My 3.2C is still running fine after all these years.

[Arkaign]

My Socket 939 X2 4200+ is still working great after six years. The only thing that has gone wrong with the entire setup (A8N-SLI Premium with PCI-E 1.0, 1GB DDR 400, 6800GT) is the motherboard's BIOS battery died. I need to get around to replacing it.

Processors rarely go bad. I personally know some people still running Pentium and Pentium II computers. I'm sure there's people out there still running a 486 for kicks too.

With that said, a single core, power-hungry Netburst CPU has definitely seen its better days. Upgrading to a moderate modern system (i3 / i5 or Athlon II X2 / X3 / X4) with a decent motherboard, 2+ GB of memory, and a solid state disk will make you completely reconsider your love for the 3.2C. Of course all of that will cost you a pretty penny, so it's up to you to decide if your computer is adequate for what you do.

The 4200+ X2 939 came out on may 31, 2005, so it can't be 6 years old yet, though it's nearly 5 years old. Those are still great chips though!

Other than the fragile socket A days, I don't think I ever saw any significant amount of dead cpus from either AMD or Intel. Both released some chips that simply never should have been made though. T-Bird 1400, P3-1.13, P3 600 (before coppermine, they were unstable stock), pretty much the entire socket 754 platform (should have been 939 only imho, s754 was just neglected), the entire socket 423 platform, etc.

 

[Maximilian]

The 4200+ X2 939 came out on may 31, 2005, so it can't be 6 years old yet, though it's nearly 5 years old. Those are still great chips though!

Other than the fragile socket A days, I don't think I ever saw any significant amount of dead cpus from either AMD or Intel. Both released some chips that simply never should have been made though. T-Bird 1400, P3-1.13, P3 600 (before coppermine, they were unstable stock), pretty much the entire socket 754 platform (should have been 939 only imho, s754 was just neglected), the entire socket 423 platform, etc.

I upgraded from socket 423 to socket 754 Always used to get the short end of the stick back when i didnt understand tech so well.

 

[adairusmc]

Nice! I did that a few times myself, only made a few hundred quid though.

Anyone remember that group of people on AT who were rockin P4EE chips when everyone else was on X2's and C2D's? Whats happened to them? They had their own thread i think.

I had a P4 EE 3.2 for a while, one of the worst purchases I ever made (from a price/performance standpoint). I upgraded that to a X2 4800+ and sold the EE dirt cheap to my cousin, and I couldn't have been happier.

 

[imported_pendragon]

Behind me is my old P4 2.8c [Northwood], Abit Ic7 original, not the 'G' or 'Max' version mobo.
It has 3gb of mixed Mushkin and GSkill ram, Leadtech 7600GT agp card.
WD 80 and 120gb hdd's and the Antec 430tp psu in a Antec 1080 case
I keep CoD/UO installed along with HL2 etc for old times sake.
I ran the 2.8 at 3-3.2ghz for years but now the wife thinks it's just fine at default speeds.

I can't complain about Intel. Their reliability is fantastic plus my 920 is running at 3.2ghz - 3.360ghz when Turbo kicks in.
Now I have a fast one too.

 

[justinm]

Besides my 2.53/865perl system, I've also got a Celeron 2.4/845 system that uses PC133 RAM. That thing screams!! I've still got CPUs ranging from a 386sx to a P4 670 in my CPU box. Been in it a while now...

 

[ShawnD1]

Besides my 2.53/865perl system, I've also got a Celeron 2.4/845 system that uses PC133 RAM. That thing screams!! I've still got CPUs ranging from a 386sx to a P4 670 in my CPU box. Been in it a while now...

Make sure you run Prime95's small FFT test on these older systems to verify their integrity.

Almost all of my computers have died. The longest living computer I still have running is my E6600 which turned 3 years old last November

 

[genkidesu]

haha my 286 is still running but has not been in use for quite some time, tho i also have an athlon system that is still running too and being used for around 8 years i guess...

 

[HannibalX]

I still have a P4 space heater sitting around somewhere. I was never impressed with the P4 line and only used them because I had them in the workplace. I did have a 2.8GHz Prescott in a work desktop for a few years that was tolerable but you could cook an egg on the top of the case.

My AthlonXP 3200+ @ 2.4GHz still works flawlessly.

My Opteron 185 @ 3.0GHz still works flawlessly.

My Athlon64 4000+ @ 2.4GHz (stock) still works flawlessly.

