Which Intel CPU to get?

[Chris B]

After ages and ages of shopping around and changing my mind again and again, I decided to switch from AMD to Intel. I'm currently (still) running a Duron 800 and I'm not THAT powerhungry, so anything in the 1.5 to 2.0 GHz will suit me just fine!

But... I checked the prices and what I see is that the Willamette CPU's cost like next to nothing. So my question is, is the P4 Northwood that much better/faster that it's worth spending the extra 100-120$ ?

And also... which one generates less heat (if there is any difference)? And which one can actually handle running at the highest temp?

[Wombat]

Umm, why switch to Intel?

[Chris B]

Guess you're one of those kind of people that answer a question with a question huh!?

Well actually I'm seriously considering getting a Shuttle barebone system this time. I'm growing more and more tired of the big cases. And with the current options, the P4 Shuttle systems seem like the better option.

And it's gonna be a real small case, so that's why I was asking about the heat. I don't suppose any of the hardcore hardware guys around here have a Shuttle PC right!?

[Novdid]

Yeah, why?

The XP2100+ offers far more value than any intel chip, and it's very fast! Shall I mention that the motherboards are cheaper too?

[Gurm]

Yeah but his point about the Uber-tiny systems and the P4's is well taken. I've seen REALLY small systems with nice heat dispersion units for a P4... that would NEVER work with an Athlon. They're just too hot.

- Gurm

[Novdid]

Oh he must have posted it at the same time as me, didn't see his post.

Point taken.

[Guru]

Yes the northwood is that much bether and faster! My personal favorite is the 1.8a! 99.9% of them will clock to 2.4GHz (133MHz fsb) with the default HS without you having to raise the voltage!

[Wombat]

Not that P4s are any cooler these days. They're running at 70-80W as well. But the smaller procs in the Shuttle systems are col.

[TnT]

The newest shuttle uses the nForce2 chipset, so you can get that and an Athlon. Not sure how the heat is in those.

I've decided to switch to a couple specialized, small computers instead of my big general one too.

[thop]

none

[Sisyfos]

Prices

Chris, I think you are comparing Celeron Willamettes to P4 Northwoods.
The P4 Northwoods are cheaper than the Willamettes.

Eg.
Celeron 1.8GHz Willamette In-A-Box Socket 478 / 128KB / FSB 400MHz 634 kr.
Pentium4 1.8GHz In-a-Box Socket 478 / 256KB / FSB 400MHz 1.616 kr.
Pentium4 Northwood 1.8GHz In-a-Box Socket 478 / 512KB / FSB 400MHz 1.299 kr.

Celeron 2.0GHz Willamette In-A-Box Socket 478 / 128KB / FSB 400MHz 746 kr.
Pentium4 2.0GHz In-a-Box Socket 478 / 256KB / FSB 400MHz 1.662 kr.
Pentium4 Northwood 2.0GHz In-a-Box Socket 478 / 512KB / FSB 400MHz 1.473 kr.

Kim

[UtwigMU]

Willamete has 256k of cache and it plain sucks compared to Northwood.

Celeron is done on a lower process, but it has even less cache (128k) and it plain sucks except for video encoding.

Northwood is the way to go with intel.

1.8As overclock to 2.4 and lot's of 2.0s will hit 2.66

Make sure you get 845PE or GE chipset motherboard, which supports hyperthreading CPUs and future CPUs above 3.06GHz.

[Novdid]

It's fairly easy to get hold of a Tbred 1800+. They shouldn't run that hot.

[Chris B]

Re: Prices

Originally posted by Sisyfos
Chris, I think you are comparing Celeron Willamettes to P4 Northwoods.
The P4 Northwoods are cheaper than the Willamettes.

Ahh I now see the error of my ways You're right, I was comparing Celerons to P4's. Ok the price difference makes a lot more sense now.

And Utwig.... the shuttle I'm looking at does in fact have an 845GE chipset, so I should be good for another CPU upgrade on that same system once the 2 GHz gets to slow for even me.... in 3 years or so

[WyWyWyWy]

Willamettes is not necessary more expensive than Northwoods.
Anyway, I'd recommend Northwood by heart.

1. Less power consumption
2. Less heat
3. Faster (much faster in games)
4. Overclockability

If I have a chance I'd buy a 1.8a and sell my 1.9.

Oh just in case you don't know, almost all Celeron 2.0g can hit 3.0g with stock cooling and no voltage increase