Which platform (socket) to choose

[smp7015]

I am looking to build a new system. I have read alot of tom's guides and have narrowed down to possibilities but can't decide which platform or socket to go with. My goals are:

P.S> I was thinking about going with P4 socket 478 b/c of the ability of getting a low cost cpu and having plenty of room to upgrade in the future
1 Socket type that won't be obsolete for a while
2) Saving money buy buying a low end cpu and then upgrading as prices fall
3) overclocking

Any ideas?

 

[gothitbycar]

If you plan on getting s478 then scrap number 1. If you want to save money by buying a lowend cpu and upgrading as prices fall you are also screwed. LGA 775 and S939 are the only two "future proof" platforms (discounting s754 because it will be used as the lowend AMD platform) and both only have expensive processors. Also, LGA 775 (intel's platform) have some sort of overclocking limit imposed by the platform which result in a maximum overclock of about 10% but some companies circumvented this a bit. The AMD platform isn't known for awesome overclocks so number 3 is pretty much shot down.

LGA 775 might not be a bad platform for you if you overlook the overclocking limit. You can get a 2.8ghz processor for around 200 bucks but the cost of DDR2 and a pci-express video card will add up.

I think this is a crappy time to buy things because of the high cost of initial products (DDR2 and pci-express) and if you get an AGP motherboard with DDR, the future may not hold a lot of upgrade options.

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oh, its a nice day. TO EAT CHILDREN!!!

 

[Crashman]

1.) You're a bit lost, I'll use examples from AMD: Most early Socket A boards used the KT133 chipset and couldn't be upgraded to 133MHz bus (266 bus) processors. Most second generation boards used KT133A chipsets which couldn't be upgraded to 333 bus processors. Etc etc. Now if you look at S775, you have a small problem: None of the current boards will support future Pentium 4's with 1066 bus. The closest thing on the market to a "long term" board for CPU upgrades are current Socket 939 board for AMD, but even then you'll be limited to old tech PCI and AGP.

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[Cybercraig]

Get a 2.8C Northwood and clock it up! Get a XP-2500+ and clock it up! Get an A64-3000+ and clock it up! Plenty of medium range value available. It's the high end that's gotten really foggy!

Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot