Which should i get? Any experts..?

[daddyrief]

ok, here is my situation. i have a ****** 2.8 celeron, i think 128kb L2, it sucks. ive upgraded everything and im pretty sure its the processor bogging me down. (with a 6600gt and a gig of ram, i cant even get 30fps on cs:s). In the ft/fs forums, here's what i found:

Intel P4 2.40 GHz --- [$80]
sSpec Number: SL6PC | Processor Frequency: 2.40 GHz
CPUID String: 0F29h | Package Type: 478 pin | Core Voltage: 1.525
Bus Speed: 533 MHz | Core Stepping: D1 | Thermal Spec: 71°C
L2 Cache Size: 512 KB | Manufacturing Technology: 0.13 micron
L2 Cache Speed: 2.40 GHz | Bus/Core Ratio: 18

Intel P4 2.26 GHz --- [$70]
sSpec Number: SL6D6 | Processor Frequency: 2.26 GHz
CPUID String: 0F24h | Package Type: 478 pin | Core Voltage: 1.500
Bus Speed: 533 MHz | Core Stepping: B0 | Thermal Spec: 70°C
L2 Cache Size: 512 KB | Manufacturing Technology: 0.13 micron
L2 Cache Speed: 2.26 GHz | Bus/Core Ratio: 17

or

p4 2.8ghz 800 FSB HT CPU --- [$129]
512 L2 Cache


---please keep in mind, i want the 'best bang for the buck....' do any of these o/c better than any other?? i dont mind shelling out extra cash, if its a huge difference speedwise!

 

[Shenkoa]

Uhhhhhh.....

Well let me tell you something about gaming. Intel is no good at it, and all of the CPU's you listed are an awfull choice for any gaming. Do not bother with that crap, your best bet is to look towards an AMD based system, I dont mean to gloat but the Venice is the closest to the price ranged you have listed and it will fly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

I am not sure if you know anything about frequency vs. more IPC but stop looking at GHz as an only measurement of speed. A lower clocked A64 in terms of design makes the P4 look like a P1.

 

[daddyrief]

thanks, i was actually looking into going amd.
thing is, im not sure if i want to shell out the dough for a mobo too...

none of these would be an improvement?

 

[Shenkoa]

The 2.8 would be, but you would not notice it.

I would get a 3.2C if you must have Intel. You can find on em Ebay.

Ya see my specs, my Venice overclocked will beat out a 4 GHz Pentium 4 in most non optimised apps. Its only at 2.6 GHz, what does that tell you about the P4?

 

[RussianSensation]

P4 2.8ghz should overclock to 3.4-3.5ghz. At that point you'll be graphics card limited for sure. It is the best choice from those options imo. But I think you can pick up A64 3000+ and a $60 mobo. Problem is you'll still be stuck with AGP which is not optimal. But A64 should be faster at lower resolutions like 1024x768 since you are cpu limited the lower the detail level is.

 

[Shenkoa]

Assuming he wants to OC.

 

[daddyrief]

i mean, running games at 1024x768 is fine for me, i just want a decent frame rate for once.... remember im upgrading from a celeron, the crap of all existence...

 

[Shenkoa]

Do you plan on overclocking?

 

[daddyrief]

on air cooling, sure.... i mean, im looking at this:

128 L2 on my celeron vs. 512k on these proc.
400mhz fsb on celly vs. 533 on these p4s...

plus, isnt p4 better dynamics-wise than the celeron...?


edit: i know amd is superior, but im looking for a semi-budget upgrade, hopefully for under $150...which means just a processor, and a processor thats compatible with my board. now, my mobo box says supports 'p4 prescott up to 2.8ghz...' if i got the 2.8, would it still be possible to o/c it?

 

[Shenkoa]

Not a big enough differents to make it worth the $ imo. Dont bother stepping down in clock speed for more cache and more FSB, its silly.

Do not bother with the 2.8E. You would be waisting your money, go for a damn A64 and stop with this Intel junk.

You want to upgrade from your celeron, get a Sempron and a cheap mobo. Better dyanamics wise???? what!

This is my last post in your thread as I feel your question has been answered.

 

[secretanchitman]

any northwood "C" processors are good. i have a 2.4C myself and it OCs like mad compared to todays processors.

and maybe he doesnt have enough money for an amd switchover. let the guy get what he wants.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Definitely get the 3.2C, unless you plan on overclocking. Then maybe a 2.8C?

 

[stevty2889]

Of those I would go for the 2.8C. It will be a nice improvement over your celeron, and has hyperthreading. Just so long as your motherboard supports hyperthreading and 800mhz FSB, and you have PC3200 DDR already thats what I'd go for. If it doesn't support HT and 800mhz FSB I would just ditch it all together and get a cheap AMD sempron and motherboard combo.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Northie C's are actually pretty good procs. If you've got the other stuff with it, then it should run your 6600GT pretty well, esp OC'd.

 

[fatty4ksu]

Any of them will be very good imo.

