Intel P4 vs AMD

Boxwrench
The exercise is in building a dual core processor with some performance capabilities, getting the "best bang for the buck". The 631 is a single core. Since most vendors are retailing that cpu for around $175, I'm left with serious doubts about what one gets with the ECS mobo. If one wants to settle for the inexpensive board, they can have the dual core D805 for about the same price as the single core 631 offering from Outpost.

 

brobear
My mistake,I did not read the details on that processor until after I posted...let my fingers get ahead of my eyes and brain.lol!

 

I'm back from my weekend absence at Alton Towers, to find I last posted on page 136. It's now 141. I personally would avoid ECS boards, you can go wrong, they're poorly made and often mess around. A cheap low end Asus Board is probably good, like a P5V800-MX. With an intel chip, it's 805 or nothing really! Love the V8 dustblower, seem to recollect a similar setup with an air raid siren on TV once.

 

Alton Towers... that takes me back to my trip from the states visiting a girl I was "friendly" with in London for a week then taking her to Amsterdam for a week after. I wish I was young again...

 

Yeah, only 150 miles for me, may be a bit more for you. Still, Six Flags joint would still beat our UK efforts!

 

@sammorris---I wouldn't be so sure. That AIR ride is still better than most rides.
Six Flags has more, not always better.
@anyone and everyone--- I'm a day away from pulling the trigger on a purchase of
ASUS A8N32- SLI Deluxe
AMD Opteron 175 Denmark
Corsair XMS C2 1GBx2 PC3200
EVGA Geforce7600GT
Will use HD SATA drives and opticals from current build.
Does anyone know what drivers/ utilities/ BIOS I should have ready to load before I think it stable and completely setup enough to go online and pick the rest?

 

boxwrench,

Quality, is like buying oats. If you want quality oats, you buy them "before" they go thru the horse. My personal experience with ECS has been 100% bad. Every one I've ever built (not on my recomendation!) failed!

Check this link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135174
and look at the top view. It's a clean uncluttered board with very few electronics and little bitty capacitors. It's a high end ECS at $115.

Now check out this link for a comparable priced Asus MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131538
Use the same top view. Notice the electronics and the large capacitors. This is a mid-priced Asus at $116 (as close as could get to $115)

Take my word for it, ECS quality came out the back end of the horse. Fry's reputation leaves me a little apprehensive. I've even seen them sell a known bad motherboard! My ECS MB which I had mailed back to them for a credit. I was standing in line to check out and the guy behind me had one. I turned the box over and saw the date I had written on it when I bought it. He made them change it on the spot! They just closed it up and re-sold it! Stick with Newegg! Much better people to deal with and great service. You will thank me someday!

Happy Computering,
theonejrs

 

Sammorriss
LOL If the V8 duster was set up as a siren, they'd hear it from London to Istanbul.

 

Deadrum33
You're building a system very close to the one Sophocles has. It's something of a favorite, high performance, but it won't break the bank (not cheap though). Others are using the DDR 443 RAM with the build.
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433 (PC 3500) Dual Channel Kit System Memory (C2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145032
$246.00 ($206.00 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
They do eventually get those rebates out. I got mine.

This RAM should do better for your build and doesn't cost much more then the DDR 400 PC3200.

I didn't see the Zalman cooler or the Arctic Silver and what are you using for a power supply and case?


XP has all the drivers you need to start up your system. You may want to get the latest BIOS for the board from Asus. Note the installation methods and any other software you may need. Asus has a great support site. They may even have an online guide for your board so you can be reviewing while you wait for your parts. Special keyboard and mouse drivers usually accompany the hardware, same for printers, scanners and the like. Since you're using your current hardware, you should have any drivers necessary for the hardware. Other than the BIOS, the startup isn't any different than an OS installation (that's what it is). Due to the hardware difference, you can't just install the boot drive out of your old PC. XP makes you register your OS again on the new hardware. I needed my WD installation software to get the system set up for the second HDD.

 

brobear
you said you would need very little in the way of getting the d805 up and running? I should have it by the end of the week.(d805) but am a long way from getting the rest i need. I am still on the 478 platform.
You think d805 will outbench my 3.2 if oc'd to 3.8?

 

This is where I'm at now:

cpu at 1.35v
memory at 2.5 3 3 8
will try to hit 2.5gb with a few more tweaks
cpu temp idle at 42 degrees.

