P4 Upgrade Advice needed

[PawsForThought]

I am upgrading my cpu, mobo and ram. My specs are listed below. I had ordered
a P4 3.2C but was sent the Prescott 3.2E instead. Now I'm trying to decide
whether I should just keep the 3.2E or try to exchange it for the 3.2C. I've
been reading as many reviews as possible and it really does seem like a toss up
as to which chip is better. I will be mainly doing video encoding but play
some games too. I understand the Prescott has the SSE3, but is there a future
with SSE3? If it makes a difference, the 3.2E is a SL7B8 with a C0 stepping
(pack date 7/25/04) made in Malaysia. I don't know a whole lot about Intel
chips so I'd really appreciate any advice as to which chip to go with. Thanks
much.

Soyo SY-P4I865PE Dragon Plus 1.0
Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL (2X512)
BFG GeForce 5900 Ultra
Audigy soundcard
WD SE 80G hdd w/8 mb cache
BenQ DVD Writer, CDRW & Lite On DVD Rom
Antec Smartpower 400 psu
WinXP Pro - SP1

 

[Dave C.]

I am upgrading my cpu, mobo and ram. My specs are listed below. I had
ordered
a P4 3.2C but was sent the Prescott 3.2E instead. Now I'm trying to
decide
whether I should just keep the 3.2E or try to exchange it for the 3.2C.

Keep what you've got. There is like NO difference. If it aint broke . .
.. -Dave

 

[PawsForThought]

From: "Dave C." (e-mail address removed)

Keep what you've got. There is like NO difference. If it aint broke . .
. -Dave

Thanks, Dave. So you don't think I need to worry about the heat issue?

 

[Dave C.]

Thanks, Dave. So you don't think I need to worry about the heat issue?

I think it's overblown. I'm running a 3.0E Prescott (two of them, in
fact). Haven't seen either one hit 120F yet. I'm not using stock coolers,
though. One has an all-copper heatsink Speeze brand cooler with stock
thermal compound. The other has a Cooler Master heat sink with a blower
instead of a fan (aero 4 lite?, something like that). Before I changed the
thermal compound (due to a mainboard failure), the 3.0E on my wife's system
never hit 100F. In fact, for a long time, the SYSTEM temperature was higher
than the CPU temperature!!! (though both were well within normal range, and
not far above room temp.) The thermal compound I'm now using (artic
alumina) is not as effective as the original waxy stuff that came from
Cooler Master. Still, this CPU has been stressed hard and has not hit 120F
yet.

I'd have to conclude that the heat issues are caused by improper cooling, as
the Northwood core processors have normal operating temperatures higher than
what I've seen with the Prescott core processors I'm using. And yes these
CPUs have been stressed hard using various burn-in type programs and the
systems have been left on for days straight. I can't seem to do anything to
get these processors even slightly WARM, let alone hot.

In short, WHAT heat issue? -Dave

 

[PawsForThought]

From: "Dave C." (e-mail address removed)

I think it's overblown. I'm running a 3.0E Prescott (two of them, in
fact). Haven't seen either one hit 120F yet. I'm not using stock coolers,
though. One has an all-copper heatsink Speeze brand cooler with stock
thermal compound. The other has a Cooler Master heat sink with a blower
instead of a fan (aero 4 lite?, something like that). Before I changed the
thermal compound (due to a mainboard failure), the 3.0E on my wife's system
never hit 100F. In fact, for a long time, the SYSTEM temperature was higher
than the CPU temperature!!! (though both were well within normal range, and
not far above room temp.) The thermal compound I'm now using (artic
alumina) is not as effective as the original waxy stuff that came from
Cooler Master. Still, this CPU has been stressed hard and has not hit 120F
yet.

I'd have to conclude that the heat issues are caused by improper cooling, as
the Northwood core processors have normal operating temperatures higher than
what I've seen with the Prescott core processors I'm using. And yes these
CPUs have been stressed hard using various burn-in type programs and the
systems have been left on for days straight. I can't seem to do anything to
get these processors even slightly WARM, let alone hot.

In short, WHAT heat issue? -Dave

Thanks for your response, I appreciate it. I've now got the 3.2E and 3.2C and
just have to make up my mind which one to return.