how good is this Intel P4 3.2 HT LGA 775 processor?

[bistro]

Doubtful you will see any benchmarking reviews using recording software. Graphics rendering benchmarking is what really puts a CPU through the paces, so almost all benchmarking utilities used in reviews are based on games or heavy graphics. However (and its a big "however") one has to be careful in basing results on any one benchmark. The coding in the benchmark could possibly be favoring a particular feature of one CPU that is not present in the other....resulting in a unfair benchmark. Other factors involve the motherboards being used, etc.. That's why benchmarks must be considered a guide, not "written-in-stone" proof. Regardless, most "AMD vs Pentium" benchmark reviews I've seen lately, the results were so close it wouldn't make much difference which one you went with.
The AMD vs Pentium debate will rage on for centuries. Currently, it appears that AMD has a slight edge over Pentiums below the 3.0 Ghz level. Go above that and there is no competition, the Pentium wins. Again though...the AMD's run quite hot. Most owners end up getting a 3rd party cooling system and, if they choose wrong, end up with a rather noisy system.
Personally, I think for your purposes you will be very happy with the LGA 775 3.2 Pentium. It is an excellent choice.

[bball_1523]

Doubtful you will see any benchmarking reviews using recording software. Graphics rendering benchmarking is what really puts a CPU through the paces, so almost all benchmarking utilities used in reviews are based on games or heavy graphics. However (and its a big "however") one has to be careful in basing results on any one benchmark. The coding in the benchmark could possibly be favoring a particular feature of one CPU that is not present in the other....resulting in a unfair benchmark. Other factors involve the motherboards being used, etc.. That's why benchmarks must be considered a guide, not "written-in-stone" proof. Regardless, most "AMD vs Pentium" benchmark reviews I've seen lately, the results were so close it wouldn't make much difference which one you went with.
The AMD vs Pentium debate will rage on for centuries. Currently, it appears that AMD has a slight edge over Pentiums below the 3.0 Ghz level. Go above that and there is no competition, the Pentium wins. Again though...the AMD's run quite hot. Most owners end up getting a 3rd party cooling system and, if they choose wrong, end up with a rather noisy system.
Personally, I think for your purposes you will be very happy with the LGA 775 3.2 Pentium. It is an excellent choice.

ok thanks for answering my concerns.

I have other questions in mind.

How do I know what motherboard, RAM, videocard, soundcard to choose that will work well with this cpu? I know there are specific intel mobos that support certain types of ram. I read in a book that if the mobo has 800 mhz fsb, that 800 mhz of RAM would be ideal if it's DIMM memory, but anything less wouldn't work. On the other hand RIMM memory wouldn't matter. Is this true?

[KeriTechPC]

ok thanks for answering my concerns.

I have other questions in mind.

How do I know what motherboard, RAM, videocard, soundcard to choose that will work well with this cpu? I know there are specific intel mobos that support certain types of ram. I read in a book that if the mobo has 800 mhz fsb, that 800 mhz of RAM would be ideal if it's DIMM memory, but anything less wouldn't work. On the other hand RIMM memory wouldn't matter. Is this true?

Most of the current high end boards use DDR2 as does the P5WD2 Premium I suggested to you earlier. RIMM memory (Rambus) is dead and nothing current supports it.

My suggestion is to go with the Asus P5WD2 Premium, OCZ PC5400 Platinum memory, A good ATI X800XL PCI-E video card and A Creative labs Audigy 2 ZS Soundcard. You will then have a fantastic system.

Or you could even use the High Defination Audio on the P5WD2 if you choose.

[bball_1523]

Most of the current high end boards use DDR2 as does the P5WD2 Premium I suggested to you earlier. RIMM memory (Rambus) is dead and nothing current supports it.

My suggestion is to go with the Asus P5WD2 Premium, OCZ PC5400 Platinum memory, A good ATI X800XL PCI-E video card and A Creative labs Audigy 2 ZS Soundcard. You will then have a fantastic system.

Or you could even use the High Defination Audio on the P5WD2 if you choose.

if the mobo is 800 mhz fsb, will ram less than the mhz work?

[KeriTechPC]

if the mobo is 800 mhz fsb, will ram less than the mhz work?

The P5WD2 Premium will use DDR2 533MHZ, DDR2 667MHz, DDR2 800MHz and many variations in between. If you can afford it, Get the 800MHz as it will perform the best. Otherwise the 667 performs nicely.

[bball_1523]

The P5WD2 Premium will use DDR2 533MHZ, DDR2 667MHz, DDR2 800MHz and many variations in between. If you can afford it, Get the 800MHz as it will perform the best. Otherwise the 667 performs nicely.

how do those compare with let's say a DDR 400 (PC 3200) 2x512mb? I prefer 1 GB of ram.

[KeriTechPC]

how do those compare with let's say a DDR 400 (PC 3200) 2x512mb? I prefer 1 GB of ram.

There is quite a difference and DDR2 is the way of the future right now. Building a new system based on the original DDR is not a smart move these days.

Not enough difference to make you sit back and go $%&* #&%* but definately a big improvement especially with the DDR2 800MHz and tight timings.

Take a look at these: http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...nced_bandwidth

2X512MB of these would scream with the Intel 640 and the P5WD2.

Might I also add that the last 3 640's I built would do 4GHz on air with this RAM. YMMV