 

theonjrs
I would not compare ECS to Asus on any playing field,I was merely stating that the brief experience I had with one of they're boards was not at all terrible.I have only dealt with Fry's once,it was for a bundled Sempron s754 64/3100+ and cheapo Ecs board.Total $70.00 The Sempron now resides on an Asus K8N-E and is still going strong in a system I built for my son-in-law.

As for my earlier mistake concerning the processor,I did not do my research before posting what I had assumed to be a good deal.You may have noticed by my sig. that I am an Asus fan and until given reason to be otherwise,have no plans on changing.

I also buy almost exclusively from Newegg and Tiger is only my second choice because I can go there if I need something in a hurry (I'm in Chicago and there are two stores within driving distance) So thank you for your advise and concern but as you may conclude..I already know better.

 

@boxwrench,
I have an ecs k7s5a mainboard(now my daughters)still going strong after nearly 4 years of continuous use.From my experience, for the price they represent good value.

 

crowy, as I said I had no issues with mine either It just was not my first choice.The way I look at it though was that it was free,as the processor alone sold for more than the two pieces together.I still have it,in the original box...maybe someone will need it someday.

 

boxwrench,

Hey, glad to hear it! I'm an Asus fan myself. Your post was what got me looking at the Pentium D. In the process I discovered that I could get a 940D and a good quality Asus MB for only $130 more than the same combo with an 805D. I've been checking the benchmarks and the 940 is right up there with the AMDs at about 1/3 the price. the set-up I posted should do me fine until I can upgrade to DDR2. Then I'll buy a better MB! I have the adapter for the Zalman 9500 cooler for socket 775 so for me this is the way to go. Stock Intel cooler will go back on the 3.0, so I'll have 2 computers that run. Even if you just buy the 805D, take a look at the MB I posted unless you already have DDR2. It's only $65.99! It has a PCIe x16 slot as well as on-board video. No wasting money on a video card you can't use later! It also has SATA and RAID. It only has 2 DIMM sockets though! Bummer!!!

By the way, I noticed on some motherboards, that they don't support some of the CPU technologies when it comes to the D and EE series. I read some complaints about older but new Mbs where the bios needed to be upgraded to run the 800 & 900 series. Oh well, that's what makes it fun!

Happy Computering,
theonejrs

 

theonejrs
I see you have the Zalman 9500,I am considering buying one myself.From what I read it's as close as you can get to water cooling without the water!
I figure if I'm going to overclock my processor any more than it already is I should have some heavy duty cooling.
Right now with 20% OC it's at 36c no strain of course.

 

boxwrench,

I wish my temp was that low. More like 47C at idle and 58C while encoding. I run my P4 Prescott 3.0 at a 940 fsb to 3.60GHz. That's 20% and about all you can ask from this CPU. I'm sure the "Pressler" will be a warm one too. I'm pretty sure that the 9500 can handle it!

By the way, good luck with whatever you decide to build!!!

Happy Computering,
theonejrs

 

theonejrs
My build is complete for now (see sig.) I also have P4 prescott 3.0 w/HT which I have not given up on yet.3 years old and still running strong on stock cooling though never over clocked.So now I have a pretty good setup from Amd,A good old dependable Intel and I'm probably going to build that 805 system in the near future.
I might wait and see how one of the others comes out first!lol!

Did I mention I have 3 other computers in use as well as a few servers sitting in my basement waitng for me to do something with!

 

boxwrench,

I'm pretty happy with my 3.0. It took a lot of playing around with the settings in the bios to get it right but 20% with a 3.0/800 Prescott is asking a lot. The MB is an Asus P4P800SE that started out being an impulse buy and wound up being a great MB for overclocking. I didn't touch the voltages either! They are all set on auto. Brobear has the Deluxe version of this board that he runs a 3.4 Northwood and he seems pretty happy with it too!

What board are you running your 3.0 with? The reason I ask is that on my board you can do a very mild 5% OC and see noticable improvement. It pumps the memory up to 420MHz. Reset the memory timings to 2 2 2 5 and it runs great. That's the configuration I'll put it back to when I build the new one. Along with the stock Intel cooler. As I said before, I don't have to buy an interum video card with my MB choice. I can save my money for an XFX 7900GT!http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150139 I'm an XFX fan too!

Happy Computering,
theonejrs

 

Deadrum , i would spring for the CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433 (PC 3500) instead of the 3200 also as brobear pointed out .thats what iam running, very good stuff