Difference b/t Northwood and other P4 Socket-478 processors

[DACracker]

I know this question must have been asked 1000 times here, but what is the physical difference between the P4 1.6A and the 1.6. Both seem to be 478 pins, both seem to overclock well (an understatment, eh)... WHY DOES THE NORTHWOOD COST SO MUCH MORE?
-Intel Virgin David (wait, I was a Celeron 300A boy... nevermind)

Edit: i just noticed that the A flavor has 512k of L2.. is that the only difference?

 

[o1die]

The 1.6 is a willamette core (.18 micron) and 1.6a northwood is .13 micron, and overclocks better. The 1.6 runs at about 1.75 volts, while the northwood runs at about 1.5 volts.

 

[DACracker]

thanks. is there any particular reason why the northwoods seem to be rising in price lately?

 

[AnAndAustin]

The P4A CPUs use the 0.13mu Northwood core and not only have 512k L2 cache (in itself gives 5-10% boost) but also run far cooler and o/c like hell. The P4 256k CPUs are about 5-10% slower at defaults and struggle when o/c'ing, plus they throw off a lot more heat!

P4 1.6ghz 256k averagely o/c to 2ghz and give a 125x4=500FSB, but even then need voltage adjustment and a very good cooling.
P4A 1.6ghz 512k averagely o/c to 2.4ghz and give a 133x4=533FSB, and that's with fantastic stability and NO need at all for voltage adjustment or super cooling. If you want to raise it higher with better air cooling and voltage tweaks these CPUs usually reach 150x4=600FSB and give the CPU a huge boost to 2.4ghz. At this speed they outperform the P4B 512k 2.4ghz 533FSB!
P4A 1.8ghz 512k similarly easily reach 533FSB giving CPU=2.4ghz (identical perf to P4B 512k 2.4ghz 533FSB) and with better air cooling and voltage tweaks often hit 600FSB giving CPU=2.7ghz. That's a 12% FSB and 7% CPU increase over a P4B 512k 2.53ghz 533FSB!

Essentially Intel needlessly clip NW (0.13mu & 512k) CPUs below 2.4 to a 100x4=400FSB, quite simply NW CPUs are cheaper for them to produce than Willy (0.18mu & 256k) CPUs, also by limiting them to 400FSB helps to promote sales of the 2.4 & 2.53 CPUs which use the 533FSB at default (which ALL NW CPUs are capable of BTW). The great news for us is that, due to these NW 400FSB CPUs using a higher multiplier (necessary with a lower FSB) and being at the lower end of the 0.13mu technology, they o/c fantasticly.

HTH!

 

[DACracker]

so it's basically the celeron 300a all over again... ahh, those were the days... i remember it like it was yesterday...
*drifting into memory-mode*
i was 15 or 16... i read that the celeron 300a would automatically go to 450mhz just by upping the fsb to 100mhz... it almost sounded too easy... and it was... those were the days... *sigh*

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

Yeah 1.6a way better from an overclockers perspective and a little better even without overclocking. The reason it is going up in price is because its being dicontinued so there are less chips around but still a large demand from the overclocking crowd to grab one while they still last. Though the 1.8a is now about the same price and also overclocks well.

 

[DACracker]

i think i got the difference now... now all i need is someone to explain how the P4 will ramp up in the future. as far as I can tell, much of the northwood's o'cability is due to the fact that it is based on a 100(X4) bus that can easily be put at 133(x4)=533mhz. What, then are the implications when DDR400 becomes standard? Will the FSB increase along with the memory bus?

Question 2: IYO what is the best P4 o'cers board, and are there any good mATX P4 boards that o'c well?

Thanks...
-Athlon boy in an Intel world

 

[Mikki]

There's plenty of posts here about future speculation, but we'll have to wait and see. P4's still have plenty of future in them. I don't think fsb speeds adjust with memory bus speeds, and with the ratios current boards offer, you can get ddr400 to run at rated speed (my 1.6a @ 2.4 with 3:4 ratio = ddr400).

My vote right now is Asus boards, and I wouldn't consider a micro-ATX board. HTH

 

[DACracker]

I ask about P4 mATX boards because I'm putting together a media PC for the living room that is going to be used for gaming output, but I'm wary about the noise and heat implications of putting a high speed Athlon in such a small case. I guess I should not only rephrase my question to "what mATX board will allow a P4 1.8A to reach 2.4 and above Ghz?" but I should also post that rephrased question in a new thread... this is getting kinda off topic...
-david

 

[Mikki]

No worries, and that's a good idea, you'll have to let us know how it works out.... I don't know much about the micro's other than the performance isn't as good. There are posts here and in the motherboard forum, do a search for...like Asus P4B533-VM...

Good luck!

 

[Wingznut]

Except that the P4B533-VM is a horrible board for overclocking. It's an excellent board otherwise, though.