875 v. 865PE

[mms4ba]

What's the difference between these 2 intel chipsets?

I had an Abit IC7 and liked it, but it was destroyed recently in a flood.

I'm debating on whether to go with another 875 board or the less expensive 865PE's.

Thanks!

[batboy]

I think the i875 can use ECC RAM and the northbridge chip is slightly better quality and the power circuitry is slightly more robust than the i865. For the typical overclocker, there really isn't much difference. When benchmarking, the i875 tends to win some of the benchmarks by a slim margin. If you ever plan on using a Prescott, the i875 might be a better choice.

[mms4ba]

Why do you say that about the prescotts? And how can you tell (when ordering) which is a prescott and which is the northwood?

[Indyxc1]

Also, if you plan to run memory at 230+ fsb, especially in dual channel get an i875 board. It seems some 865 based boards get graphical errors when the memory is running past 230.

[Dylruss]

Why do you say that about the prescotts? And how can you tell (when ordering) which is a prescott and which is the northwood?

Usually the letter will tell you which one it is. The C's are the newer Northwoods and the E's are the better Prescott's. Had to do it over again, I would have gotten a better board and one with the i875 chipset. No real reason though, just wanted something newer.

[jenko]

i would not go for another 865, im very happy with my ausu board but the northbridge is rubbish i get tearing if i go over a fsb of 216.

[batboy]

The Prescott P-4's have 1024k cache compared to the Northwood 512k cache.

Prescotts are power hogs, so the i875 mobos seem to be a tad better suited because the power circuitry is slightly more robust.

I've had my Abit AI7 which is a i865 up to 290 FSB with my Mushkin PC3500 using the 5:4 memory ratio and 280 with my Hyperram PC4200 using the 1:1 ratio with no problems (this was with Northwood CPUs).

[mms4ba]

Well, I will probably go with another IC7 since I know it, and I already have a PCI lan card. I would rather have the Max-3 but it's too damn expensive, and out of stock.

I don't know yet whether my 2.66B is dead or not...I don't think it is. If so, I will probably get a 3.0E and some PC3200 ram.

IF I need a new proc, any other recommendations for the ~$200 price range other than the 3.0E?

[batboy]

Personally, if you are going for a Prescott, get the 3.2E since you'll probably get the D0 stepping. With the 3.0E you'll probably get the older C0 stepping. Otherwise, get the 3.0C Northwood. Follow the link in my siggy.

[mms4ba]

Thanks batboy!