AMD User with P4 questions...

Ok, so I've never touched an Intel board... Infact, I've never touched an intel chip! I don't even know what they look like. Anyhow, I've got a few questions as I am thining abiout building a P4 system, seeing as they have such an advantage in gaming, over Athlons.

1. What mobo should I get? Here's a few of the things that I'm looking for in it. I don't want to overclock really, although I MIGHT in the near future, seeing as DOOM3 is coming out soon. I'm looking to get a 2.4 Ghz CPU at 533, but I might wanna try and push it to around 2.5 - 2.6 or so, however, I don't know how the pentiums work, so I don't know if I can do that or not. Also, I'd want RAID, roughly 5-6 PCI slots, AGP 8X, DDR ram support (I've got 512DDR and I'm not about to spend another 150-200 bucks on new RD-RAM) --- Although, if there's a board that supports both, that'd be kinda cool, but a very un-necessary detail. Lastly, I'd want it to look kinda cool. Something like a Gigabyte board with lots of blues and greens. Blue anyway. I have a case window and I like being a show-off.

2. What CPU is worth getting? I've heard that XP is having probems with Hyperthreading, so I don't know if I wanna go through ANY pain with that. I was looking at a 2.4/533'er. They're relatively inexpensive, compared to the rest of the higher clocked bigger bro's and It's almost a ful Gig faster than what I've got running right now.

3. What CPU cooler is good? I have a nice Zalman for my AMD, and it cools pretty well without making too much of a ruckus. Since I'm not planning on OCing too much, I want something that looks nice and is VERY quiet. However, I'm used to having my temps be around 38-39C, and I get freaked out when they get above 45C. Will the P4 be around that range with a soft-spoken cooler?

T.I.A. Guys!

I am also looking for an upgrade from solution from AMD to Intel.
I have been doing a lot of reading recently on the subject.

Here's are my conclusions.

To upgrade now (after 23/02 price drop would be wiser)

I'd go for P4 2.4B + Asus P4PE

that should get that to 2800 MHz no problemo with a descent cooler.
A bit more money in your pocket go for the 2.66B and we're speaking about 3000 MHz.
And I am a pesimistic type of guy when it comes to hardware.

I think it is for you to decide what the difference between 2.8 and 3.0 will do for your performances overall considering the bottlenecks in your system.

If you don't mid waiting until may-june.
wait for the springdale/canyterwood chipsets and see what they can deliver with the P4/800 chips (should be about same price as P4/533)

plus if not satisfied with the performances or the overclocking situation then you can come back to the option proposed above and definitely go for a 2.66A with the money you will have saved.
Might not be such a good OCer as the 2.4B but at equal chipset, cooling and voltage bump it will give you extra.

That's what I intend doing although when I see the results on these P4 2.4B i am very tempted to pull out my credit card.

Good luck.

I'm looking to get a 2.4 Ghz CPU at 533, but I might wanna try and push it to around 2.5 - 2.6 or so, however, I don't know how the pentiums work, so I don't know if I can do that or not.

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The 2.4 you speak of is an 18 multi on a 133fsb (quad data rate = 533). I've OC'd one for my sister to 156fsb without adding any voltage at all for 2.8ghz. Almost got it to bench stably at 160 and could probably have run over 3ghz with some voltage tweaks (which the board lacked). The multi is locked on almost every P4, except for a few rare 'ES' (engineering sample) chips that only seem to fall into the hands of reviewers. OCing only comes in the form of FSB increases...good news is lots of boards now come with AGP/PCI lock.

AGP 8X

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The current P4 chipsets that support 8x is the SiS648, SiS655, Intel Granite Bay and VIA P4X400...these are all DDR. The remaining current P4 chipsets are the Intel 845PE (DDR) and 850E (RDRAM). Don't let lack of 8x support stop you from considering an 845PE based board though...it's a very good chipset. Otherwise wait for April and the new Canterwood/Springdale.

