Intel -- Socket T or 478

  • Thread starter Thread starter Drew Zerdecki
  • Start date Start date
D

Drew Zerdecki

Does it matter which I get performance wise? I read somewhere that the
LGA775 (Socket T) is fragile. Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks for your help!

Drew
 
Does it matter which I get performance wise? I read somewhere that the
LGA775 (Socket T) is fragile. Anyone have any recommendations?
Click to expand...

The first thing to look at is the type of P4 processor available.

There is the Northwood-cored P4, identified by it either being called a
P4 x.y-B or x.y-C (where x.y is the speed of the processor in GHz, for
example, 3.2-C) or by looking at the amount of L2 cache that it has
(most often it just says 'xyz cache' or just 'xyz') - the Northwood has
512k of cache. The Northwood will never be listed as one of the 3-digit
performance number processors (eg. P4 740).

The second is the Prescott (or more derogatory, Pisscott). This is
identified by it being a P4-E (note - this is *NOT* a P4-EE, this one
being Extreme Edition). Also, they have 1MB of L2 cache.

Northwood processors are only available in Socket 478 format. Prescott
are available in S478 and Socket T packages.

Northwood processors are the best that Intel has to offer currently
(well, the Expensive Edition P4s are faster and the mobile CPUs are
fantastic but they are not generally available). They run relatively
fast and with low heat.

Prescotts run hotter (65 deg C is not unknown for *light* load, 75 has
been known to occur!) *and* slower than their Northwood companions at
the same clock speed

The logical choice is to go for the Northwood - it is faster, cooler and
probably cheaper (not so nowadays as they are getting rarer). One small
problem lies in the fact that they are not being made any more and are
not available for Socket T.

However, Socket 478 is being phased out of existence. Intel will not
make new chipsets for S478 motherboards and they will never see things
like PCI Express. The only way to go for future compatibility is a
Socket T processor and all the disadvantages that it entails.

So, you are presented with the unenviable choice of a fast and cool
processor that will have no upgrade potential or a (relatively, for its
clock speed) slow and hot processor with plenty (I think??) of upgrade
potential.

One future development for Socket T is that Intel will incorporate 64
bit extensions on to future Prescotts that are compatible with the ones
used in AMD64 chips and the ones that will be used in future MS Windows
versions.

However, I would advise you to drop Intel and get a Socket 939 AMD-64
processor. You can get some very nice motherboards (Asus A8V has been
out for a while, upcoming Asus A8N for PCI-Express) and the AMD-64
architecture runs faster and cooler than the Prescotts.

If you absolutely must stick with Intel, then you must pick from Socket
T for future upgradability or Socket 478 for no upgradability, but good
performance and thermal characteristics.
 
The first thing to look at is the type of P4 processor available.

There is the Northwood-cored P4, identified by it either being called a
P4 x.y-B or x.y-C (where x.y is the speed of the processor in GHz, for
example, 3.2-C) or by looking at the amount of L2 cache that it has
(most often it just says 'xyz cache' or just 'xyz') - the Northwood has
512k of cache. The Northwood will never be listed as one of the 3-digit
performance number processors (eg. P4 740).

The second is the Prescott (or more derogatory, Pisscott). This is
identified by it being a P4-E (note - this is *NOT* a P4-EE, this one
being Extreme Edition). Also, they have 1MB of L2 cache.

Northwood processors are only available in Socket 478 format. Prescott
are available in S478 and Socket T packages.

Northwood processors are the best that Intel has to offer currently
(well, the Expensive Edition P4s are faster and the mobile CPUs are
fantastic but they are not generally available). They run relatively
fast and with low heat.

Prescotts run hotter (65 deg C is not unknown for *light* load, 75 has
been known to occur!) *and* slower than their Northwood companions at
the same clock speed
Click to expand...

Prescott LGA775 processors only run that hot when the processor is
inadequately heatsinked and/or the case ventilation is poor!.

Intel's heatsink fan unit comes fitted with a thermal pad. This is a one
shot item, and because Intel's heatsink can be fiddly to fit, it can be
easily damaged. Better to remove this pad and use a thermal paste or
compound instead. I did just that on my system, and reduced my Prescott
LGA775's core temperature by 10C!.

Generally, Prescott idling temperatures of 65C are caused because the
heatsink isn't bonded properly to the processor. Plus their using Intel's
own "cooling" solution, rather than a better third party solution:

http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/comboCool/cl-p0015tower102/cl-p0015tower102.htm#logoInfo

In tests that I conducted a few months ago, I found that my CPU ran
approximately 7C hotter using the Intel heatsink than it did using the
Thermaltake heatpipe cooler.

If your thinking about getting a Prescott processor, for the best and
coolest results, you need to use a third part cooling solution, such as the
Thermaltake Tower102. Use a thermal paste instead of a thermal pad, and make
sure that your case has adequate ventilation!.

Typical Prescott, 3Ghz, LGA775 CPU temperatures. Idles: normally between 40
and 45C. When running "Hot": ie: running a CPU burn-in program or SETI@home,
the temperature normally rises to between 50 and 55C. At the moment I'm
running SETI all the time, I'm overclocking the processor to 3.39Ghz, and
the CPU temperature as I'm typing this is 52C. Which is in the same ball
park as the temperature measurements made in this article:

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/print_content.asp?id=prescottheat

In my opinion the LGA775 processor is no more "fragile" than the Northwood
478 processors.
 
Prescott LGA775 processors only run that hot when the processor is
inadequately heatsinked and/or the case ventilation is poor!.
Click to expand...

....or if the power is turned on.

: )
 
evidence for Prescotts not being so close to boiling point, snip
Click to expand...

Point taken. It's those initial impressions from Tom's Hardware that did
it for me. The engineering samples probably heated up more than the
finalised retail CPUs.

In that case, go for Socket T if you need an Intel system. Be sure to
put a decent heat sink on it like the one that the parent mentioned.
Also be sure to put a decent thermal paste on it, like Arctic Silver 5.

There are a few options for your Socket T system. There are motherboards
out there that give you the current generation of internal connectors -
the Asus P5P800 has AGP and PCI slots (Intel 865PE chipset - a good
one), this costs £62. Alternatively, you can get a newer board with PCI
Express - like the Asus P5GD2 (older generation, costs £118) or the Asus
P5AD2 (newer chipset, costs £135). A 3 GHz Socket T Prescott costs about
£120

I still think that you should pick an AMD-64 system instead of the Intel
one - you can get a decent system for both relatively low spec (£117 for
a 3000+ CPU, £78 for an Asus A8V) and high spec systems (use the same
CPU, but stick decent memory in, like Corsair PC3500 and overclock it.
Perhaps use an Asus A8N motherboard if you want PCI Express).
 
Point taken. It's those initial impressions from Tom's Hardware that did
it for me. The engineering samples probably heated up more than the
finalised retail CPUs.

In that case, go for Socket T if you need an Intel system. Be sure to
put a decent heat sink on it like the one that the parent mentioned.
Also be sure to put a decent thermal paste on it, like Arctic Silver 5.
Click to expand...

There is no reason to believe an engineering sample will run
any hotter, unless there is a core design change later.

Those P4 are more difficult to cool quite simply because
they produce more heat. One can take a very good heatsink
and strive for best possible interface to CPU - it will
certainly help. Even so, using same/similar quality
heatsink and pains to interface it, choosing a different CPU
with lower heat output will run cooler, and/or lower fan
noise and dust accumulation for same temp.
 
Back
Top