium 4, Help Pls

[chroniX]

Well my birthday is coming up soon and I figured it's time for me to upgrade my computer since i dont have anything better to spend my money on...

I've decided to go with Intel this time because I've noticed they are generally cooler, was intriguied with the HT technology, and thought to myself, "Since this will be my last upgrade for a couple of years, I better make it good...it doesn't make sense to me to buy a AMD 2500+ barton and OC it to 3200+ which is like 2.2ghz) when i can buy a Pentium 4 2.6c Ghz 800FSB with HT to start off with and then OC that to 3GHz+."

I'm not bashing on AMD, i think they are generally great for people with a budget, and they do drive prices down lower for Pentiums with the competition, so yeah i cant complain.

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Ok lol i've rambled enough, sorry...let me start by telling you my components for the upgrade:

-Intel Pentium 4/ 2.6C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail

-Asus 865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model "P4P800 Deluxe" -RETAIL


I'm planning to OC this to 3ghz or so, and was wondering which memory should I get? I want 512mb (2x256) to run in dual channel mode. Also, which type, Pc3200, Pc3500, PC4000? I'm not real familiar with DDR memory or its brands (coming from generic SDRAM) and I'm hearing mixed reviews about Corsair, Geil, Mushkin, Kingston, Crucial....I was wondering if anyone had a similar setup to mine and what brand of memory they use? My budget for the memory is ~$130 so keep it under there please. Also, was wondering is the stock hs/fan good for OC'ing, or if i should get an aftermarket one, if so, which one?

Another quick question while im here, is it better to get the Pentium 4 2.4c GHz for $163.00 or is it better to get the Pentium 4 2.6c Ghz for $169.99? I'm planing to OC to 3ghz+ so let me know which is better to get please.

Thanks alot guys

 

[Duvie]

Actually p4's w/ HT and if you plan on ocing to 3ghz are not the cool running chips they used to be....However I agree it is better then te barton route...


I have a 2500+@3200+ Barton here wight now and i can tell you from my testing this thing is way behind in the apps I run (multimedia)...If you are a gamer I think the line is thin...If you are amultitasker trust me again from having this direct comparison...NIGHT and DAY....I so easily brough that barton to its knees duplicating what I did in my P4 HT test...

I will have a review of this shortly ppl and I hope this may end a few debates....

I would get a 2.4c from zipzoomfly.com and hope you get the M0 stepping chip where you could possibly hit 3.6ghz or 300fsb...With that in mind shoot for 5:4 ratio and 480mhz capable ram or 3:2 ratio and 400mhz ddr capable ddr...I am at the later and trust me if you can get ram that can run some tight cas 2,2,2,6 timings you don't need that 480mhz ddr which would likely need cas2.5 or loose cas 2 timings....


Don't overlook the athlon64 3000+ if you are a gamer with a touch of multimedia apps....Some are ocing very nicely and the cost is reasonable...

 

[chroniX]

Hi thanks for the reply...I'm going to be realistic, with my luck, I never get anything good... so what would you suggest (with my luck lol) to get? 2.4c or 2.6c? I know i wont get the M0 stepping or whatever, but if i dont get that stepping or whatever, could i still OC pretty good, at least to 3ghz or so? My main concern is whether 2.4c would be a better buy over 2.6c, but its hard not to go with the 2.6c with it being only 7 dollars more. I dont know, maybe the 2.6c doesnt OC well?

 

[jeffason]

got my 2.6 runnin at 3.2 no probs.

 

[EnderNine]

http://www.azzo.com/af4/details.asp?ProdID=722 Its a little more expensive.. but you get m0 steppings.. .. a regular 2.4 can overclock to 3.2 ghz or more(3.4-3.6 if you get m0 stepping)

 

[chroniX]

is this m0 overclocking with stock cooling? if not, what kind of hs/fan do you recommend

 

[Duvie]

I would recommend the zalman 7000al-cu....


I have a 2.4c@3.5ghz w/ only 1.58v and it isn't even a M0 stepping...It is still a d1 stepping but that was likely more luck....

My 2.6c only did 3.2ghz at 1.6v so I switched to the 2.4c....

Want a comparison to a 2500+@3200+???