Good luck w/your new CPU! :thumbsup:

 

[Wentelteefje]

ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2 for $ 68 on Newegg... Combination of AGP and PCIe, performant chipset, decent overclocker, no FireWire and Gb LAN though...

Combine this with a cheap AMD Athlon 64 3000+, overclock it to 2.4GHz (3800+), and your machine will fly, plus it'll have 64-bit compatibility...

Otherwise, take the 2.4GHz and overclock it really good... Over 3GHz should be possible... It's a better value than the 2.8GHz IMO...

 

[Elvis2]

you might want to consider THIS.
i overclock and while my 2.8C @ 3.5 was great, Prescott's scale higher at 3.0 and above. this 3.2E ran at 4.0 ghz at 1.47 volts. it was on h2o so obviously the temps were lower (34C idle/41C idle, 80f ambient) so on air i'd say it'd go 3.8. of course ymmv. cooling is the key...

 

[Wentelteefje]

If you want a mobo that supports AGP and PCIe for Socket 478, take this one... You'll be able to upgrade later...

 

[xgunnas32]

i used to use intel, but once used amd, intels blow at gaming, so i really recommend getting an asrock mobo+ teh 3200

 

[kalrith]

daddyrief,

I have pretty much the same setup as you (Socket 478 mobo, 1 GB RAM, 6600GT) except that I have the 2.4C processor. I was running it at stock voltage and cooling at 3.0GHz with my 6600GT overclocked as well (also with stock cooling). I could run Doom 3 at 1600x1200 resolution with everything turned on high except no AA and no AF, and it doesn't lag at all. Just last night I installed the Scythe Ninja heatsink. It dropped my temps 23 degrees Celcius at load! I pushed my FSB from 250 to 280, so now I'm running at 3.34GHz. I also have the Zalman VF700-Cu Cooler to install on the 6600GT, because it's getting kind of hot, and I want to overclock it more.

I've really wanted to upgrade lately, since I bought this setup over two years ago and with all the Opteron deals going on, but I just can't warrant it. My processor and video card match pretty well in terms of performance, and my video card would definitely be the bottleneck if I upgraded to an Athlon64.

So, of course if you have the money to upgrade to an A64 with the ASRock motherboard, then go for it. That will be your biggest performance increase and give you better future compatibility, being a Socket 939 and having a PCI-express slot. However, if you don't want to spend the extra cash, just pick up the least expensive Northwood C processor (800MHz FSB) and overclock it.

One word of advice though: Pentium 4's like to run at 1:1 ratio between the FSB and memory. I have Samsung TCCD RAM which allows me to do this. If your RAM won't run that fast (DDR500+), then you'll take a performance hit when you overclock if you run your RAM at a 5:4 or 3:2 ratio. This would put an even bigger performance difference between the Intel processor and the A64.

Good luck!

 

[3chordcharlie]

The 2.8C you have listed will blow away your current chip. For that price there's a good chance you can get a S754 mobo combo with a sempron that will do as well or better, but really, there isn't much of an upgrade path in s754 anyway.

Especially if you are willing to overclock, and even if you aren't, the 2.8C will be fine.

If you feel like gambling, get the 2.26 and a nice fan and shoot for 3.4ghz@800fsb. You'll be a little lucky to get there

 

[Zap]

People are recommending stuff without paying attention to the basics. The OP, daddyrief, said he has a $150 budget so a socket 939 CPU and motherboard combo is out of the question. Also, many people mentioned overclocking, but daddyrief hasn't made mention of it. If he does overclock, he would have said something like "my Celeron 2.8@3.1GHz."

The other thing is that he didn't disclose what his motherboard is other than saying it claims "p4 prescott up to 2.8GHz." I had an FIC motherboard using the 865P (not PE) board that can support a Prescott 2.8A, but it sure can't properly support any "C" or "E" CPU.

daddyrief what motherboard do you have? We want brand and model. Also, would you consider overclocking?

Here are my preliminary recommendations:

Do not get the 2.26GHz P4 you listed. If is a B0 core, which is not that great for overclocking. (there I go making assumptions)

If you want to do uber-budget and you have a very overclockable motherboard and would consider overclocking, consider a cheap mobile P4 CPU. You can get them for about $30-50 on eBay and pretty much 100% of them will run at 2.4GHz on an 800MHz FSB providing your motherboard supports these. If your motherboard is overclockable and you get a C1 or D1 core (there are B0 available that don't clock as well) then you have a chance of hitting 3GHz and up. These CPUs use the Northwood core and are specified to run at 1.3v while desktop Northwoods run at around 1.5v, meaning it's pretty safe to overvolt them, commonly to 1.6v, to assist with huge overclocks.

If your board supports the CPU and you want the least hassle, get the 2.8GHz CPU you listed, or wait for a 3.0C or 3.2C to become available at your price point.

If you aren't afraid to venture into uncharted territory, consider getting a socket 754 Sempron setup. I'd venture to say that you will be pleasantly pleased at the performance gain over your Celeron. You can get an overclockable board with AGP for your existing video card plus a 2800+ or 3000+ CPU for around your budget.

