Prescott 2.8E vs Northwood 2.8C?

T

TekMonkey

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I'm getting pretty sick of my 2.53B proc's horrible oc'ing, so I'm considering upgrading to either the Northwood 2.8C or Prescott 2.8E . The only difference between the two is the prescott has a 1M L2 cache, whereas the northwood's is 512K L2 cache.

The reviews and scores I've seen have all marked them as pretty much equal, with the northwood winning in a lot of the gaming benchmarks and the prescott wining cpu tests.

Price doesn't matter as the price difference is only a few dollars.

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Also, I've currently got the ASUS P4S8X mobo, which supports HT, but only a 533FSB, so I guess I'll have to upgrade the mobo too.

I was thinking of the AOpen AX4SPE mobo, because its currently the top contender at motherboards.org ranking system.

Q: At Newegg, they offer the AX4SPE-UN for $88 and the AX4SPE MAX II for $126 after mail-in rebate. Which should I get?

Here are the big differences:
MAX II: integrated 7.1, Gigabit LAN, 6x SATA
UN : integrated 5.1, 10/100 LAN, 2x SATA

I only have 5.1 speakers, so I don't think 7.1 is worth it. I don't have any Gigabit LAN gear. I only have one SATA drive.

It looks like the AX4SPE-UN is the best choice and is probably what I'll get, but I'd still like your opinions.

I'm thinking probably the AX4SPE-UN and the 2.8C proc for a total of $271 inc shipping at newegg. Anywhere cheaper?
 
Don't go prescott they run to hot.

Also think of getting an Abit IC7 or IS7.
 
if you can get some really good heat control...really good, then the 2.8e would be better. its been proven that it has good o'c ability except that heat holds it back tremendously. get some good watercooling or vapor phase and you should be able to well outdue the 2.8c if you going air and want cheapest oc ability, then i would reccommend the 2.8c. less heat=more oc stability
 
Go with the 2.8C and whatever Abit board has the features you want (IS7, AI7, IC7, IC7-G, etc)
 
Shieze - which specifically? There are like 3 different types of IC7 boards and 3 different types of IS7 boards :p. I don't need a lot of the extra features. By the time I need them, I'll probably be upgrading to a BTX board.:D
 
Originally posted by TekMonkey
Shieze - which specifically? There are like 3 different types of IC7 boards and 3 different types of IS7 boards :p. I don't need a lot of the extra features. By the time I need them, I'll probably be upgrading to a BTX board.:D
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Like I said, pick the one that has all the features you need, and the fewest # of features you don't need. Use the comparison chart on Abit's site.

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/comparison.php
 
Another vote for Abit - I have never had an Abit board fail in any of the pcs I built. I haven't had any Asus boards fail either, for the record.
 
I think the IS7 is the best and a good price, it totals to $269 (I think the prices were fluctuating again; the cheaper motherboard totaled to $271 earlier :p).

PS - EnderW, I love OSC's books too :cool:
 
Originally posted by TekMonkey
Also, any better place to buy from than newegg? And not just somewhere cheap, somewhere with good service as well :rolleyes:

edit: to good to be true?
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That board is refurbished. Newegg has the cheapest price, according to pricegrabber.
 
TigerDirect.ca (or TigerDirect.com for non-Canadians...) have the best prices and service in my opinion.
 
hey get a ic7max 3

prescoots really need alot of powr so i think you would really like the otes on it

i have a 2 ic7-max3s one with a 3.0C and the other with a 3.0E

pwm temps

3.0C = 33C idle, 37C load
3.0E = 45C idle, 50C load
2.0A on a ai7 = 45 idle, 60C load

i bet you would get some crazzzy ass pwm temps if you had any other board then a max 3
 
Originally posted by Matt Welke
TigerDirect.ca (or TigerDirect.com for non-Canadians...) have the best prices and service in my opinion.
Click to expand...

They don't carry Abit mobos. And the proc is cheaper at newegg.



iC7 Max 3 is to expensive for my tastes, don't need all the extra features anyways. With my current mobo and proc, I get 30C idle and 35C full load.
 
I don't mean to poop on anyone's thread, but what would be a good RAM combination to go with the 2.8C and one of the Abit boards? I currently have the IC7-G and some Geil Golden Dragon PC3500 with a 2.4C and my overclock isnt stable at 3.0.


400 posts w00txorz
 
Hehe, its alright.

Speaking of RAM, I'll probably keep my Kingston PC2700 ValueRAM for a while :p.
 
Northwood...You don't want an ice melter in your machine, plus performance increase isn't all that great.
 
So I've heard :D

I've pretty much decided what I might upgrade to (not sure, depends on my budget :rolleyes: )

Anyways, I'll need to sell my other stuff, so check out my other thread, please :cool:
 
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