Why the P4 multiplier lock means jack squat to OCers!!!!!!!!!!

[dimmreaper]

People we are talking about 20X multipliers, and increasing.

Just raising the FSB to an easy 112MHz(QDRed of course) will turn a 2GHz P4 in to a 2.24GHz monster. Gone are the days of worrying about "Can I hit 133MHz, or will I be stuck running at some insane PCI bus with a 120MHz FSB?"! So why do people keep insisting the P4 sucks for overclocking because the multiplier is locked? Granted in current form the P4 is less than impressive, but it still is a great OCer. Granted it still costs more than an Athlon, but its still a great OCer. Granted RDRAM is a bit more expensive that DDR, but it's not costly enough for most to complane anymore (and it is faster on a P4 platform). Can't wait till the mPGA chippies come out, should be fun. :)

[UnseenMenace]

The ONLY thing that stops me from having a play with one is the price which is excessive here in the UK

[AmbientFiction]

Their isn't anything on the market that can take advantage of the coding that the P4 outputs. I think it will be something past XP before we see what this CPU can really do. Rbus is total crap and you have to pay out the nose for Rbus that will even Oc to something nice. Intel sucks see my thread in GD called Intel bow to me!!!

They try and BS people and treat you like a dog when you do try to get an RMA. Turn the tables on them when they try to screw you.

I got free overnight shipping to them and back because I sent them a cC0 and they sent me a cB0. People you don't have to stand for their crap.

Viv Los AMD

Cause that is where my cash is going after this CPU dies.

[JetMech]

One thing that I enjoy about the P4 is that it is easy to turn up and down (almost like using a facet). My 1.7 will boot up at 2.0 minimum voltage and run office apps. If I want to play a game I just turn it down to a FSB that I know is stable for that game (they vary) and press on. I'm waiting for a really good cooling solution to go higher. Tweaking the voltage seems to make no difference beyond increasing the heat output. I am also going to try an ATI Radeon video card ( my present card is a viper 770) because I have proved to myself that ATI handles SBA (side band addressing) in a way that allows the AGP bus to overclock higher thus letting us fool the chipset easier.:)

[Newbie_Doo]

Maybe the P4X266 board will show the potential of this chip and at a lower cost than using RDRAM. I would still wait for the .13 chip with the horsepower put back into it though.

[Sohryu Asuka Langley]

P4X266 has been through a few benchmarks and is only a tad behind the RDRAM boards...of course, ive heard theres going to be a new RDRAM spec after intel launches the DDR i845(num?)

[TC]

PC1066 - pretty easy considering how well it overclocks already. I don't see the P4 DDR boards as being a huge player now that rimms are almost identical in price to a quality stick of ddr. Seeing how well rdram performs with a P4 why would somebody be so frugal given the small price difference? The cpu is the expensive part of the picture now. If you're going to get a P4, why strangle it with DDR?

[JetMech]

Just read an article in this months issue of Computer Shopper in which they quote Intel stating that with their i845 chipset, DDR ram, and a Willamette CPU a 10% hit in performance can be expected, and that as speed increases this percentage will increase. I agree that with todays prices for Rdram and the admitted performance capabilities of said ram, this is almost a non-conversation. The only reason to continue along these lines to me is in anticipation of an increase in ram prices. I don't at present see that happening.
I also saw some information on the Northwood CPU at ASUS website that makes one want to put upgrading on hold (about 1 year unless one wants to become a victim of Intels sometimes moving too fast syndrome. I see myself waiting at least til December 2002 before I invest anything else in Intel product. My current attention is in the area of 3d graphics. At 1.7 I can already do everything else in realtime using IEEE-1394, and IBM harddrives (7,200 of course), the larger the faster. Until program size catches up to CPU speed, todays chips are fast becoming overkill.

[Burning Phoenix]

Does someone have an estimate to when the 2 GHZ chip will drop in price to less than $400. December? I hope!

[JetMech]

THE 2.0 P4 IS KIND OF RARE RIGHT NOW. i DON'T THINK INTEL IS PUTTING THEM OUT IN LARGE NUMBERS YET. IF THE PRICE IS BELOW 400 BY DEC IT WILL BE ON SOMEONES WEB SITE. THE 1.7 IS STILL OVER THAT AT MOST MOM AND POP STORES TODAY. ALSO IT MIGHT BE A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY WHEN A 1.8 OR 1.9 WILL EASILY BE ABLE TO REACH 2.0 STABLE.:)

[Newbie_Doo]

Originally posted by TC
PC1066 - pretty easy considering how well it overclocks already. I don't see the P4 DDR boards as being a huge player now that rimms are almost identical in price to a quality stick of ddr. Seeing how well rdram performs with a P4 why would somebody be so frugal given the small price difference? The cpu is the expensive part of the picture now. If you're going to get a P4, why strangle it with DDR?

According to Pricewatch, the cheapest 128MB RDRAM was Generic from Edge Micro, at $34.00 + $8.99 Shipping. You have to buy 2 in order to use the i850 chipset. Assuming this outfit will ship both for the same price (a stretch), that's $77 shipped for 256MB.

I would consider Crucial PC2100DDR to be a quality stick of RAM. Their price for a 128MB stick of PC2100DDR is $19.79 and shipping is free. Net cost for 2x128MB is $39.58. Of course, if you just buy the 256MB PC2100DDR stick instead of 2x128s, your cost is only $37.79.

Given the cost difference, and the fact that the latency penalty for DDR is less than half what RDRAM is, I'll take the DDR. Until and unless RDRAM becomes equal in overall performance for the same cost, DDR will remain the better value.

[Burning Phoenix]

I paid $345 for my P4 1.7 GHZ at begining of July so i'm hoping to buy the 2.0 around end of the year for a descent price.

[dimmreaper]

Originally posted by Newbie_Doo
Given the cost difference, and the fact that the latency penalty for DDR is less than half what RDRAM is, I'll take the DDR.Yes but using PC2100 DDR memory (which works out as 133 DDR), causes a severe latency penalty with the P4's 100MHz QDR FSB. PC1600 doesn't have the latency penalty that PC2100 hits the P4 with, but it only has half the bandwidth of PC800 memory.

PC800 memory is still my memory of choice for the P4 platform. The only way I would change my position here is if DDR/P4 chipsets run stabily at 133MHz system bus, and the s472 P4s can take the 33% overclock. (which I suspect will be the case with lower speed versions of 'em, remember the cA2 P3 500Es?).