best p4 for overclocking?

koomba

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What would be the best p4 for overclocking? I was thinking a 2.4 w/400 fsb, would this be good? In one of toms articles he talked about a 2.53 with 400 fsb, so thatd be even better, but i didnt think they made the 2.53 with 400? Any other suggestions would be good too. Also, how do the 2.66 and 2.8 overclock? Thanks.
 

Civilized

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for the money, the best p4 for overclocking would be the 2.5ghz (400fsb), if you really want the high overclocks because of the high multiplier and c1 stepping....if you want to go with a (533mhz fsb) the best for your money would be a 2.4B with c1 stepping....keep in mind motherboard selection and cooling play a vital role in all of this

also forgot to add that the 2.53 is the 533....you can check on intels website to see what processors are 400&533 in their spec sheet...you can also check here to see what processor build you have (c1 or B0 )
 

LtBlue14

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the 2.8 doesn't overclock well without great cooling (are you on water cooling? pelt? prometeia?)
the 2.53 (133 fsb, you're right there is no 2.53 with a 400Mhz fsb) is supposed to overclock pretty well. for the 2.5ghz chip, that multiplier is really high, you may have problems getting to the magic 133 (~3.33ghz). 166x19 (~3.1)for the 2.53 is slightly more realistic, and a better fsb

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koomba

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Hmm well my cooling will probably be a good hsf combo, probably the mcx4000, until i get some more money then i was thinking about upgrading to a good water cooling system. But thatd be a few months. So either the 2.4b with c1 stepping (400 fsb) or the 2.53 for 533 fsb? Also where could you find the 2.5 with 400 fsb? I havent seen anywhere. thanks.
 

mac404

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It's right here: <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=Pentium+4+2.5ghz" target="_new">Pentium 4 2.5ghz (400mhz fsb)</A>. Just beware, it's about 30 more bucks than the 2.53ghz Pentium 4 and $80 more than a 2.4B.

You only die once, don't mess it up.
 

koomba

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So if you had to choose, which would it be: 2.4b with 400 fsb, 2.4b with 533 fsb, or 2.5 with 400 fsb. Im leaning towards the 2.4 with 400 fsb, b/c 24 would be alot higher multiplier compared with just 18 on the 533 fsb. And i dont know if the 2.5 is worth the extra $80 just for a multiplier 1 point higher. Am I right? Any suggestions are welcome (and hoped for!) thanks.
 

koomba

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sorry to reply to my own thread so much, but just one more thing. Googlegear had a 2.6 with 400 fsb, that would be nice....has anyone had any experience with this chip? or read anything about it? (as far as ocing goes). thanks.
 

Civilized

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When I said 2.4 B (the B means it is a 533 system bus) the 400mhz system bus is most commonly referred to as a "Northwood"....if you do go with a 2.4 make sure that it has C1 stepping....for not all 2.4 intel chips are unlike 2.5's where they all are...the B0 stepping isnt all that bad but with C1 you can assure yourself you are getting the best....but to answer your question if you can get a 2.4 northwood with the correct stepping it would definately be your best bet for high overclocks but a 2.4B @160mhz overclock would give you 2.88ghz @ 600qdr system bus (with the right memory divider) which would prob outperform a higher overclocked northwood
 

Crashman

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OK, let's think about things a minute: you can push the bus speed higher on some boards than others, and some boards allow you to "lock" the PCI and AGP bus speeds. Now, you want a MINIMUM of 133MHz bus (Intel multiplies their number by 4 because of QDR technology).

The 2.4 with 400 bus would have to be overclocked to 3.2GHz to reach the 533 bus clock of 133MHz. Not likely to happen. Faster processors will limit you even further: a 2.6 with 400 bus would have to reach 3466MHz, which is EVEN LESS LIKELY to happen.

So you go with the faster bus speed processors. Let's consider the 2.53, which runs at 19x133 (intel still calls 133Mhz 533). Well, if you were to bump that speed up to 150MHz, you'd have 2850. Not too shabby. At 158MHz, you'ld have 3GHz. Most boards will do at least THAT much.

Considering things like heat and max bus speeds for various boards, the 2.53 looks pretty good! But 500MHz is a fairly mild overclock. I'm sure you could do a bit more with good cooling and the right board.

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koomba

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Well I was planning on going with the asus p4pe which does lock the pci and agp frequencies, so dont have to really worry about that. But I hadnt really thought about what you said. Sounds like 2.53 is the best bet then. Thanks for everyones help.