What CPU cooler is good?

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The stock OEM cooler that comes with the chip is very competent. I lapped the Intel cooler, run the fan to about 1900rpm with a Vantec Nexus101 and it shows about 38-40c. Also running one Vantec Stealth 80mm case fan blowing out the back and a 2 fan Enermax. Considered removing the 80mm fan.

For something really nice look at the Swiftech MCX4000, you can add any 70/80mm fan you want. Pricey though.

For the cpu i would propose you to buy a P4 2.4B c1 stepping if you find one with a Gigabyte 8PE667 Ultra mainboard and a good cooler like the Swiftech MX4000 or the new Thermalrigt SLK 900.
What memory you had one the previous system?

I've got some Corsair XMS PC2700... two sticks of 256Mb.

So what's the deal with this Canterwood/Springdale stuff? Will they cost as much as the 2.4B c1 that you're talking about pko/c? And if so, with the 2,4 go down in price? Because the main issue here really is affordability. Then again, I want this to be my last upgrade until games that push my computer further than Doom3 come out...

I'm looking at doing the same thing... just wandering if the dual DDR capability's are really worth the >$200 price tag of the boards... might have to stick with AMD a little longer.

What are your thoughts on this... worth it to just go Nvidia 2 with AMD and dual DDR?

Its a lot cheaper and I am wondering if the benchmarks will really be that far behind.

Insight would be welcomed.

How do you know if your chip is c1 and B?

I'm thinking about going with the 2.4B c1 deal, unless the canterwood/springdale business is really good.... Which does everyone suggest? I mean, I'm actually now thinking I wanna push my system to about 2.8G's... then again, I've never had really good experiences with OC'ing... LOL

Oh and also, to add another question to the confusion, why is it that Intel's chips are referred to as having a 533Mhz FSB, and then sometimes they're referred to having only 133, and AMD is ALWAYS referred to as having a 133 or 166?

Are intel multipliers down to like 4X or something?

Amino said:

Oh and also, to add another question to the confusion, why is it that Intel's chips are referred to as having a 533Mhz FSB, and then sometimes they're referred to having only 133, and AMD is ALWAYS referred to as having a 133 or 166?

Are intel multipliers down to like 4X or something?

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The chip is marketed as a 533fsb because the CPU runs at 133mhz "quad pumped" which is the same as saying quad data rate. In your BIOS setup you will see it as 133mhz though.

AMD's are also called 266fsb and 333fsb chips.

How do you know if your chip is c1 and B?

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http://processorfinder.intel.com/sc...m=483&CorSpd=5408&SysBusSpd=5419&PkgType=5369 click each chip's sSpec for it's stepping.

So what's the deal with this Canterwood/Springdale stuff? Will they cost as much as the 2.4B c1

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Here is some pricing info for late Feb and April when the 800fsb chips launch. http://www.asusboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35546

I'm using the Asus P4PE/2.4B c1 combo and I gotta tell yah, it's worth it. It was very affordable and since that's all you really have to buy, you can upgrade for pretty cheaply. My next purchase is some high quality ram. This Micron stuff is pretty neat though.
Doc

Nice! Thanks a lot Synatx E. Those links were very helpful!

Doc, what kind of RAM do you have?

And ok, so what motherboards are they making for the Canterwood/Springdale versions? Are there some that are already out, that can support both 533's and 800's?

Amino said:

Are there some that are already out, that can support both 533's and 800's?

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There is speculation that the Gigabyte SINXP1394 or Asus P4SDX could potentially support 800fsb CPUs off the bat...but we won't know for sure for a little while yet.



This picture from an Asus P4SDX suggests that the potential for 800fsb support is being considered either in future BIOS updates or a PCB revision.

This April/May the Intel chipsets with official 800fsb and Dual DDR400 support should start to appear...then maybe a couple of months later retail boards. Going to be an interesting summer.