Intel P4 2.8GHz 400MHz FSB 478pin 512K Northwood CPU

[Daconiam]

Can't afford a whole new system..... Is the Intel P4 2.8GHz 400MHz FSB 478pin 512K Northwood CPU worth upgrading to and is there a cheap place to find one? I think that is the fastest CPU w/400MHz FSB.... Already have 1gig of memory coming.

I currently have:

P4 2.2 NORTHWOOD
845D INTEL CHIPSET
512MB RAM
120GIG HARD DRIVE
GeForce 6600 256MB AGP

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nights_L]

I could be wrong..
but from my point of view, having 600MHz boost isn't that great.
I mean, nth change, FSB is still 400, L2 Cache is still 512..only thing changes is multiplier...i don't think the performance would increase by that much.

P4 is a bandwidth hungry processor, at 400FSB, the performance is quite limited.

 

[the_guru]

What are you going to use your computer for?

 

[Daconiam]

The computer is just the "family" computer. Mostly internet browsing with some tinkering with Adobe photoshop. I do have Doom3 and plays ok but I am not a big gamer or such. Just want to speed things up a bit without going for an entire rebuild or a new system.

 

[kool_moo]

Is there something unsatisfactory about the PC you currently have? I'm not an expert, far from it, but before I built my new PC this winter, I had a Dell Dimension 2100 with a 1.1Ghz Celeron... It seemed fine with internet browsing and Photoshop (OK maybe the stuff loads kinda slow). I even played some Counter-Strike or Halo (didn't run well) on it. From the specs you list, I would consider that a dream for what you're using it for.

 

[endyen]

It is time to raise your fsb.
By raising the fsb from 100 to 115, you will be able to equal or surpass the performance of a new 2.8ghz chip ona 100mhz fsb.
Many people with your chip were able to run stable at an fsb of 133.
I dont suggest you go that high, but 115 would be fine.
FYI the 2.8 northwood A was a limited production chip made primarily for an OEM. They are hard to find, and not generally worth the price.

 

[ChipDeath]

Agree with most people here... There's no point spending money on that chip. Raising FSB as endyen suggests is definitely worth having a go at though. That's overclocking of course, so you may want to do a bit of reading in the overclocking forum. I think there's a sticky 'guide' thread to overclocking P4 chips.

 

[Daconiam]

Well it appears I am stuck for now. I have the Intel D845BG mboard and it is not overclockable 🙁 . I will settle for more ram for now and start saving some money to build one. I will keep my eye out for a cheap mboard upgrade as suggested by Supremelaw. Should be lots of stuff out there on eBay or a computer show.

l8r.
Thanks to all!

 

[Giulio]

I am also looking at purchasing the same processor for my computer

Pentium 4 1.8 Ghz
768 MB ram
160 GB HD
eVGA GeForce 6600GT video card (waiting on backorder)

I've only found one place that has it ($219). Worth it for my system?