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Hi,
I need to upgrade my system QUICK with a low budget, so I'm thinking about Northwood P4 1.6mhz + Abit BL7 + PC-133 memory (because I already have the memory).

Is that a totally bad idea??

Anyone have specs on how that would compare to the same processor on i845DDR ?

Main advantages for me would be the price and overclockability...and I could change mobo and mem to DDR later on when I have the cash.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Funktastico on 2002-02-01 00:29 ]</font>

It would work... if you are the type of person who doesn't mind changing motherboards every 6 months, could be a solid interim solution.

Really, the P4 needs lots of memory bandwidth to fully flex it's muscles; in the recent Tom's Hardware article with a P4 overclocked to 3000Mhz with DDR, the 2600mhz system with RDRAM beat it in many of the tests! So even between DDR and RDRAM, the extra memory bandwidth gets used. What this means to you, is that to fully unleash the power of your P4, you should feed it more memory bandwidth such as that offered by DDR or RDRAM.

i845 does have <i>excellent</i> PCI performance.

I suggest you buy a "Northwood" P4 chip, something around the 1.6A or 1.8A range, and go for 133mhz FSB. 1.6A might be the safer (and cheaper) bet, 1.6A(100) @ 2,133 MHz(133), stock heatsync fan will probably do. I'm sort of eyeing the 1.8A myself, but will wait a bit, because I want 133mhz FSB (to keep my PCI clock at spec), and 2400MHz might be a little more risky

Standard Disclaimer: Remember Overclocking can void your warranty on your CW stuff, keep your PCI bus at 33mhz!

Thanks Sub.

Cool, maybe I'll wait a month and go straight for a Rambus system afterall, even though it's painful to wait

1.6a was what I had in mind, i've seen the OC tests on that baby with just factory air cooling... some even managed to clock it higher than the bigger brother 1.8a. And I already have water cooling so that would totally kick ass.

Toni