building a better faster gaming machine?

hi, well now i have a p4 2.8ghz,1gig of ram,bfg 6800gt,asus p4sp-mx mother board,antec 420 watt ps. i know i want a faster p4 but what determines the fsb speed the proccesor or motherboard or both. i wanna keep my vid card but upgrade to a mb with agp 8x, now my mb currently only supports 4x. id also like to stick with the asus brand and the p4 also. just want some help cause im confused about the fsb thing,latest chipsets. also i heard or read ht slows down games if true then i guess the fastest non ht p4 i can get. any help appreciated. any other specs needed let me know

 

No, HT does not noticably slow down games. Get a P4 Prescott 3.0 or 3.2ghz (they have HT). You need a 800FSB MOBO *and* CPU, so get a MOBO to support your new CPU. You might consider a P4P800 SE MOBO. This MOBO supports HT and DDR400 RAM and FSB of 800. You might consider getting another gig of RAM and taking advantage of dual channel.

 

thanks for the response. also id like to know what pin p4 , the one i have now is 478. and also a program tells me my current fsb is 133x2? thanks

 

if you're sticking with your AGP 6800gt, you wont see much benefit of a new processor.

you're in a precarious position, because if you want to see noticeable CPU performance increase, you'd have to go for an LGA-775 Pentium 4 6xx series... which would mean a PCI Express motherboard, requiring a PCI-E Video card.

in your situaiton, i'd keep all of your current setup, short of the motherboard.
Maybe get a newer motherboard with a nice chipset, like an intel 865 or 875P. I like the Asus P4C800 series motherboard a lot, its very reliable and very quick. Use your current CPU until you have enough money or the need for a big system overhaul (new CPU, Motherboard, and Video Card)

 

i trust what u guys say. so u think it would be better to stick with the 2.8 ghz p4 and use it on the board u mentioned? im guessing my p4 is 533 fsb but im not sure what the mb i have now supports. also which is the best chipset available? also which p4c800? i noticed they have deluxe and such. thanks again

 

well here's what you should think about: with your current CPU and Vid card, you have pretty good gaming performance. In order to see a really noticeable increase in performance, youd need a much higher end processor--and the dilemma there is that there are no LGA-775 Pentium 4 motherboards that still use AGP (there are AMD Athlon 64 Motherboards that still use AGP however...)

so here are what I see as your choices:

1) Get a new motherboard and AMD 64 socket 939 CPU. This will allow you to use your current video card while utilizing the best CPU's on the market.

2) Wait until you're ready to upgrade a lot, and get an LGA-775 Pentium 4 with a PCI-Express motherboard, and a new PCI-Express video card

3) Get the P4C800-E Deluxe and possibly a P4'C' series processor with HT and 800mhz FSB, though this is still going to be pricey.


its really about how much money you have to spend give us an idea and we can show you some good options.

 

I think what InYearsToCome said is correct.

"Get the P4C800-E Deluxe and possibly a P4'C' series processor with HT and 800mhz FSB, though this is still going to be pricey."

That's also my best advice for you. Since you want to upgrade and keep with the Pentium brand name that is the obvious choice and a good choice.

 

Also you might consider upgrading to 2 gigs of PC3200 RAM. With the P4P800 SE you need to fill 2 or 4 RAM slots to get Dual Channel and I think it's the same with the deluxe so keep that in mind.
I don't know how much of a budget you're on btw .

 

i think ill probably go with number 3 for now since technology advances so much there might be a better top of the line in who knows when. when you guys say p4 c what does the c stand for? also i have 2 sticks of 512 kingston memory in my current machine ddr 400 pc3200 cl3. i would still add another gig since the board you mentioned supports it. last question lol which chipset is the latest/best on the P4C800-E Deluxe board? thanks once again

 

The Intel 875 chipset is good.

 

the 'C' designates the series of the Pentium 4. A, B, and C are all the Northwood core, the A's were 400fsb and the first P4's on the market. The B's were the 533fsb (what you likely have), and the C's are the 800fsb with HyperThreading enabled.

after the C's, the E's have the Prescott core, which runs hotter and it still outperformed b the C's. The Prescott was 'supposed' to be able to run 64 bit extensions, but overall failed. after the E's Pentium 4 moved from socket 478 to 'socket T, or LGA-775'

 

I honestly believe that unless you're totally sure of what you're doing, buying the Mobo and CPU as a combo deal is the best way to go. If you get one that doesn't fit the other, you might not be able to take it back.

