Sapphire X800XT -- Which processor

[Chomp]

My friend is building a new computer soon, with the aforementioned video card, 1GB corsair PC3200 ram, and the Abit IC7-G motherboard.

He wants to know if he should go with a 3.0ghz P4 (northwood) or a 3.4ghz p4 (prescott). It seems like that video card would be bottlenecked by the 3.0 compared to a 3.4.

Without considering the price difference, is there going to be a noticeable difference between the two setups with this video card?

 

[Jewball]

Noticable - it depends on what you are doing...but probably not. That is a great board to OC on though, so you will probably get some guys telling you to "just OC the 3.0 to 3.4 and save some money."

EDIT: BTW That is what I would do

 

[cell_491]

my 3.4e was the shizznight for along time

 

[tenken]

I assume the Northwood chip would keep the computer running cooler overall, I've heard horror stories about the Prescotts. And yes, you should be able to get a good OC out of that

 

[SirKenin]

Nah, don't pay too much attention to the hype around Prescotts being space heaters. Axps have them beat by miles. My computer is on 24/7 and is stuck in an enclosure. Even in those conditions my Prescott is only at 55C which really is no big deal.

 

[{NG}Fidel]

55c Idle? If so that is still very hot for an Idle CPU. You are right though it wont harm anything at those temps.

 

[biohazard_nz]

Not much of a problem?

My AMD winchester never gets past 27deg. at full load! Thats 1/2 of you PressHot

 

[Kento]

Not much of a problem?

My AMD winchester never gets past 27deg. at full load! Thats 1/2 of you PressHot

Mine usually goes to 42 during load and idle is around 29 degrees. I have a 3500+ Winchester but it's not OC'd. How did you get your temps so low? XP-90 or water cooled?

 

[NumbLock]

Not much of a problem?

My AMD winchester never gets past 27deg. at full load! Thats 1/2 of you PressHot

Wait a minute...that is like the temperature of a nice late spring day (80F). You talking about the actual processor or inside the case temp?

 

[fallguy]

I would get the 3.4 if the cost is about the same.

Nah, don't pay too much attention to the hype around Prescotts being space heaters. Axps have them beat by miles.

Incorrect.

 

[legcramp]

Not much of a problem?

My AMD winchester never gets past 27deg. at full load! Thats 1/2 of you PressHot

lmao, I think ur reading ur chipset temps haha thta's what I did, and thought my temps never got above 7, until i got motherboard monitor and loaded the cpu up...

 

[sativaman84]

I had that exact same board with a 3.2E es runninga t 250x15 at 55* load with an x800pro flashed to xt speeds. I would generally feel a warmth if I touched the box or put my hands behind fans. If I had to do it all over again, i'd just get a northwood and oc it to the same speeds. If you're not watercooling, then heat is an issue so i'd just take every little edge to bring the temps down every little bit.

If you're interested I have a buddy with a sweet processor i've been helping him try to sell.

3GHZ/512/800
SL6WK / MALAY
L404A952
M412B892
0897

Are the specs on the chip. It's one of those steppings that are the supposed "failed EE chips" with the gatalin in it. He had running in his machine at 3.6 with no problems.

http://home.comcast.net/~toida/proc1.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~toida/proc2.JPG

Not trying to be pushy, just wanna see it go to a good home.

 

[Gillette]

Get the Northwood and OC it.

Also, keep in mind that about 90% of the IC7 boards have faulty temp sensors that are usually off anywhere between +5C and +14C.

 

[Hate_Bot]

If this is for gaming (and mostly gaming) a AMD system would be better.

I presume it is for gaming.