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

[Train]

I agree with bistro, seems you have made a good choice. But to be realistic, to the old eyeball, AMD and Intel are so close we will never see the difference. Wasn't that long ago we were helping folks do the samething with 750MHZ cpus

[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.

[bistro]

That PC-3200 is slower....not naked-eye slower really, but slower all the same than the DDR 533mhz and up. As it stands now, there aren't any apps out there that really take advantage of DDR2 memory....but soon there will be. If you are going to invest in an all new system and its within the budget, you might as well get ahead of the game slightly and go with the 775 board that supports DDR2. There ARE some 775 boards that still take the standard DDR, but most 775 boards are DDR2. If you go with the former, you might as well up the ante and get PC-3700.

[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

[bball_1523]

That PC-3200 is slower....not naked-eye slower really, but slower all the same than the DDR 533mhz and up. As it stands now, there aren't any apps out there that really take advantage of DDR2 memory....but soon there will be. If you are going to invest in an all new system and its within the budget, you might as well get ahead of the game slightly and go with the 775 board that supports DDR2. There ARE some 775 boards that still take the standard DDR, but most 775 boards are DDR2. If you go with the former, you might as well up the ante and get PC-3700.

Are there 775 boards that take both ddr and ddr2? Or can I put a ddr ram chip in a DDR 2 slot?

[bball_1523]

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

how important is it to have the DDR2 over DDR since you mentioned DDR is the future. Like how much longer till lots of companies, games, software require DDR2 for their products? If it's years ahead, then I'd rather stick with something of lower cost.

Also I don't have a huge budget, only $1000-$1500 for a whole PC including extra soundcard and audio devices.

[JPnyc]

Well I have the 3.4ghz version with a gig of ram and I have no complaints. Handles whatever I've thrown at it so far without breaking a sweat.

[bball_1523]

Well I have the 3.4ghz version with a gig of ram and I have no complaints. Handles whatever I've thrown at it so far without breaking a sweat.

if you don't mind, can you give me more technical details of the RAM and cpu you have? Like is the ram PC 3200 or DDR2?

[KeriTechPC]

Are there 775 boards that take both ddr and ddr2? Or can I put a ddr ram chip in a DDR 2 slot?

There are boards that take both but not the high end boards. Not the best ones.

DDR will not fit nor work in a DDR2 slot!

[KeriTechPC]

how important is it to have the DDR2 over DDR since you mentioned DDR is the future. Like how much longer till lots of companies, games, software require DDR2 for their products? If it's years ahead, then I'd rather stick with something of lower cost.

Also I don't have a huge budget, only $1000-$1500 for a whole PC including extra soundcard and audio devices.

DDR2 will perform better and you won't have to buy new ram on your next upgrade going with DDR2.

Even AMD has annouced they are moving to DDR2. Everyone is getting away from DDR.

Why build something with yesterdays technology.

I built my entire "Main" system for under $1600 and thats with a $300 case!

[bball_1523]

DDR2 will perform better and you won't have to buy new ram on your next upgrade going with DDR2.

Even AMD has annouced they are moving to DDR2. Everyone is getting away from DDR.

Why build something with yesterdays technology.

I built my entire "Main" system for under $1600 and thats with a $300 case!

I understand now about DDR2. My problem is still money because a soundcard around 200-300 dollars is gonna be something I'm going to invest in. So a 275 dollar cpu, 225 dollar mobo, and then how much would the ram cost? I want a reliable vendor that makes efficient RAM. I heard crucial was good, but they are expensive. What about corsair?