Socket 478 stuff

deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
edited January 2006 in Hardware
I'm looking at buying a couple of parts to make a dedicated folding box, and I've been advised to invest in a pre-owned P4 Northwood with hyperthreading and a decent socket 478 motherboard... since I haven't bought an intel chip for years I could do with some pointers:

firstly, how do I tell if a chip is hyperthreaded if it doesn't actually say? Are all northwood chips hyperthreaded? Can you tell from the stepping? how about This one?

Can someone recommend me a decent socket 478 motherboard? I'm hoping to overclock it, but one that runs reasonably fast and stable will do...

Comments

  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited January 2006
    there are a few ways to tell external of the machine, the Intel sticker will have a H T on it, booting it up, there will be a bios option to turn HT on or off, windows will see 2 processors in task manager as well as device manager.

    all northwoods should be HT.(P4C)

    the P4A are not, im nto sure about the P4B
  • deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
    edited January 2006
    Ah, sorry for the confusion, I'm looking to buy just a CPU & motherboard, not a machine
  • DogSoldierDogSoldier The heart of radical Amish country..
    edited January 2006
    deicist, you can download a nifty speadsheet detailing proc specs here: http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/3850-processor-specification-sheet.html?mode=hybrid

    Evidently, that Ebay proc is 533FSB which means it's a P4B, hence.. no HT. Look for deals on 800FSB procs. They have HT.

    I can attest to the folding properties of the P4Cs. I've used an Asus P4P800 (Intel 865PE chipset) and a 2.4 P4c @ 3.12Ghz (1041Mhz FSB) for over 2 years and the thing still smokes.
  • deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
    edited January 2006
    Ah, cheers fella, that was exactly what I was looking for... Just need to hunt down a P4C now :D
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited January 2006
    not all 533fsb are void of HT. I have several 3.0's with a 533fsb that are all HT they however are sl6pg's
  • madmatmadmat
    edited January 2006
    The 3.06B's (533mhz FSB) chips were the only 533FSB chips with HT...all other HT chips (aside from mobiles I think, not sure there) are 800mhz FSB.

    When you look for a mobo find either an 875P or 865PE or 865GV board, avoid the 865P based boards at all costs though, they're the worst performing of the 4 chipsets and any boards based on them will not be very good at overclocking.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited January 2006
    As far as a mobo recommendation goes, I just put together a desktop Pentium M system for my brother based on the Asus CT-479 P-M adapter and the P4P800SE mobo. That P4P800SE board is a real nice ATX sized mobo with good overclocking options and has nice features and layout. Since you are evidiently going after QMD's with the P4 option, the Pentium M presently won't natively get them. But once Stanford updates the client (whenever that will be :rolleyes: ), the P-M based machines will do quite well with the QMD work. I've moved quite a few QMD's over to my P-M systems and the desktop rig of mine does pretty darn good with them, averaging almost 380 points/day at 2.4 GHz. Plus, the P-M procs run so cool and don't use nearly as much electricity as a P4 either. Mine is presently running at 35-36C while folding. :D

    But getting back to your situation, if you can find a deal on either the P4P800SE or the P4C800E-Dlx, go for it. They are both nice boards and as an added bonus, if you want to go Dothan later they both will run a Dothan or Sonoma on the CT-479 upgrade card.
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited January 2006
    I have a P4P800, i give it a very armo tumbs up, as well as the MSI Neo2PFS
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2006
    I agree with Muddocktor's recommendations for the P4P~ Asus motherboards. Also, if you can find for a good deal (difficult) consider the Abit IC7 series. They run the I875 chipset and are great overclockers and rock solid stable. (see my system No. 1 and 3 in signature)
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