Decisions, Decisions...

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PGHammer

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 8, 2002
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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?
 
Originally posted by PGHammer
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?
Click to expand...

Newegg OEM processors are just great.

Prescott, on the other hand, is awful. Intel is dumping tons of them as OEM because they really *won't* do much over their rated speed without getting very hot. If you're not overclocking, I'd still make sure you have a good copper cooler if you're going to bother.

I wouldn't buy Prescott chips at this time, especially since 2.8E isn't a jump over 2.6C (they run the same speed/performance because Northwood has a shorter pipeline than Prescott. 1MB L2 cache looks good but it doesn't help because it needs that much to keep the pipe filled.)
 
OEM and retail are the same CPU. If you kill it overclocking, it doesnt matter what warranty you have.

If you send it back after you blow it up, that make you a thief unless you tell them you overclocked it or gave it a ton of volts. Then see if they will rma it.

Put a cpu into a board that cant be overclocked with a reliable power supply and it will last 10 years or more trouble free. OEM or Retail.
 
Originally posted by Tedinde
OEM and retail are the same CPU. If you kill it overclocking, it doesnt matter what warranty you have.

If you send it back after you blow it up, that make you a thief unless you tell them you overclocked it or gave it a ton of volts. Then see if they will rma it.

Put a cpu into a board that cant be overclocked with a reliable power supply and it will last 10 years or more trouble free. OEM or Retail.
Click to expand...

The PSU is an Antec TruePower 385 (which has stood me in good stead). If I go OEM, I'll be using the CoolerMaster Aero 4 CPU fan with ArcticSilver's AS5 thermal paste. (Even though I won't OC, I like the extra safety factor as far as cooling goes.)

Two each (CPU and fan) plus the AS5 will cost out to about $400 from the Egg (FedEx Saver shipping is free), and my original 2.6C has bent (but not broken) pins (and I am leery about trying to straighten them for CPU reusage), and a retail replacement 2.6C is pricier than the OEM E+Aero 4 combo.

Is there a reason for the lack of *retail* 2.8Es?
 
I have rma'd everything I have fried I say fuck that you spend 400.00 on something and you mess with it a little and it burns out during the warranty you better believe I am rmaing that sht And its not about being a thief its about getting your hard earned money's worth Its like having oc features and saying we wont warranty it if you use it
 
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