I'm also a huge fan of AMD processors. I've never had any luck with Intel processors of any kind.

 

ok ran a info program and it says my cpu is a p4p-em64t (prescott) pentium 4e. so im guessing its the best p4 of which u mentioned speed excluded. the comp i have now i built but i had a friend who worked at a computer shop across from my work and he ordered what i needed, but he has since moved and i dunno anyone else that knows computers like he does. its no problem for me to build but i guess im lacking in the exact specs part. so far i know now i need the p4c800-e deluxe board with 875 chipset and another matching set of ram. my final decision is to make sure i get the right 478 p4 hopefully the info i gave above might make more sense to you in terms of what i need at least 3 ghz. would i be correct saying i want the p4e prescott 3ghz 800 fsb? thanks for your patience.

 

your current motherboard confuses me.. but thats not the point.

so you have a P4E, which SHOULD have an 800fsb unless i missed something... can you verify this? (did the info program say?)

As I mentioned, the P4C runs cooler and better than the P4E, but if you have a P4E, you may benefit from just getting the new motherboard with AGP8x and the intel 875P chipset, as a small increase in mhz isnt going to be too beneficial. Get the P4C800-E Deluxe and then save up for your next big transition to PCI-Express and the latest CPU technology.

 

my current mother board is a asus p4sp-mx. below i listed all the info on my cpu. sorry if ive made this complicated lol says 4x133 fsb so i guess my p4 is only 533 aSiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Speed : 2.79GHz
Performance Rating : PR3072 (estimated)
CPUs per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Standard
Package : FC µPGA478
Rated Speed/FSB : 2800MHz / 4x 133MHz
Multiplier : 21/1x
Minimum/Maximum Multiplier : 7/1x / 21/1x
Generation : G8
Name : P4P-EM64T (Prescott) Pentium 4E 90nm 2.8-4GHz 1.25-1.40V
Revision/Stepping : 4 / 1 (0)
Stepping Mask : E0
Microcode : MU0F4109
Maximum Physical / Virtual Addressing : 36-bit / 32-bit
Native Page Size : 4kB

Co-Processor (FPU)
Type : Built-in
Revision/Stepping : 4 / 1 (0)

Processor Cache(s)
Internal Data Cache : 16kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte line size
Internal Trace Cache : 12kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 8-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector
L2 Cache Multiplier : 1/1x (2793MHz)

Upgradeability
Socket/Slot : PGA 478
Upgrade Interface : ZIF Socket
Supported Speed(s) : 3.20GHz+

Processor Power Management
Processor Throttling Enabled : Yes
Throttle Range : 12% - 100%

Environment Monitor 1
Model : ITE IT8705/12 ISA
Mainboard Specific Support : No

Sensors
CPU Voltage : 1.34V

Features
FPU - Co-Processor Built-in : Yes
VME - Virtual Mode Extensions : Yes
DE - Debugging Extension : Yes
PSE - Page Size Extension : Yes
TSC - Time Stamp Counter : Yes
MSR - Model Specific Registers : Yes
PAE - Physical Address Extension : Yes
MCE - Machine Check Exception : Yes
CX8 - Compare & Exchange Instruction : Yes
APIC - Local APIC Built-in : Yes
SEP - Fast System Call : Yes
MTRR - Memory Type Range Registers : Yes
PGE - Page Global Enable : Yes
MCA - Machine Check Architecture : Yes
PAT - Page Attribute Table : Yes
PSE36 - 36-bit Page Size Extension : Yes
PSN - Unique Serial Number : No
CLF - Cache Line Flush Support : Yes
DS - Debug Trace & EMON Store : Yes
ACPI - Software Clock Control : Yes
(W)MMX Technology : Yes
FXSR - Fast Float Save & Restore : Yes
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SS - Self Snoop : Yes
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
TM - Thermal Monitor : Yes
PBE - Pending Break Enable : Yes
IA64 Technology : No
SSE3 Technology : Yes
MON - Monitor/MWait : Yes
DSCPL - CPL qualified Debug Store : Yes
EST - Enhanced SpeedStep Technology : No
TM2 - Thermal Monitor 2 : No
CID - Context ID : Yes
xTPR - Send Task Priority Messages : Yes
DAZ - Denormals Are Zero : Yes

