Confused on a new Intel Motherboard

RaidersGuy

RaidersGuy

RaidersGuy

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21 Apr 2006
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135
OK well this is my first post and I have not been following very closely the advance of the specs of computers over the last 2 years and a lot has changed and I'm ready to upgrade, I don’t play games I don’t normally over clock, and I'm old school I prefer Intel, the motherboard I have now (don’t laugh) is an Asus P4P800 Deluxe, Intel Pentium 4 Northwood 478 3.0GHz, Corsair PC32001024MB (2x512MB).
I have decided to go with Asus P5WD2-E, the first big decision is what memory, the choice is overwhelming:
OCZ Gold PC6400 DDR2 1024MB Dual Pack, w/two matched 512MB PC6400
Patriot 1GB PC7200 900MHz Kit w/two matched (2x512MB)
Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 1024MB CL5 Kit w/two matched CM2X512A-6400
The second choice is the processor dual core or not, I either stick around the same speed I have already got and go for Intel Pentium 4 830 Dual Core Extreme Edition LGA775 Smithfield 800FSB 3.0GHz or increase speed and go for a Intel Pentium 4 670 Socket LGA775 Prescott 800FSB 3.8GHz.
I use my computer for a fair amount of audio editing a little video NO GAMES webpage design and photos editing, the web, I'm’ no expert but would I be right in thinking that going down the road of dual core I would see very little difference in practice unless I do a lot of multi tasking, and if I did go dual core would this mean more ram e.g. 2048MB
I hope this posting isn’t too confusing if it is then you will know how I feel at the moment, looking round the forums I get a feeling a lot of people are AMD and not necessary dual core either, any help or thoughts I would be very grateful.
 
I'm sure I won't be the last to say this but:

Unless you are really having issues with the current PC wait a few months until Intels next desktop cpu with the conroe core comes out. This should give a significant increase in performance over your curent system. The main problem with intel mobos at the moment is that with each new cpu intel release a new mobo is required, so upgrade paths are more expensive.
 
Hello Topitoff many thanks for taking the trouble to reply, I think you have grasped my problem spending a lot of money with very little to show for it, because of the dual core every thing has slowed down CPU wise I mean, but some forums are tearing apart DDR2 for some reason still are these new processors still going the way of dual core I wonder?
 
There is actually very little wrong with what you have. You won't get a huge performance increase by swapping to either of your suggested systems IF your existing Northwood is the HT model.

If you do want to swap - go for a Presler, they are a big step on from the Smithfields and right now they are on special offer. The 940 3.2GHz chip is £159+VAT, but it will eat a 670 (350+VAT!) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Couple that with an Abit AL8 for a nice stable high performance system. Don't worry about the RAM. These chips run at 800MHz so the cheapest PC4200 DDR2 RAM is more than fast enough, even for 1:1 DRAM:CPU ratio overclocking upto 266MHz.

But if you have seen any of the benchmarks floating about for the Conroe chips then you really should wait for that - especially considering what you want it for. But the chips and motherboards will be REALLY expensive when they launch, so it could be this time next year before you see that performance at a reasonable price.
 
Very kind thanks for all your help I might hang on now but I may just pick up a second hand Northwood 478 3.6Ghz and yes my Northwood is a HT model and update my graphics card which isn’t much to shout about.
 
They never made a 3.6GHz Nothwood - 3.4GHz was the fastest they went to. Those go for megabucks for some reason £150+!!!!

You should be able to get a 2nd hand Prescott for about £100 though. Your motherboard should be able to run that.
 
Yes sorry 3.4GHz I got confused with the socket LGA775, I done a little research this afternoon and found the opposite so I may have to stand corrected again, but the Northwood has only an L2 512Kb cache while the Prescott has an L2 1Mb cache so I will try for on of them unless I have it wrong but I did check my bios and it will run either
 
Yes - the big benefit of the Northwood is it is supposed to run cooler than a Prescott, but the last Prescott 478's were about the same as the best Northwoods, it's just that by then everyone had switched their attention to the 775 chips.

If you can, get an E0 3GHz (530, 531 or 630) or E0 2.8GHz (520 or 521). Both should be roughly £60 and are pretty much guaranteed to clock at stock +1GHz.

You could probably swap your existing processor for very little money and get a small performance boost unclocked or a huge one clocked.

I also think your existing motherboard is one of the better ones for overclocking iirc.
 
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