Northwood and Prescott

S

ShnikeJSB

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Messages
223
Hello all!

My buddy has a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 Northwood witht he 800MHz bus and is Socket 478.

My question is: Is it worth it to buy a (around) 3.2GHz processor upgrade?

And if it IS worth it, should I stick with the Northwood, or will 3.2GHz be enough to show the Prescott's strength? From what I have seen, the Northwood is generally faster than the Prescott, especially in gaming (which is mostly what he does -- that and Photoshop and such). He likes to multitask, such as play music in iTunes while gaming. He doesn't overclock, and he only has a 400watt PSU (especially now that he has a 6800GT-to-Ultra OC card coming in from a member here on the forums), so it should consume less power.

I was looking on eBay for him for good deals on a 3.2GHz, since 3.0 and lower doesn't seem like a big enough jump to matter, and the 3.4's are ridiculously priced.

Any thoughts? Thanks!
 
Yeah, you're probably better off with a NW 3.2GHz than a Prescott 3.4GHz since it sounds like you won't be overclocking anyways.

The prices on ebay aren't that great. You can find a NW 3.2GHz CPU on pricewatch for about the same price with a 30 day warranty (starmicro).
 
I been building pc a long time and as we speak I am on my wifes pC 3.2C it is strong but what makes it strong is the BH5 memory it uses I can bump this thing up to FSB224 @1:1 pat at f1 all setting maxed. I get angry when people talk about how fast AMD 64 are when I just don't see as compared to her very old PC. I mean bring it AMD64 . If you ever are in need of BH5 matched pairs I still have a few sets.
 
Meh, grab any ol PC4000 and kick that 2.6C to 250fsb 1:1 and enjoy :)

Personally I like the Northy more than the Pressy.
 
Could you link me to a 3.2c running 1:1 @ 250 FSB . I didn't see that you were referring to a 2.6 . I don't think a 2.6 well do it a 2.4 might. possiable the 2.8 maybe. The 2.6 I don't believe can get there@ 1:1
 
$BangforThe$ said:
Could you link me to a 3.2c running 1:1 @ 250 FSB . I didn't see that you were referring to a 2.6 . I don't think a 2.6 well do it a 2.4 might. possiable the 2.8 maybe. The 2.6 I don't believe can get there@ 1:1
Click to expand...

I can run my ram 1:1 up to 271FSB, but I need to use a divider to hit my limit of 284FSB
 
Well, looks like I ended up buying a new retail (box open) Northwood 3.2GHz for $165 off of eBay. I think that's a pretty good deal. :eek:)
 
NOrthwood 2.4C were the sweet chips, above, that 2.6 / 2,8 didnt O/C as great - he prescott really only shines once you get over 3.6Ghz, other then that the C chipsmran faster, cooler.

a 2.C can eaqsily run 2.9 / 3ghz with stock i recall.
 
Northwoods are better than Prescotts with air cooling where as Prescotts are better with water most people say, but meh, i'd get a Northy any day heh. I'm on a 3.0c and i get 3.5 on air without much trouble, only took a volt-mod cause Asus cant make mobos with stable voltage for shite lol.

But overall, Northwood chips are better as they run about 1/2 as hot and overclock roughly the same amount. Stick with your chip as you should be able to get 3ghz at least with yours. If you need to spend money, get some nice 2gb PC4000 :)
 
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