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How do socket 478 3.0ghz p4s perform?

luminous

luminous

luminous

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Joined
10 Apr 2006
Posts
373
Location
Edinburgh
Just wondering my mates got a p4 3.0ghz 800fsb with `hyperthreading`(thats not really dual core is it?) with a cheap pc chips mobo and 512 ddr400 kingston ram and even on a fresh install zippy it ain`t,despite disabling system restore etc and setting it for performance.
I was wondering how they perform his machine seems much slower than mine (well i`d expect mine to be a bit faster).Its apparent especially switching between tasks and he just uses it for the net and writing dvds.
 
I used to have one of these chips, and I never noticed it being that slow...

What hard drive is in his system?

I wouldn't of thought the CPU was the problem here, but more to do with the lack of RAM, 512MB is really a minimum for XP, and the HDD.

A few more details maybe?
 
luminous said:
Just wondering my mates got a p4 3.0ghz 800fsb with `hyperthreading`(thats not really dual core is it?) with a cheap pc chips mobo and 512 ddr400 kingston ram and even on a fresh install zippy it ain`t,despite disabling system restore etc and setting it for performance.
I was wondering how they perform his machine seems much slower than mine (well i`d expect mine to be a bit faster).Its apparent especially switching between tasks and he just uses it for the net and writing dvds.
Click to expand...
3 ghz p4 is a nice cpu

it all depends what you do with it.

if encoding video the p4 will be faster than yours
 
Yeh i`ve advised him to get another kingston 512 stick.He has a new samsung hd in and dma is fine.
Its not `slow` like his old celeron was but i kind of expected the p4 to be quite fast in execution,opening windows in explorer etc.His encoding speed is halved going to the p4 which is pretty good.Its just i see predominantly amd systems on here and wondering how they compare.
I have a spare stick of ddr i`ll give him see how it goes,cheers.
 
Raikiri said:
I would blame the PC Chips mobo, awful boards.
Click to expand...

I hadn`t heard of the brand before,he bought the stuff and asked me to put it together for him.After now seeing what folks think on here i would have avoided like the plague.
In 2 months so far i`ve had to flash bios as sp2 caused a meltdown in it,reinstall xp again(certain mobos bios with prescott cores have issues).
His 6 month 40gig system drive kept going back to pio mode,even after a dma reset.
So i decided to use his new bigger drive as system drive at wkend as he was having trouble burning dvds and general windows weirdness.
After a format and just about to install xp it comes up with `hal.dll error`(possible hardware fault i read).I then did the usual troubleshoot,checked bios,tried new psu,memory,gfx card,new cd drive,new cd.I was just about to give up and return mobo when i put his dvdrw back in and it worked?!.
I think the mobo is the trouble really hope it goes so i can return it for a better one,it also might explain why i feel the pc isn`t performing as well as it should hmm and of course i get blame for it all :rolleyes:
 
Until recently I had a P4 3.0Ghz socket 478.

They are still a very decent CPU with plenty of punch. I agree with others, the problem will not lie with the CPU but probably with lack of memory or the motherboard.

To do this CPU justice and get the best from it you will need at least 512MB memory (1GB is better) and a motherboard based on Intels 865 (Springdale) or 875 (Canterwood) chipsets.
 
I've been using this chip daily for last 3 years (since release) and only now am thinking of upgrading and even then not in a great rush.

What others have pointed out is correct though, the CPU can't really make up for a cheapy motherboard chipset and inadequate memory.
 
Is that 1 stick or ram or 2, P4's need a lot of memory bandwidth, and for good performance, 2 sticks of ram, and a motherboard that supports 'dual channel' is very important.

If its a prescott CPU, make sure its well cooled, and not throttling, download throttlewatch if you think this might be an issue.

Make sure Hyperthreading is enabled on the computer. Windows XP's taskmanager will show two plots of cpu history if all is right. Hyperthreading really helps performance when switching between tasks.

A Slow hard disk can cripple the performance of any computer, you mentioned yourself it keeps dropping back to PIO mode. Thats a bad thing, does he have any 'Starforce' protected computer games, these can trip drives back into PIO mode sometimes. The drive itself could be a touch slow anyway, and if the controlers on the motherboard are poor that could make it even worse. HDTACH is a good program for checking the performance of the drive+controller subsystems.