If you live near a Fry's Electronics, they are always doing deals with ECS 755-A2 or NFORCE3-A boards with Semprons for $100 or less. These always make for real budget upgrades that aren't too shabby in the performance or overclocking department (except for the most recent 3100+ deal).

Note that if you change your motherboard, especially if you go cross platform to AMD, you'll probably have to reinstall or "repair install" Windows.

 

[kalrith]

Zap,

I think it's you who didn't pay attention to the OP. His last statment is as follows:

---please keep in mind, i want the 'best bang for the buck....' do any of these o/c better than any other?? i dont mind shelling out extra cash, if its a huge difference speedwise!

So, it sounds to me like he is at least considering overclocking and is definitely willing to go over his budget if it is a huge difference. Everyone else considered this and posted their recommendation for the choices he listed and then went on to give some alternatives. We're all just giving the OP options to consider, so he gets the "best bang for the buck" as he put it.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: kalrith
I think it's you who didn't pay attention to the OP. His last statment is as follows:

---please keep in mind, i want the 'best bang for the buck....' do any of these o/c better than any other?? i dont mind shelling out extra cash, if its a huge difference speedwise!

Fair 'nuff - egg on my face. I even searched for the word "overclock" and didn't see it, but of course he used "o/c." When reading I probably skipped it because it looks to be in the format of a sig.

Zap just got pwned by a n00b :Q

Still, we need to know what his motherboard is to be able to recommend a good overclocking CPU as a companion. I did state that the 2.26 CPU specified would not be a good overclocker.

For the OP, if you don't mind shelling out the cash for a "huge difference speedwise" then the ASRock socket 939 board with an appropriate CPU should be on your short list. That board will let you run your AGP card and in the future upgrade to PCIe, and the combination would get you the most "huge difference" beyond just a CPU swap, of course depending on what motherboard you have.

 

[Jaihahih]

Originally posted by: Zap
People are recommending stuff without paying attention to the basics. The OP, daddyrief, said he has a $150 budget so a socket 939 CPU and motherboard combo is out of the question. Also, many people mentioned overclocking, but daddyrief hasn't made mention of it. If he does overclock, he would have said something like "my Celeron 2.8@3.1GHz."

The other thing is that he didn't disclose what his motherboard is other than saying it claims "p4 prescott up to 2.8GHz." I had an FIC motherboard using the 865P (not PE) board that can support a Prescott 2.8A, but it sure can't properly support any "C" or "E" CPU.

daddyrief what motherboard do you have? We want brand and model. Also, would you consider overclocking?

Here are my preliminary recommendations:

Do not get the 2.26GHz P4 you listed. If is a B0 core, which is not that great for overclocking. (there I go making assumptions)

If you want to do uber-budget and you have a very overclockable motherboard and would consider overclocking, consider a cheap mobile P4 CPU. You can get them for about $30-50 on eBay and pretty much 100% of them will run at 2.4GHz on an 800MHz FSB providing your motherboard supports these. If your motherboard is overclockable and you get a C1 or D1 core (there are B0 available that don't clock as well) then you have a chance of hitting 3GHz and up. These CPUs use the Northwood core and are specified to run at 1.3v while desktop Northwoods run at around 1.5v, meaning it's pretty safe to overvolt them, commonly to 1.6v, to assist with huge overclocks.

If your board supports the CPU and you want the least hassle, get the 2.8GHz CPU you listed, or wait for a 3.0C or 3.2C to become available at your price point.

If you aren't afraid to venture into uncharted territory, consider getting a socket 754 Sempron setup. I'd venture to say that you will be pleasantly pleased at the performance gain over your Celeron. You can get an overclockable board with AGP for your existing video card plus a 2800+ or 3000+ CPU for around your budget.

If you live near a Fry's Electronics, they are always doing deals with ECS 755-A2 or NFORCE3-A boards with Semprons for $100 or less. These always make for real budget upgrades that aren't too shabby in the performance or overclocking department (except for the most recent 3100+ deal).

Note that if you change your motherboard, especially if you go cross platform to AMD, you'll probably have to reinstall or "repair install" Windows.

Wow, exactly what I was thinking. I doubt that a mobo that only supports processors up to 2.8 GHZ will support a Hyperthreading CPU. I would think that the 2.4GHZ chip is the best chip in your situation. Sure, not Hyperthreading, but I'm pretty sure it can OC to 2.8GHZ as it has the better D1 stepping(I think). Most games don't take advantage of SMP(Using multiple cpus) yet.

Another option you have right now is to get a Sempron CPU and Mobo combo. This one is one hundred and 30 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138240. Overclocking that chip to around 2.0, which is the max the board will give(250 FSB), which will give you good results with Half Life 2. IIRC, the 3300+ (128MB cache clocked at 2.0GHZ) performed at the same level as the 3000+ venice on socket939.