478 processor selection

[Spinman]

Thinking about building a system from parts in my junk drawer - have everything available except a processor. Hate to invest money in a 478 socket processor - but otherwise, I see no future for the motherboard, PC3200 memory and cpu cooler I have collecting dust.

Thought this might be something to stepup from a system with 845g chipset, 2.4g P4 w/ PC2100 memory until I make the leap to dualcore and Vista (which would allow me to dedicate the 2.4g system to use as a home server).

Scanning the web, I see current prices for OEM P4 prescott's are as follows:

3.0g = $70

3.4g = $130

Is the 3.4g unit worth the $60 price differential (considering it is depreciated technology) so that I would have the best of the 478 processor family - or would I be better to get the 3.0g unit to minimize my investment in old technology.

Or of course the other option is to skip the 478 entirely and build from scratch with current technology - and keep my junk drawer for future component failures. At which point, I would probably wait another year and keep plugging away with my 2.4g system.

Just seeks some opinions before I jump....

[Camarade_Tux]

Take the cheaper.

As far as I've understood, you don't need this box. So don't spend much money on it.

And a personal server does not need those extra 400MHz which btw is very little.

[jcarle]

I wouldn't even go for that, I'd go for the cheapest socket 478 you can find, especially since you plan on using it as a (I'm guessing, file)server after.

[Lost Soul]

id say if its gonna be used as a file server then go with the cheaper cpu

[Spinman]

Sorry I was so verbose - I guess I didn't clearly explain my through process...

1) Invest in a new P4 Prescott to achieve increase in performance over existing system ($70 - $130 out of pocket expenses) vs. expense of acquring new dual-core/Vista technology. Use this machine as my production box.

2) Retire existing P4 2.4g box from main production to home server (or possibily a MCE2005 box).

I'm interested seeing if there is any noticeable performance difference between 3.0 and 3.4 prescott - will I notice the processor performance for the $60 expenditure - which I expect would be my main production box for another 2-3 years ($20/year for performance boost).

3) Do nothing and keep existing P4 2.4g system for another 2-3 years until switching to state of the art system. Save $70 - $130 by not buying obsolete prescott ($25 - $45/year).

I guess I'm talking myself into the Prescott - just wondering about the heat issues - is the 3.0 cooler than the 3.4? or is that difference immaterial? More speed - more is better, No?

[jcarle]

If you're not in a rush, wait until you can afford a Core 2 system. They run so much cooler and so much faster then a Prescott.

[LLXX]

Overclock your 2.4. It'll probably do 3.0 with stock cooling.

[puntoMX]

Stick with the 2.4GHz CPU I would say.

You can OC it a bit if you like but don’t throw more voltage on it if you are worried about heat. Most of the time a new hard drive or more RAM will give you more performance boost.