Im running an old 3.2Ghz Northwood P4, and the performance is more than sufficent for even the latest games, GPU being generally more important than the CPU for gaming anyway.
 
From my experience with Pc chips motherboards i would simply say. CHNAGE YOUR MOTHERBOARD. They are just very bad boards. My friend has this board and all it does is switch off anythime it feels like . :(
 
Hi the temps seem ok 51 for cpu,30 for mobo (my other mate has 71 for cpu with same processor and that works ok).I read pentiums run hot.
Haven`t heard of throttlewatch might have a look at that.
Hyperthreading is enabled in bios,device manager shows 2 cpus but i don`t see 2 cpu graphs in task manager.
He just phoned me to say new dvd writer won`t recognize cds or burn them,man this machine is a nightmare.Will try to persuade him to get a decent mobo.Unfortunately he bought the stuff i didn`t have a say in it really wished he`d asked me first.
Any reccomendations for mobo?
 
Well, if you can find a supplier with a 478 motherboard, or find one second hand, Asus P4C800-Deluxe was always rated one of the best. P4P800 series are good too.

If you want a board with loads of features the Abit IC7-Max3 is a great board too. Try the members market here, perhaps someone will be selling one sometime.

There is actually an option on task manager under view, to combine both the cpu usage history's into 1 graph, or split it into two. Default is two, but mebee your friend changed it. Anyway, if the device manager is showing 2 cpus, and the Computer type is ACPI Multiprocessor PC, then Hyperthreading is correctly enabled.

If you can get hold of a good Canterwood, or Springdale motherboard, and another stick of ram so the computer is running dual channel, I dont believe you'll consider the computer slow. It's a perfectly acceptable CPU for all bar the most demanding of tasks.
 
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Just for comparison, my p4 3ghz 800fsb (whichever ones came out first) is currently running at 32 degrees on not so loud air cooling.
 
Mine seems fine to me - overclocked to 3.52GHz, but I'm fairly sure it's got more umph in it yet!

Idling at about 42c, case is 30c.
 
Socket 478 Prescotts run hot, Northwoods dont. My Northwood [email protected] idles at around 35degrees according to my P4C800 motherboard, thats using a fairly big zalman heatsink.

All the fans are on minimum speed for a very quiet system. The loudest sound is the keyboard (Or the speakers hehe)
 
luminous said:
Just wondering my mates got a p4 3.0ghz 800fsb with `hyperthreading`(thats not really dual core is it?) with a cheap pc chips mobo and 512 ddr400 kingston ram and even on a fresh install zippy it ain`t,despite disabling system restore etc and setting it for performance.
I was wondering how they perform his machine seems much slower than mine (well i`d expect mine to be a bit faster).Its apparent especially switching between tasks and he just uses it for the net and writing dvds.
Click to expand...
PC Chips motherboards are the perfect companions for Q-Tec PSUs. They both work, just about, most of the time.

I suggest picking up another stick of memory, partly to make use of dual memory channels if the board supports it (or if you get a different board that does) and partly to ensure he doesn't run out of memory. You mention it being particularly slow at switching between tasks - that might be due to inadequate memory. More tasks, more memory required. Have a listen to the HDD when switching between tasks. If it's in use, that might be your answer.

Hyperthreading isn't really dual core, no. It's one core pretending to be two. It does allow more efficient sharing of the CPU between tasks, but it's nowhere near as effective as genuine dual core.
 
Well not a lot of choice locally but sourced these
ASUS SKT-478 P4GPL-X S/L PCI-Ex16 800FSB dual channel pciex16 44quid
GIGABYTE 8S661FXMP-RZ agp
GIGABYTE GA-8I848P-G SKT 478 agp sata
Some cheap asrocks

The Asus board looks best and good value,he`s just using the pc for the net and burning dvds,and did i mention he`s a total cheapskate :D.
I have 2x512 ddr400 twinmos new which i`ll sell to him which he can run in dual channel and gives him option for sata drives and a graphics card should he want to get into games(he`s not interested apart from that new csi game).
Corasik that deluxe board looked the part,cheers guys
 
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