Which Pentium?

[planetgong]

Hi

Currently have a AQXEA Athlon 2500 running at 2.19ghz.

I fancy a change(for no particular reason!) to a Pentium 4.

Which chip would people recommend I go for? What has the highest overclocking potential/value for money?

How much better performance(if any) could I expect from a Pentium compared to my Athlon.

If it helps, I play a few games, and do a lot of video processing.

Thanks for any help.

[blockers]

Not knowing much about P4's so couldnt really compare to Athlon but...

I have heard good things about 2.4C's and 2.8C's dont know how the compare to the newer 3.2's or what have you....maybe you would be better if you wait for the newer chips and pick up a 2nd hand one?

Being lower down the orer the 2.4's would be cheaper, than the 3.2's and people have been able to get them to 3.2-3.4 speeds...depending on cooling etc.

Will

[planetgong]

Thanks for the reply. I know this is the age old question, but how do the Pentiums compare, speed wise, to Athlons. Can you for instance compare a 3.2ghz P4 to a 3200XP Athlon?

[Russ]

yes u can, and the AMD is superior

[planetgong]

yes u can, and the AMD is superior

Care to elaborate Why do you say that AMD is superior? Cost aside, are the Athlons actually better performers?

[da_ging]

lmao athlon xp's aint better than p4's, a64's to a point yes but standard xp's nope

the 2.8C represent best value at the moment at around £125 or if u can afford the bit extra a 3.0C for £150ish

as u do a lot of video stuff p4 is definetly the choice

[matt_hobson]

from what i can tell the ranking for processors are as follows:

1) 64 Bit AMD / P4 Extreme Edition
2) P4 3.4, 3.2, 3.0
3) Other AMD's

Most hardware guides, such as Tom's etc.. say the same

[samwise]

apparently the 3.4 is pushing the northwood a bit far and its performance isnt great, all i can say and its only my opinion is dont get a prescott, and i would prolly go for a northwood 2.6, 2.8 appparantly they clock quite well.

[planetgong]

Thanks for all the help guys.

If I am looking to overclock, is there a particular stepping (like the AQXEA on Athlons) that I should be looking for on a Pentium?

If I got a 2.8 or 3.0 P4, how would it compare to my overclocked 2500XP? And what does the 'C' stand for at the end of the 2.8/3.0?

Also what is the difference between the Prescotts and the Northwoods, and which is better?

And finally(sorry so full of questions!) as I am completely new to the Pentium scene, which mobo would people recommend that is good for overclocking etc.

Many thanks

[streetster]

a = 100mhz fsb (ie 400mhz quad pumped)
b = 133mhz fsb (ie 533mhz quad pumped)
c = 200mhz fsb (ie 800mhz quad pumped)

[planetgong]

Ok thanks. I think I'm going to go for either the 2.8 or 3.0 Northwood. Is it worth paying the extra money for the 3.0, or is the 2.8 more overclockable(so in essence will be a better performing chip)?

[blockers]

I dont think it is, as the 3.0, and 2.8 are based on simlier chips, so the 2.8 has more head room to overclock, such as the xp1700 and xp2500. Which are low end chips, but overclock up to the best chip with that technology.

Both of the P4 chips meantioned have HT (hyper threading) which lets it run lots of processes, like dual CPU's. dont know how well it works

[blockers]

also....if you are on a buget the Athlons are better, but if you have the money then go P4.

Also, as you are overclocking make sure that you get good ram ie. pc3500/pc3700 as P4's love huge fsb

[planetgong]

I dont think it is, as the 3.0, and 2.8 are based on simlier chips, so the 2.8 has more head room to overclock, such as the xp1700 and xp2500. Which are low end chips, but overclock up to the best chip with that technology.

Both of the P4 chips meantioned have HT (hyper threading) which lets it run lots of processes, like dual CPU's. dont know how well it works

Hmmm ok thanks, I know what you mean.

So I guess the only questions I still have left are

a) Which motherboard would people recommend
b) Suggested retailers?
c) Heat sink fan recommendations
d) How much a performance gain will I notice(if any) over my 2500XP.

Thanks to everyone who has answered my questions so far, it is appreciated.

[shredisn@tdead]

Ideally you want to run your memory at the same fsb speed as the cpu, ie 1:1. 250fsb is what most people seem to get with these on air, so you should be able to get a 2.8 up to 3.5 (mine is just short, 3.45, but rock solid) and a 3.0 might go above 3.6, but you'd maybe need water cooling to get 3.75. You'll want a decent HSF, like a Zalman 7000 AlCu or an Thermalright SP94 maybe.

To run the memory that fast you'll need either some good PC3700 that overclocks well (you'll need to hunt through some reviews - try cluboverclocker.com) or some PC4000 which is guaranteed to run at 250fsb. If you want low-latency memory then you will pay a heavy premium on LL PC4000 and anyway it'll be CAS2.5 - there is no CAS2.0 PC4000 (yet!) If you're on a budget I recommend Adata (I've got some too) - this place is the cheapest I've seen for memory:
http://www.pc-memory-upgrade.co.uk/m...ram-pc4000.asp

Motherboard-wise, Asus and Abit are generally the overclockers choice for P4 mobos. P4P800 or AI7 at the cheaper end (~£75?) or P4C800-E and the IC7 Max3 (~£130?). Or go for a DFI Lanparty if you want a UV reactive board!

Check out the "Trust" section for retailer reviews (on the menu on the Hexus front page). Overclockers.co.uk are cheap tho not everyone rates the customer service highly!
http://users.hexus.net/companies_list.php

This is a good article that got me fired up for a big P4C overclock... a little dated now but still a usefull read!
Breaking The Sound Barrier: the Pentium 4 With a 1-GHz FSB and DDR500
http://www20.tomshardware.com/mother...812/index.html


You might want to check this out too:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040106/index.html

Hope that helps!

[Matt_2000_17]

I'd just like to say, AMD is far more superior to Intel. Why I hear you ask? It's simple, the Athlon64 processor out performs any pentium 4 to date and that includes the new prescott. If I was you i'd go for the Athlon64, if you can afford it. OH! And one more thing, Athlons are better for gaming than pentiums.