I am doing better again on the job front, so updating this system is going to be in the picture again! I have an Abit IC7-Max3 mobo, which is Intel 875 Chipset based, & can take "Extreme Edition" CPU's on it.

I took a read here today (from front page news here):

http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/p4-600/16.shtml

And, noted Intel's put out still newer "600 series" CPU's. They look to perform well enough too. Still shy of TOP AMD stuff, but up there with them.

Only thing is this:

It appears that the 3.4ghz is the TOPMOST speed I can use on Intel 875 chipset here, which is fine, but it's shy of the topmost Intel (let alone AMD 64 stuff) offerings which don't appear to be able to use Intel 875 chipset, & instead use 925 models, etc.

QUESTION:

What would you go for between these 2 choices & why -

1.) Intel 600 series 3.4ghz @ $400 each

or

2.) Intel "Extreme Edition" 3.8ghz @ $1000 each (or, whatever one is TOP SPEED for Intel 875 chipsets from "EE" family).

?

I ask this, because I am not sure of the diff.'s here, seems they BOTH have 2mb L2 cache (unless I read it wrong) & can run on this motherboard.

(One of the reasons I picked up this mobo was because it can run Intel "EE" cpu's, which were not out when I bought it (Dec. 2003)) & was VERY interested in one day putting one on here... to pair with GeForce/NVidia top offered card).

OH, QUESTION #2 - WHAT IS NVIDIA'S TOP OFFERING, AGP-SLOT WISE, NOWADAYS? HOW MUCH IS IT??

Yes, going back to NVidia, because their cards seem to perform BEST with IDSoftware Games like Doom III... my favs!

APK

P.S.=> I am out to save a buck as much as the next guy, but am curious, & you guys know your hardware... cannot think of better people to ask opinions of... thanks! apk

Ah, APK, according to Abit's site they do support Prescott core CPU's up to 3.8, hmm, those will only be engineering samples I gather but who knows for sure

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/prescott_cpu_support.php

However I don't see mention of the Extreme Edition, just the standard Northwood and the newer Prescott core CPU's.

Here's something to ponder, there is a give and take on the latest 600 series Prescott core CPU's, they do come with 2MB of L2 cache however, the newest Extreme Edition CPU's only come in LGA-775 so that leaves your current board out. Also, will the older Galatin core Extreme Edition go down in price any with the recent announcments ?!? A 3.4EE based on the Galatin core would be better in that it has the standard trace cache for L1, then 512K of L2 cache and that huge 2MB of L3 cache, loverly

Now as for the graphics card, I would consider the Gigabyte or Asus Radeon X800 Pro cards for AGP. Very nice indeed, not the cheapest of course but I think the pricing has gone down a bit due to the latest X850 releases.

As for nVidia in the AGP form factor, there are both 6600 and 6800 available now too, not just in PCIe.

Ah, thanks for answering jmmijo, first of all... & a couple questions here too:

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"Ah, APK, according to Abit's site they do support Prescott core CPU's up to 3.8, hmm, those will only be engineering samples I gather but who knows for sure

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/prescott_cpu_support.php"

Thanks for that URL first of all, I bookmarked it for "future reference" in fact.

Are those "Prescott" cpu's the ones with the heat problems? I don't keep these facts in my head until I go shop... as it's not part of my usual duties on the job, etc. so I have to ask! Thanks for feedback too in advance!

(What were the ones with the heat hassles called by the way?)

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"However I don't see mention of the Extreme Edition, just the standard Northwood and the newer Prescott core CPU's."

I am VERY sure it will take one, almost 100%... I may have to double-check on that, but iirc, it WAS part of the reason I picked up this mobo!

(The added L1-L2-L3 cache setup was what interested me is why! )

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"Here's something to ponder, there is a give and take on the latest 600 series Prescott core CPU's, they do come with 2MB of L2 cache however, the newest Extreme Edition CPU's only come in LGA-775 so that leaves your current board out."

Right, I figured the CURRENT release would be one that forced folks to buy NEW mobos (PCIe etc. on them et all).

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"Also, will the older Galatin core Extreme Edition go down in price any with the recent announcments ?!?"

Now you're thinking like I am... since new ones came out? Will the older "EE" edition Intel CPU's drop in price?? I hope so!

(That would make my decision an easy one... )

QUESTION - these older "gallatin" codenamed "EE" units, what was their MAX ghz speed & L1-L2-L3 cache setup?

(Thanks jmmijo, you're helping me make decisions here... DosFreak has done so in the past as well on mobos to buy etc. & I never went wrong asking folks here either yet! )

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"A 3.4EE based on the Galatin core would be better in that it has the standard trace cache for L1, then 512K of L2 cache and that huge 2MB of L3 cache, loverly "

Heh, that's what I get for using quotes & answering them point-by-point... you just answered it pretty much, except for ghz rating speed on them as MAXIMUM.

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"Now as for the graphics card, I would consider the Gigabyte or Asus Radeon X800 Pro cards for AGP. Very nice indeed, not the cheapest of course but I think the pricing has gone down a bit due to the latest X850 releases."

Well, price to me? It won't be a problem pretty soon. I am just looking to take this particular mobo setup I have to its potential "max" is all... upgrading, you know!

I've run BOTH ATI stuff (9800XT now) & GeForce III/IV in past. Both great, but I honestly found NVidia stuff better in drivers (as does John Carmack the guy who designs my fav. gaming engines and games), during updates/upgrades, and they seem to have less hassles performing well... even on NEWER/LATEST drivers updates.

