Northwood vs Prescott for non-OC

[SlanThor]

I've read a lot of the guides and how-tos in Toms Hardware but I could never find a good answer to figure out this "simple" problem. What is better for a person who will never overclock their CPU - a Northwood 3.0GHZ 512cache(220$ new egg) or a Prescott 2.8GHZ 1mb cache(220 something new egg)?
ps. the motherboard is an Asus P4P800-Deluxe and I'm looking to run normal applications and very graphic intensive games (half-life 2, RTCW, battlefield nam, AC2, etc.).

 

[Cybercraig]

The Northwood 3.0C will beat the 2.8 Scotty at almost everything. Unless you have some apps that can make use of the larger cache, why bother with Scotty. The larger cache and increased pipelines will actually slow Scotty down in games vs the 3.0C. It's a no-brainer for the gamer!

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Landog]

Thor,

I'm running a P4c 2.6 (Northwood). I don't see the prescott as a viable replacement to Northwood due to the increased thermal issues.

I run my 2.6 24/7 on some pretty heavy number crunching and have never seen the temp rise above 35c. I don't think I'd be comfortable doing that with a Prescott without some after-market cooling involved.

Cheers,
Steve

P4c 2.6/I875/nVdia 5200

 

[SlanThor]

Thank you so much cyber and landog, I think im going to go with the Northwood 3.0C.

 

[Cybercraig]

That's an excellent CPU. If you shop around a bit I've seen some real good pricing lately in the $200.00 area. Good luck!


"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[evulboo]

the hyper6 hsf will solve the heat probs with prescott stock for me was 69c full and now is 37-39full