Building new PC soon...

vivid_vibe

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7 Dec 2002
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Season's Greetings everyone,

I will be building a new rig sometime in January or February after the income tax fairy comes for a visit. I have been reading endlessly the past few days on Newegg and other sites trying to narrow down my selections. I have decided on a Pentium 4 3.0ghz or higher, but I'm undecided about whether or not to go with the Socket 478 or LGA 775. Does anyone know from experience if there are any benefits with going with the LGA 775? Also, I have read alot about heat issues with the Prescott core, so I have been comtemplating getting a chip with the Northwood. The only downside is that the Northwood has 512k L2 cache as opposed to 1MB in the Prescott. Any suggestions? I would really appreciate any input.

vivid
 
If you're not planning to use the machine for video encoding, then have you considered in investing in an AMD machine? :)
more bang for your buck.
 
Umm, not exactly the advice I was hoping for, but thanks for replying. I have considered going with AMD, but decided on the Pentium instead.

vivid
 
I do use both.


I like my prescott, and yes it does run warmer than a northwood core. But that is where the better cooling steps in, there are much better fans that the one provided by Intel, and or AMD for that matter. The 775 was supposed to usher in the next set of ultra high speed CPU's from Intel, but that has been thrown to the curb. Not that it is a bad system, but the performance is comparable to a 478 socket.


I can understand how you want to use Intel, I will not use a AMD at work. As soon as the run of the mill CPU's from AMD have as many dummy proof features as do the Intel then mebey. I use one at home on the off chance that the CPU fan dies. It was what I wanted and what I felt was best at the time and I still do.


Bang for the buck? Go with 478, want to spend more with the possibility of better performance 775.
 
vivid_vibe go for the lga775, i have 3.0 on the 775 socket oc to 3.6ghz on stock air cooling.
going with lga will ensure that ull be able to upgrade easily, price difference bw 478 and 775 is almost non existant. so go for the 775.
as for the graphics get a geforce 6600gt this card rocks it blows away the agp8x radeon 9800 pro in most tests. this card is about $183 if thats too much or if ur not into gamming for the geforce 6600 non gt for about $120. also get DDR ram over DDR2 caues of the lower latencies.

good luck mate and keep us updated........;)
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm going with the 775. Newegg has a 3.2ghz for $220. Now the hard part for me is choosing the best mobo. I wish I wasn't so indecisive about it. This is the one I'm leaning towards. I like the fact that it supports both DDR and DDR2. I have been using an ECS mobo for 3 years now and couldn't be happier. I will have to upgrade to an SATA HD though because this mobo only supports 2 IDE devices, unless I wanted to add an IDE card. But anyway, I will keep everyone posted. This will be my first complete build BTW. Steevo, you mentioned some possible cooling solutions. I've heard the stock heatsink and fan on the prescotts aren't really that great. Any suggestions?

vivid
 
Afaik, the stock fans work quite well. But no, they are not the best to be found.
 
Well, after much deliberation, I have decided on a setup. It can be found in the form of a Newegg Wish List, here. I am open to suggestions, as I'm sure alot of you are much more knowledgable about hardware concerns. I've done several upgrades to my current rig, but this will be my first complete build from scratch. Please critique my selections if you have the time. BTW, I'm happy with the new monitor I've chosen, as I don't really care to buy an LCD at this time.

vivid

p.s. I hope that thermal paste isn't as tricky as I think it's going to be :cry: .
 
1. That mobo has both PCI Express and AGP. Is that something you're looking for for any particular reason?
2. You've ordered a SATA hdd and an IDE cable. Is the cable for an optical drive (which I can't find in the list) or is it a misstake?
3. The retail Intel comes with a heatsink with heatpad on it. Exchanging that for thermal paste might be more work than it's worth.
 
1. That mobo has both PCI Express and AGP. Is that something you're looking for for any particular reason?

Well, I currently have a Radeon 9800 Pro which is AGP and I'd like to continue using it for a while. But, for the future, I like the flexibility of adding a PCI-express card.

2. You've ordered a SATA hdd and an IDE cable. Is the cable for an optical drive (which I can't find in the list) or is it a mistake?

That cable will be for a DVD+/-RW drive that I currently use. Just wanted the round cable.

3. The retail Intel comes with a heatsink with heatpad on it. Exchanging that for thermal paste might be more work than it's worth.

I was under the impression that thermal paste was a better solution for keeping the temps down. If it's not worth the hassle, I wouldn't mind leaving the stock heatsink and heatpad on it. Does anyone happen to know if it is worth the extra hassle or not?

Thanks for posting, Zedric.


vivid
 
vivid_vibe said:
Well, I currently have a Radeon 9800 Pro which is AGP and I'd like to continue using it for a while. But, for the future, I like the flexibility of adding a PCI-express card.
Sounds like a good idea.

vivid_vibe said:
I was under the impression that thermal paste was a better solution for keeping the temps down. If it's not worth the hassle, I wouldn't mind leaving the stock heatsink and heatpad on it. Does anyone happen to know if it is worth the extra hassle or not?
It is better, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle since the pad is allready on there... But I've never tried paste. Or removing a pad for that matter. Anyone else got a suggestion?

My P4 3.2 I just bought idles at 42C and peaks 60C under load. That's with stock heatsink and pad. Good enough for me. ;) That's in a well ventilated case of course, in my case a CoolerMaster Cavalier 3.
 
My P4 3.2 I just bought idles at 42C and peaks 60C under load. That's with stock heatsink and pad. Good enough for me. That's in a well ventilated case of course, in my case a CoolerMaster Cavalier 3.

I'd like to have it lower than 60C under full load if possible. Can anyone else comment on pros and cons of thermal paste vs. thermal pads? Thanks.

vivid
 
The only difference that I have seen is.

1) The 15 minutes of cleaning and prep.
2) AC5 has a better het transfer, and **COULD** lower your operating temps by a few degrees.


I prefer AC5, I have removed almost every pad I could. The only thing that worries me about pads is that they are much thicker than a paste to begin with. I know during the break in time that the extra is squeezed out. But there is that initial time where it is about 10X too thick.
 
Thanks, Steevo. I'm probably gonna go with the AS5, even if it is trickier to implement. Again, thanks for the input.

vivid
 
Steevo said:
The only thing that worries me about pads is that they are much thicker than a paste to begin with. I know during the break in time that the extra is squeezed out. But there is that initial time where it is about 10X too thick.
Yes, it needs some time to settle. I've noticed the temp has dropped 2-3C under load (as I'm folding) since I built the rig a week ago.
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

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