Advanced Settings
Data Error Checking : No
Fast Strings : Yes
x86 FPU Compatibility Mode : No
Prefetch Queue : Yes
Branch Trace Storage : Yes
Data Cache Active Mode : Yes
IO Queue Depth : 12 request(s)
TM - Thermal Monitor : Yes
TM2 - Thermal Monitor 2 : No
Specific Platform Requirements : No

 

I agree again with inyearstocome.
Your CPU does not have an 800 FSB and you want to have one that does, get a 3.0ghz Prescott.

EDIT: just saw your post.

 

ok, you do have a Prescott 'E' CPU, but not the 800mhz FSB version.. as you know

so with a P4C800-E Deluxe, you'll want either a P4 E 800fsb (Prescott), or the harder to find P4C 800fsb (Northwood).

HOWEVER, i'd like to try to persuade you at this point. For the same cost as this upgrade, or even cheaper-- you can get an AMD Athlon64 3200+ (either Winchester or Venice core), which will be quite a bit better for gaming. In this case if you want an Asus motherboard, I'd go with the A8V or A8V Deluxe as they support socket 939 AMD's as well as AGP8x.

if you're hooked on Intel, so be it. but I'd recommend the above over the Intel in a heartbeat.

 

thanks again googled the amd cpu you mentioned,saw it was 2 or 2.2ghz and double checked what you named it,it was right so i read on and just about every review said it was better than the intel cpus even though its clocked slower. learned something today lol. runs cooler and said intel is better for basic tasks and amd for gaming. i thought the faster the better but i guess its not always the case. if the amd is best for gaming then that could be a step up for me also instead of getting another p4. sounds good to me. thanks alot for all the help, hopefully this will hold me over for a good while until i decide to go pci-e. looking foward to playing fear when it comes out. this machine played it pretty good all settings on high for the demo so im sure ill be set when it comes out.

 

your welcome, its good to learn the simple ins and outs of computers

simple clock speed hasnt determined performance for quite a while now, but Intel still depends quite a bit on people who think that it does More important is the rest of the core architecture and memory interface.

just an FYI, Asus never released a socket 939 motherboard with the nForce3 chipset (the best performance while still having AGP), but the K8T800 (what the A8V series has) is still a good chipset. You could hunt around for an nForce3 board, but if you'd like to stick with Asus, the A8V is still a great choice (I built a friend's system based on the A8V Deluxe and its solid and games well)

 

ok slight change in plans im gonna go with a p4 but only because a friend of mine has a p4 3.4ghz 800fsb ht and said he would sell it to me for $100 cheaper than i could get the amd or p4 from a store. now my problem is no stores in my area have or can get the p4c800e deluxe board,i looked on newegg.com and its outta stock their. so anyone know a reliable place i could order from that has it in stock??? im in virginia if it makes any diffrence. thank you

 

ZipZoomFly


I always order from there no problems and even had a few rma's with no problem

 

http://majorgeeks.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=941624/search=p4c800e+deluxe

Mwave and ZipZoomFly are pretty good, although ZZF has had some customer service problems lately (as I hear tell).

 

I see the 3.4E is about $280 new, so i'm assuming you're getting it from your friend for about $180? thats the same price as an AMD64 3200+

I DO think the 3.4E will perform a little better than the 3200+, and if you're staying with Windows XP, thats fine.

However, just one more thing to consider-- games are coming out with 64-bit patches now, and the AMD64 will run WindowsXP X64 edition. FarCry for example, on my AMD 3500+ and BFG 6800GT, runs about 70-95fps average in 32 bit windows. On XP X64 with the FarCry 64 bit patch, I average a stable 110-130fps, which impressed me. However this would require you to buy Windows XP X64 edition, which could just be a hastle.

I agree that ZipZoomFly is a good place, and so is Chief Value. http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=search&item=13-131-464