ATI generally takes awhile to get to that stage in my experience, & what I read before I got this ATI card.

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"As for nVidia in the AGP form factor, there are both 6600 and 6800 available now too, not just in PCIe."

Aha, thanks, I needed that info.!



(Thanks for answering the questions on the "Gallatin" Extreme Edition maximum ghz speed too for me... )

APK

P.S.=> How the HECK do you remember all these CPU codenames, etc.? lol... apk

APK, the reason I said 3.4EE is that's the fastest I've seen available. Does this mean Intel didn't release a faster version of the Galatin core EE, don't really know for sure.

The issue is that Intel, in their not-so-infinite wisdom, want's to push their LGA-775 CPU's and motherboards, hence why should they continue to produce socket 478 stuff anymore

Also, Intel is pushing harder now for their BTX form factor, this I think is long overdue. It's a much better chassis and motherboard design, especially for the Prescott core space heaters.

http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/95346.htm

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"APK, the reason I said 3.4EE is that's the fastest I've seen available. Does this mean Intel didn't release a faster version of the Galatin core EE, don't really know for sure."

That's cool man, @ least you replied & gave me more of a "clue" than I had before... & it's the thought that counts, especially when based on experience! I know you've got that, you build these suckers all day!

Got a REALLY nice clue from the front-page news here today, check it:

http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=355

"When Intel released their first EE CPU, we saw a very clear distinction between itself and other standard Pentium4 CPUs- the amount of on-die cache. At that time, the Pentium4 processor had 512k L2 cache while the EE came equipped with a 512k L2 cache as well as a hefty 2MB L3 cache. However, between that time and today, the Pentium4 CPU got upgraded to a 1MB cache and now a 2MB L2 cache while the 3.73GHz' L3 cache got replaced by an L2 cache of the same size due to its move to the Prescott core. So the only thing different about the new EE CPU is its ability to operate at 1066MHz FSB compared to the 800MHz FSB of the regular Pentium4 660 series CPU.

This new Prescott core based EE, along with Intel’s 66x based Pentium4 lineup also bring about some new features to the P4 family"

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"The issue is that Intel, in their not-so-infinite wisdom, want's to push their LGA-775 CPU's and motherboards, hence why should they continue to produce socket 478 stuff anymore "

Yup, I figure that above in my last response, mentioning something along those lines... makes sense from a business standpoint for Intel, not so much for consumers though!

(I feel Pentium III CPU's could have been ALOT faster too! My last rig was a duallie with an Abit VP-6 mobo & Dual Pentium III 1ghz CPU's I could drive up to 1.152mhz safely & stable. That purchase came on the advice of DosFreak & served me well for 4++ years no less & was FAST for its time. Great multitasker too because of TRUE "duallie" cpu setup! So... where am I leading? The "Coppermine" (iirc, that was name of them) for laptops CPU was faster than std. P3 1ghz units were... I bore that out with an IRC pal of mine named "Pilsbury" who ran SETI as I did & he was punching out 30% more units per day & took 30% less time than my rig did & he used those types of CPU's of the P3 family to do it... )

To use those though? It again, meant buying diff. mobo though... just like this case here!



I just decided to go P4 finally...

AOriginally posted by jmmijo:

"lso, Intel is pushing harder now for their BTX form factor, this I think is long overdue. It's a much better chassis and motherboard design, especially for the Prescott core space heaters.

http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/95346.htm"

So, these "prescotts" are the answer to my question above about which Intel CPU's are the one known for excessive heat-generation... thanks!



APK

P.S.=> I think it's going to be a TOUGH decision, but the "EE" looks like THE way to go, cost notwithstanding... I can only hope since new P4 "EE"'s came out that the older ones drop in price... thanks for ref. URL too jmmijo! apk

Just for the record I was reading an interesting article earlier today about how Intel have stopped putting effort into their processor-in-progress and diverted its efforts towards multicore.
Sun have a processor planned with 8 cores!

Anyhow, this site tells all:
http://www.devx.com/Intel/Door/6409?trk=Leftnav_FP_Intel

S

@Scintex, that's all well and good but for those of us wanting to run Windows for say a gaming rig, then the mention of Sun's multicore CPU's is pretty worthless


However, that being said, it's nice to actually see both AMD and Intel coming out with some multi-core x86 cpu's in the not so distant future just for those of us wanting to run a Wintendo box

Originally posted by jmmijo:

"However, that being said, it's nice to actually see both AMD and Intel coming out with some multi-core x86 cpu's in the not so distant future just for those of us wanting to run a Wintendo box "

I like "WinTendo" lol!

(Most VERSATILE & UBIQUITOUS machines there are, bar-none! Well, @ least computers-wise! )



And, it is nice to see things are "getting better all the time" (the Beatles, gotta love 'em)... only 'problem' is, to keep up w/ it? Costs large... especially if you're a "performance-nut" like most of us are!

(BUT, when you really get into & like something? Money shouldn't be an object... especially when you get GOOD ENOUGH @ IT that it starts making you money! Which IS the case for alot of us here I imagine... )

APK

haha yes ok mentioning Sun is a bit pointless... who knows what we may see in the future from Intel and AMD.

On Intel's site they are mentioning an EE at 3.8Ghz.

Did some shopping around and the 800Mhz jobbie is retailing at £686 here in the UK....
I'm still hunting for that 1066Mhz!