 

[ShawnD1]

I still have a P4 space heater sitting around somewhere. .

lol. Another good one is to use a laptop to heat my bed. Try it! Run something like Prime95 or the OCCT PSU test to generate more heat.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

It sucks it's still chugging along for your neffing pleasure.

Weren't you the guy in OT that couldn't tell the difference between MMA/UFC in comparison to WWE?

Yes, yes you were...

 

[HannibalX]

It sucks it's still chugging along for your neffing pleasure.

Weren't you the guy in OT that couldn't tell the difference between MMA/UFC in comparison to WWE?

Yes, yes you were...

This is NOT Off Topic.

 

[brandonwh64]

Heres my overclocked P4/ht

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Brandon, I'd recommend you OC from the BIOS. I burned out my P4 2.26 board by using CPUFSB over a few months because of it. It was only at 2.4-2.6ghz the entire time.

Just my $.02.

 

[brandonwh64]

this bios has ZERO overclocking settings (besides memory speed). From all the forums i have searched for this board they say using setFSB is the best to overclock with and as you can see @ 3.8ghz and 4 hours linx stable it runs good

 

[zsdersw]

but you could cook an egg on the top of the case.

Just a little hyperbole there. I've seen hundreds of different P4 computers, from Williamette to Presler.. and none of them ran hot enough to "cook an egg". If they do, there's a fan/air movement problem.. and that would eventually be a problem for any computer, not just a P4-based system.

As an aside, it doesn't really take that much heat to cook an egg. Compared to what it takes to, say, boil water, eggs cook *very* easily.

 

[ViviTheMage]

my parents AMD K6 450 is still truckin along.

 

[brandonwh64]

vivi see the P4 chip i got from u do 3.8

 

[StrangerGuy]

vivi see the P4 chip i got from u do 3.8

Sadly even @ 3.8GHz, that is still slower than a slowest debut C2D. (E6300 1.86GHz ~= PEE 3.73 DC HT) But then its still exciting to see high clocks.

 

[FelixDeCat]

this bios has ZERO overclocking settings (besides memory speed). From all the forums i have searched for this board they say using setFSB is the best to overclock with and as you can see @ 3.8ghz and 4 hours linx stable it runs good

brandonwh64, thanks for this tasty bit of information. While I am not keen on overclocking my trusty 3.2C
considering its critical nature at this time, I am glad to know that this function can now be achieved via software
versus bios adjustments that require rebooting.

Perhaps I shall try this on my T7200 Core 2 Duo laptop as it too cannot be overclocked via bios settings.
The laptop is relatively expendable.

 

[soccerballtux]

Brandon, I'd recommend you OC from the BIOS. I burned out my P4 2.26 board by using CPUFSB over a few months because of it. It was only at 2.4-2.6ghz the entire time.

Just my $.02.

shouldn't make a difference; how could it? Software/Bios, end result is the same.

 

[brandonwh64]

Sadly even @ 3.8GHz, that is still slower than a slowest debut C2D. (E6300 1.86GHz ~= PEE 3.73 DC HT) But then its still exciting to see high clocks.

Yea i understand stranger but it cool to have a 3.8ghz P4 S478

 

[nyker96]

my old 754 sempy still works and I use it as a linux file server. those old parts are very sturdy.

 

[CraigRT]

I was just reading a thread from 2008 regarding the S939 platform and the love it once (and still does) have. I still have my Opteron 170/A8R32-MVP Deluxe system and it still runs as good as day 1. I'm not selling this hardware for sure, this is the longest lasting computer I've ever had without major upgrades, and it's staying in the CraigRT museum of fine PC parts.

I wish AMD could come up with another Athlon64 of the modern era, and give Intel a run for their money.

(I have an i7 860 on order, I'm not biased one way or another) - I just enjoyed the AMD glory days.

 

[Shlong]

I had a P4 2.4c @ 3.2 ghz for a good 4-5 years. Unfortunately the motherboard stopped working one day. Using a Q6600 @ 3.3 ghz now and haven't looked back. My first CPU from a rig I built myself Celeron300a @ 450mhz lasted a good 4-5 years as well. Love these value chips!

 

[Bucks]

My main Computer is
Athlon XP 1700+ T-bred B @ 2.4 ghz
Abit NF7
1 GB Buffalo Ram DDR 400
Asus Ati Radeon 9600XT
160 GB Western Digital HD 7200rpm
Windows XP Premium
Built in 2004

I only play Warcraft 3 anymore, so my computer still works great. I keep the computer lean and clean from file clutter. For browsing and school work, it honestly works great. I love the 1700 t-bred B. It is my baby from 2004 and I am not going to upgrade until I get a real job.