P4C800E #4 went south (reason unknown) and is being RMAed via the dealer to ASUS for replacement. (AFAIK, nothing else failed.) However, the price of DDR400 has severely *fallen* in the meantime (so much so that two 512 MB sticks of Micron are now less than $160 retail).
What are the advantages of doubling the RAM (and increasing its speed) to a non-OCed system running XP Professional under medium-to-heavy load?
Also, how good are NewEgg's OEM Pentium-4 processors (and has anyone bought an OEM Prescott?) I have bought from the Egg before (but strictly retail-box stuff), and have been leery of buying OEM processors (in fact, I haven't since my Slot 1 days), however, the only Prescott they have in stock is the OEM 2.8E (at the price of $189 as of Valentine's Day). While at that price I can afford to buy two, how well do they hold up (since they have a much shorter warranty)? The PIQ won't be overclocked.
Should I upgrade the processor (2.6C/HT) now...or hold off until I face the ugly chore of upgrading just about everything with the introduction of Grantsdale/Alderwood, LGA775, and PCI-Express?
What are the advantages of doubling the RAM (and increasing its speed) to a non-OCed system running XP Professional under medium-to-heavy load?
Also, how good are NewEgg's OEM Pentium-4 processors (and has anyone bought an OEM Prescott?) I have bought from the Egg before (but strictly retail-box stuff), and have been leery of buying OEM processors (in fact, I haven't since my Slot 1 days), however, the only Prescott they have in stock is the OEM 2.8E (at the price of $189 as of Valentine's Day). While at that price I can afford to buy two, how well do they hold up (since they have a much shorter warranty)? The PIQ won't be overclocked.
Should I upgrade the processor (2.6C/HT) now...or hold off until I face the ugly chore of upgrading just about everything with the introduction of Grantsdale/Alderwood, LGA775, and PCI-Express?