I have $400... which CPU and mobo?

[Jeff7181]

I've always owned AMD stuff, and I've decided to give Intel a go (as long as something doesn't come up where I need this $400 for something else). I'm wondering what CPU and motherboard you'd recommend. I'm pretty much sure I want a 2.4C, but have no idea what motherboard to pair with it. I plan on using my PC3200 RAM that I have right now with a RAM divider to hopefully get a 266 Mhz FSB, which would give me 3.2 Ghz... I could probably go to 272 since my RAM is running at 204 right now, and at 205 it poops out in Prime95. Any suggestions?

[Eskimo]

I'd run an IC7-G, and a P4 2.4b...personally.

[pointreyes]

With the Prescotts coming out and the gory details of which boards can or cannot support the 478-pin Prescott, you might want to wait. If many of these boards don't support the 478-pin Prescott, you might get a really good deal on a Canterwood. :)

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by Eskimo
I'd run an IC7-G, and a P4 2.4b...personally. The 2.4 C is only a few dollars more, and performs a hell of a lot better. Why would a 2.4 B be better?

[Eskimo]

Originally posted by Jeff7181
The 2.4 C is only a few dollars more, and performs a hell of a lot better. Why would a 2.4 B be better?

That's a rather broad statement...

I would rather start with something that lets the memory run at it's tightest settings, will full mobo acceleration available, and be able to go from there, then have to start messing around with loose memory timings just to get it stable, and having to run async mem timings.

[NeoShowtime]

For 400 you can get an IC7-G and a 2.6C, thats been goin good for me.

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by Eskimo
That's a rather broad statement...

I would rather start with something that lets the memory run at it's tightest settings, will full mobo acceleration available, and be able to go from there, then have to start messing around with loose memory timings just to get it stable, and having to run async mem timings.
Explain my options then... assume I'm going to be using my PC3200 RAM that won't overclock at all, and assume if I go with a P4C I'll have a motherboard capable of a minimum of a 250 Mhz FSB, which would make it 1000.
I do like the idea of having hyper-threading too... that way I could run SETI@Home 24/7 on both of my computers.

[Eskimo]

PC3200 RAM that won't overclock... so if you start off at a 133FSB, you have all kinds of room to work with with the FSB until you hit the limit of your memory, and are able to run @ 1:1 instead of a slower, async...

Look at the IC7 thread... should show ya what I'm talking about.

[Jeff7181]

I'll take a look... but the 533 Mhz FSB processors are choked by even PC3200 RAM... the benefit I see to 800 Mhz FSB processors is dual channel memory. P4's love memory bandwidth no?

[Duvie]

Jeff...I agree with Neo!!! If I had $400 to spend that is the eaxct route I would go....Maybe here in a month or so the 2.8c may look a bit better but I think the 2.6c is the sweet spot. I like the 2.8c for the fact the higher the multiplier the less likely I will have run into ram limitations...

[Jeff7181]

Ok... so 2.6... now what about the motherboard? I need SATA cause of my Raptor (I'd prefer the Silicon image 3112A since reviews on it look good, and that's whats on my A7N8X)... and I'd like onboard sound as good as the sound on my A7N8X Deluxe.

One other question... kinda... chances are I'll have to reinstall Windows right?

[pointreyes]

The Gigabyte 8knxp has three RAID controllers (including the SI); however, if you are getting a Canterwood you should really take advantage of the ICH5R controller. The SI controller should be considered a backup RAID controller after you have used up the ICH5R. On a sidebar, the A7N8x I had provided better ATTO benches than the ICH5R on my 8knxp with the same exact 120Gig Seagate SATA drive. :rolleyes:

I was amazed to see that I was able to swap drives between the 8knxp and the a7n8x. However, I considered the fact that I had to deal with lingering chipset drivers residing in the old installation-I personally decided to do a full install of XP Pro because I wanted a fully clean install due to the chipset drivers.

[Jeff7181]

Couldn't you just remove them from the device manager?

[pointreyes]

Originally posted by Jeff7181
Couldn't you just remove them from the device manager?

I don't trust any Windows OS to fully clean out all drivers that are pivotal to the underlying i/o processes between the OS and the motherboard. I do expect Windows to ignore the drivers that are not relative to the motherboard's chipset. I'm just being very 'anal' with my installation-that's all. :rolleyes:

[Eskimo]

Originally posted by Jeff7181
I'll take a look... but the 533 Mhz FSB processors are choked by even PC3200 RAM... the benefit I see to 800 Mhz FSB processors is dual channel memory. P4's love memory bandwidth no?

The 533FSB processors can do dual channel... that's a mobo thing... The IC7/IS7 variants can all do dual channel...but hyper threading is a "C" chip thing only...and only if they are HT enabled chips.

[Thor]

Originally posted by pointreyes
I don't trust any Windows OS to fully clean out all drivers that are pivotal to the underlying i/o processes between the OS and the motherboard. I do expect Windows to ignore the drivers that are not relative to the motherboard's chipset. I'm just being very 'anal' with my installation-that's all. :rolleyes:

Hmm, I've been using my original WinXP installation since my i850E chipset and been through E7205, i865PE, and now my i875P motherboard. No issues or problems. Now going from an Nforce to Intel, that may be a problem, but I can't tell you as I've never tried that before. Good luck. Oh, and yes, I'd go with a 2.4C and try and max out your FSB/CPU. 1:1 memory ratios are overrated IMHO.

[ThugsRook]

i think what eskimo is getting at is the ram limitations when running a 800 C chip. since you want to use your current ram that will be a problem. to replace that ram with what youll need will be rather expensive, unless you dont mind running in async mode ~ im which case you may as well just get a 2.4b and goto town wiith your current ram on extra tight timings.

you did mention seti but you also mentioned budget.
a 2.4b is an viable option and shouldnt be left out.

HTH :-)