Is it Worth Upgrading a Northwood To A Prescott ?

[blanka]

I have a northwood cpu which i believe is bottleneck for my ati x850 xt gcard. I have been deliberating over a prescott on ebay something like a 3.0Ghz/800FSB/1m/.. etc to replace my northwood of the same spec except it has 512K L2 cache and 533 (Approx, NOT SURE).

The northwood is being ran by a p4p800-8 deluxe mobo' (asus), with an ati x850 xt g'card (gpa), OCz DDR400 gamer gold extreme memory (1Gb, cas 2.0). Also the cpu is water cooled by the zalman reserator 1-plus. A tagan 480W PSU powers the system as well.

All in all the system credentials are impressive although that don't mean it outputs decent fps in online games using the source engine such as half life 2 and cs:s.

The northwood oc's quite well to 3.4Ghz but the fps is still poor when gaming on a 4mb, less than 20 latency brdband line. Therefore i have been wondering what kind of performance might i get if i upgraded my cpu ? AS I KNOW ITS CRAP AND OLD !!!

So anyone out there that might shed some light, please reply to this thread !!!

Thanks, also i just want to say for a abt £100.00 cpu replacement i can buy brand new mobo and chip (AMD, SKCT 754). This is what i been advised to do, go AMD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because by experienced gamers, have told me i should see vast improvement in fps if i go amd .....

 

[blanka]

same here, but havent had time to change my avatar. Working on it now. .

Also, em about your processor. I would say stick with what uv got for now and wait till u have a bit more money. Then burn all the cash on a new conroe.

The reason for this is that you will see a big difference in performance. Rather than buying new parts that will give you just a llittle boost in FPS. e.g AMD 64 range of chips/boards

You Def right THERE MATE !!!!!!!!!!!!

Also sorry about the competitor post crap thingy majiggy. Didn't know about that ! its been edited anyways ! I get so wound i jump to forums, get my answer and the f off and never return ... this is me sorry i never read the rules i reckon i might make myself comfortable, here, Great PPL here on the forums and and great E-tailer what can i say !!!

A conroe does look sweet i have to admit, a short term gain in fps may not necessarily be everything in the long run. So i cannot argue with you there. I mean i have the money and everyfink i check inquirer all the time. From what i can recall and you cannot quote me for this, but aren't intel supposed to be releasing a killer chipset to suport ati crossfire platform alongside the conroe architecure. I.e a killer chipset built for gamers ... to help give intel a name in terms of gamers and gaming.

The reason for the intial post is that am part of a clan so i just cannot be asked with that kind of fps anymore ... especially when i just paid close to 200 quid for the gcard of mine !!!!!!!!

I mean i am computer science graduate here at bardford uni' and tbh with ya, the reverse HT thingy on the am2 sockets makes helluva lot of sense to me personally from a cpu architecure p.o.v as well as software p.o.v.

 

[blanka]

Just Want to say GUYS !!!!!!! Thanks for the replies and SOOO quickly as well !!!!!!!!!!! WOW !!!!!!!!! i usualy end waiting a day or so for a reply usualy lol ......... hauppauge and creative forums lol !!!

Look forward to reading some replies !!!!!!!!!

 

[blanka]

Thanks for the replies guys, how do i get a screenshot posted in this thread as reply .......... as i want you guys (corasik, hangtime) to check out my current cpu's stats in CPU-Z ?

If i cant get a screenshot posted, then you two guys should be able to explain what my next move should be ... i mean I don't mind buying another processor and experimenting for results ........ but with you experienced ppl such as urself, this process should be a lot quicker and smoother thanks to your experience.

I can say this, the fsb is 533 and it does have HT enabled thats for sure !!!

You mention a northwood with 800Mhz whys this the first time i have heard about this ???? For 800Mhz FSB i thgt of a prescott straight away ! fo'so' !!!

What do You mean by fsb saturated, also the dual channel is working and installed properly .................. another note i have oced this cpu a few times as pure NooBY that i am, and i have squezzed it close to 600Mhz ....

So this means for OC'ing this kind of chip, i need to speak to corasik ... if you don't mind me asking all these nooby questions ....

 

[blanka]

I seem to have found two northwoods on ebay with 800FSB with ht ....

using the search term intel p4 478 > using links found on the left hand side to narrow down the results. (Ending sometime during the day of 27/06/2006)

These processors are going for peanuts more or less ... this is what i mean, i don't mind experimenting to for results ......... only way to get rid if the what ifs floating around in my head !

 

[blanka]

Thanks for the reply, so is it fair to say a northwood with 800FSB is better than a prescott, as heat is not an issue, i run a water colling kit as well !

But by the looks of your reply, seems like a northwood is better for me ...

i dont mind purchasing one and seein if this is true but all the ones of e-tailers are 533 ........ ! then u know if it dont turn out as i had expected i can always retrurn it for a refund ....

Do you have a headset ............ please come into my clans teamspeak server, i can talk directly to you one to one. For the teamspeak server ip please goto mtgeurope.com, or even google it. With someone like you in the teamspeak server i can get my head round this fps problem sooner than later ....

My name in the clan is {MTG}Blank[A] !!!!

 

[blanka]

mmmm, well my gcard is directX 9 (ati x850 xt) ... i haven't ran any benchmarking software in like AGES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I typically play cs:s, for exmaple the dust maps, somewhere 30-60 fps ...... always around there !!!

Alhough the video stress test in the game from the main menu, shows an fps close a 100 fps.

you definately right, i just want to see if i can get more performance out of this current system before i make my mind up when vista is out. So if a northwood with 800FSB can help oc'ed as well then i will def' investigate that mate !!!

 

[blanka]

Am getting hold of 3dmark 03 right now, but what u explained earlier is def' right,
my fsb of 533 is def' going to be bottleneck ........ fo'so'

Heres the thing, i don't seem to be able to find a northwood of the web with 800Mhz FSB !!!!!!!!! u ?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just did a benchmark, and i got 12088 .... all tests were selected but res was at 1024 * 768 ...............

From the two cpu tests, it scored 692 ......

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[blanka]

HUhuh >? did ya ? ebay ?

if so e-mail me the link of you don't mind !!!
i check my home e-mail regularly.

I been checking ebay, i found a 3.0Ghz but not a 3.2 ......... ?

Not ebay ? then e-mail me the link to the site where u found it off then !!!

Thanks, Ibrar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Am gonna ben heading out now, as my family run a business so duty calls, will be online later anyways, to check for replies !!!! THANKS, for replying !

 

[blanka]

Thanks for taking the time and benching your system for me

btl of ** cpu test score, it def' is better than, proving the difference of fsb then ......... very simple conc' ah know but cannot be asked disproving it lol. Good enuff for me lol.

i really do appreciate ... it ... so btl of things, your processor would be a good cheap and cheerful short term upgrade for my computer. Till vista comes that is.

I been looking on the usual auction site and i cannot find much ... when i do manage to get hold of one ... i prolly will be needing your assistence to help me oc it, fo'so !!!

First thing first i a northwood c processor ....................... can't seem to find one off e-tailers as well, reckon i might even give an old friend a ring !!! SPECIAL REQUEST kind of thing !!! will let you know either way !!!

You mentioned 'work', earlier on in your posts, where do you work ?
am waiting to graduate here at bradford universty, so am looking for a job as well !!!!