---------------Barton 3200+ 400ddr cas 2,4,4,10---------P4 2.6@3.2 394ddr cas 2,3,3,6---------P4 2.4@3.5 390ddr cas 2,3,3,6


Cinebench2003------P4 3.2 (+17.9%/+39.0%HT)----P4 3.5 (+26.2%/+50.1%HT)
POV-Ray v3.5---------P4 3.2 (NA)------------------------P4 3.5 (+20.7%/+39.9%HT)
SuperPi 1mb----------P4 3.2 (+11.6%)------------------P4 3.5 (+23.0%)
SuperPI 2mb----------P4 3.2 (+7.8%)-------------------P4 3.5 (+17.0%)
TMPGENC(MPEG2)---P4 3.2 (+42.3%HT)---------------P4 3.5 (+52.3%HT)
Besweet AC3enc-----P4 3.2 (+6.1%)--------------------P4 3.5 (+17.1%)
WMV9 (Pcmark04)---P4 3.2 (NA)-------------------------P4 3.5 (+28.2%)
File Decrypt (Pc04)---P4 3.2 (NA)------------------------P4 3.5 (+46.2%)

Mainly multimedia and CAD rendering apps because I don't game....I will have winzip and winrar testing as well as a ew more multimedia and scientific apps....

Run the tmpgenc and say capture a TV program to DVD standard and the HT flies along...W/o HT the p4 still leads, but a Barton was seriuosly slower and these gains in tmpgenc got even bigger...Again wait for that review probably on TUesday...

 

[chroniX]

http://www.tweaknews.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1264

I saw that the PRESCOTT processors are going to be released in Feb 2004

to be released feb, 2004-
Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.40GHz - $999 [2M cache]
Intel Pentium 4 ?Northwood? 3.40GHz ....... $417 [512K cache]
Intel Pentium 4 SSE3 ?Prescott? 3.40GHz - $417 [1M cache]
Intel Pentium 4 SSE3 ?Prescott? 3.20GHz - $278 [1M cache]
Intel Pentium 4 SSE3 ?Prescott? 3.00GHz - $218 [1M cache]
Intel Pentium 4 SSE3 ?Prescott? 2.80GHz - $178 [1M cache]
Intel Pentium 4 SSE3 ?Prescott? 2.80A ....... $163 [1M cache, 533Mhz (no HT)]


so do you think it would be wise to wait for the p4 prescott with 1mb cache (ill go for the 2.80ghz for $178) since thats around what im going (or was going) to spend for the 2.6c..and also do u think that the new prescott would overclock good like these 2.4c's or so?

 

[Duvie]

Too early to tell on the ocing thing but Iimagine they will have some headroom since they are producing a 3.4ghz...Could be good ocers....

You can always wait and this wait isn't too far off so it may be wise...I doubt SSE3 will have much early advantages since programs will have to be written for this to take advanatge of it...Just like the SSE2 where it took some time to see the fruits of this...

I think the 1mb of cache will be nice but it remains to be seen if this tanslates into gains like we saw with the northwoods switching to 512kb or is this sign limiting the gains since most programs were fitting into the 512 space???

I was also waiting to see if there are HT enhancements as well.....


For me to upgrade I will need to see 10% plus gains at same clock speed, HT enhancements, and 3.6-3.7 aircooling results more common....

 

[chroniX]

yeah thanks a lot duvie, if had not seen that, i would of definately of gotten the 2.4c M0 and oc'd to 3.4-3.6 like you advised and with the link endernine provided (thx)...but I think I'll wait this off for a couple of months, mainly because this upgrade has to last me for a couple of years, so I want the best performance i can grab at a decent cost before I'm stuck with it...not to say 2.4c is bad, I would buy one just to make a second computer cuz a 1200mhz OC is really bad ass.

anyways, thx everybody for ur help, hopefully the new prescott processors will be OC monsters like its predecessors, and if not, I guess I could always buy the 2.4c (even if its not M0) and get at least a 1000 mhz OC, and it will probably be much cheaper then.

 

[tallman45]

The 1mb cache may have a big benefit, in the case of the Athalon 64 3200+(1mb cache) vs 3000+ (512mb cache), the 3200 performs about 20% better that it's little brother at half the cost. Costing half as much is what makes the 3000+ so desireable.

If the Prescott with 1mb cache cost "less" that a current 2.8C the that could be the deal of the year. I would wait the 4 or 5 weeks and see what happens with the Prescott, plus by then the SIS 655tx's will be out and may lower pricing on the 865/875's as well.