Upgrading, what should I get?

[TJones2]

Its really my son that needs an upgrade, so I'm passing on my A7N8X-D, 2500+ and Mushkin 256x2 2-2-2 ram. I'm doing a fair bit of photo post-processing, and I found the above to slow the system down a fair bit. So I'm looking at the following options:

1. Prescott 3.0e or
2. Prescott 3.2e

and

3. Asus P4P800-SE or
4. Asus P4P800E-Deluxe

I don't see much in the deluxe ver. of the Asus board to merit the extra $, unless there's something I'm missing. The Prescott 3.0e is a fair bit cheaper, so I'm thinking I might just o/c the thing to get the performance I had with the 2500+ o/c to 3500+. I just ordered some cheapie Crucial cas3 ram, hope I didn't make a mistake! I figured that I'd never notice the slower timing anyway, and I saved a fair bit going this route, and the extra ram would make up for it anyway (1GB rather than 512mb).

I'd like to keep costs down, since I want the funds available next year for a serious upgrade (when it will actually make a noticable difference). If there are any "issues" with any component here, please fill me in. Thanks.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

If I remember right the timings on a P4 make a big difference. I would also get the 3.0 as there isn't much difference in perfromance between the two.

 

[DrCool]

if your looking to squeeze as much performance out of your setup, and your looking to overclock, that's probably not the best combo.

I'd go with an Abit board based on that same chipset, and a P4 based on the Northwood architechure.

Processor: Intel P4 2.4C http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...?ProductCode=80646-800

Motherboard: ABIT AI7 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=240133

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I like my prescott, its not as hot as people tend to think and most apps run faster than with a northwood, now gaming is a different story, most games (cept doom3) run better with the northwood