Why has GoogleGear had the Northwood for so long?

[CZroe]

Why has GoogleGear had the P4 Northwood for so long if it isn't supposed to be released until Jan? Should prices drop a little om the release date? 🙂 A friend with an "unlimited budget" is building one, and even he seems like he'd rather wait until Jan just to see...

 

[indianduddawg47]

your friend should get an athlon xp, if he wants the best computer.

 

[apoppin]

If I was buying today (and I am not as I am leaving for a 10 week vacation in Hawaii in just over a week), I would definitely consider the Northwood IF performance (including overclockability) was my sole criteria.

I would say, Googlegear got these Intel CPUs probably from the overseas shipment as they are also selling in Japan. Obviously, you are going to pay a premium for a PRErelease. it should be a little bit cheaper when there is some competition selling them. And in a month or two, when the novelty wears off, they will drop further and a BIG drop when the 2.4 or 2.5Ghz CPU is released.

 

[CZroe]

indianduddawg47: Socket A is nearing the end of it's upgradability while Northwood's Socket 478 is just getting started with a chip proven to ramp to insane clock speeds (Though Intel's sockets don't seem to last too long). Duh the latest XP is faster than the average P4, but for the future-minded, Socket A doesn't make sense unless you have a strict budget. Too bad Palominos are so much more expensive than AMD's last generation or that wouldn't be a concern (buying for the future would cost more than building another system!).

apoppin: Thnx for the info man!

 

[bigshooter]

AMD plans on using socket A for the rest of their Athlon core processors, Palamino, Thoroughbred, AND beyond. They said they will only change interfaces when hammer comes out. I also think they'll probably keep releasing Athlon based processors for a while after Hammer comes out just so they don't put all their eggs in one basket in case Hammer doesn't sell the way they plan.

 

[OCmadeEZ]

While Northwood may be the future, the Palaminos are not that much $$$ now. You can get a XP 1700+ for $140 and O/C it to 1.6GHz (XP 1900+ easily...very easily) So for anyone purchasing now, the Palaminos make a lot more sense. Better to let Intel sort the issues that will certainly pop up and thus wait to purchase Northwood down the road. At least this is MHO.