Prescott chip and motherboards.............. Intel, Pentium 4, Extreme, etc..

[Joe Donaldson]

I would like to upgrade my Pentium III 800MHZ soon. However I wonder
if there are any motherboards out there or may be coming that could
handle the current 478 Socket and the new Prescott chip which I assume
would be a different socket, voltage, etc..

Why?
My money is tight and I can afford some RAM, and motherboard (if cheap
enough) and a Processor/CPU.. However, if that motherboard was capable
of handing the upcoming chips, then I am in great shape.

However, I assume the MOBO chipsets may end up being different
(guessing) for a Prescott chip than a 2.8c Ghz Hyperthreaded (512k
cache) chip.

Thanks for educating me. I think I saw a post that said the socket was
a 778... I forget


Sincerely
Joe

 

[Pepperoni]

I would like to upgrade my Pentium III 800MHZ soon. However I wonder
if there are any motherboards out there or may be coming that could
handle the current 478 Socket and the new Prescott chip which I assume
would be a different socket, voltage, etc..

Why?
My money is tight and I can afford some RAM, and motherboard (if cheap
enough) and a Processor/CPU.. However, if that motherboard was capable
of handing the upcoming chips, then I am in great shape.

However, I assume the MOBO chipsets may end up being different
(guessing) for a Prescott chip than a 2.8c Ghz Hyperthreaded (512k
cache) chip.

Thanks for educating me. I think I saw a post that said the socket was
a 778... I forget


Sincerely
Joe

Let me find the reference. I think they will build both............
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/products/story/0,24330,3605621,00.html
The 478 line will end with 3.4, but 4Ghz chip expected by years end for the
new sockets.

4 new chips are Pentium 4 processors (478) ranging in speed from 2.8 GHz to
3.4 GHz. Besides a slight increase in the operating frequency of the
high-end part, the new processors incorporate the following enhancements.
90-nanometer process (shrunk from 130 nanometers)
Doubled L2 cache to 1MB
13 new instructions (SSE3)
Enhancements to Hyper-Threading technology

 

[kony]

I would like to upgrade my Pentium III 800MHZ soon. However I wonder
if there are any motherboards out there or may be coming that could
handle the current 478 Socket and the new Prescott chip which I assume
would be a different socket, voltage, etc..

Why?
My money is tight

<snip>

Money's not tight if you're considering a P4, it is the premium-priced
CPU. I suggest a more reasonably priced, more cost effective upgrade,
to an Athlon XP2500 Barton.

To more directly answer your question, current latest-gen P4 boards
should be able to support Prescott after a BIOS update. Still you're
talking about several hundred more $ including the later upgrade to
Prescott, and the need for more case ventilation, higher (capacity)
priced power supply, etc, to run those P4 systems compared to the
Athlon Barton. It's not necessary to spend $1000 then wait several
years to upgrade again... that just causes you to have a slow system
after the first couple years, as with your PIII 800.

 

[kony]

Let me find the reference. I think they will build both............
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/products/story/0,24330,3605621,00.html
The 478 line will end with 3.4, but 4Ghz chip expected by years end for the
new sockets.

4 new chips are Pentium 4 processors (478) ranging in speed from 2.8 GHz to
3.4 GHz. Besides a slight increase in the operating frequency of the
high-end part, the new processors incorporate the following enhancements.
90-nanometer process (shrunk from 130 nanometers)
Doubled L2 cache to 1MB
13 new instructions (SSE3)
Enhancements to Hyper-Threading technology

.... and unfortunately, that 3.4GHz part is going to be slower than the
current 3.2GHz, yet produce more heat, and while it'll cost Intel less
to make, will be similarly priced.

 

[Joe Donaldson]

Thanks all for the good info.
Sincerely
Joe

<snip>

Money's not tight if you're considering a P4, it is the premium-priced
CPU. I suggest a more reasonably priced, more cost effective upgrade,
to an Athlon XP2500 Barton.

To more directly answer your question, current latest-gen P4 boards
should be able to support Prescott after a BIOS update. Still you're
talking about several hundred more $ including the later upgrade to
Prescott, and the need for more case ventilation, higher (capacity)
priced power supply, etc, to run those P4 systems compared to the
Athlon Barton. It's not necessary to spend $1000 then wait several
years to upgrade again... that just causes you to have a slow system
after the first couple years, as with your PIII 800.

 

[DaveW]

The 778 socket Prescott's won't be out until June at the earliest. For now
the Prescott's work with the 478 socket with the 875 chipset.

 

[Remo]

Hi,

If you are in a hurry then Athlon XP 2600+ or faster may be suitable
for the value user.
We all know that current socket 478 will be eleminated this year, and
the new Prescott core is far beyond the expectations right now. If you
consider buying a P4 system, it is advisable to wait until the 2nd
half of 2004. Socket 775 will appear; the problems with 90nm
(performance and heat issues) will be solved and the new Intel 915 &
925(will replace 865PE and 875P) chipsets will be there.
Wait until P4 3600E(Prescott,800FSB,HyperThreading), even if you
decide to go with the current Socket 478-Northwood, they will be much
cheaper.

Best regards...

 

[kony]

Hi,

If you are in a hurry then Athlon XP 2600+ or faster may be suitable
for the value user.
We all know that current socket 478 will be eleminated this year, and
the new Prescott core is far beyond the expectations right now. If you
consider buying a P4 system, it is advisable to wait until the 2nd
half of 2004. Socket 775 will appear; the problems with 90nm
(performance and heat issues) will be solved and the new Intel 915 &
925(will replace 865PE and 875P) chipsets will be there.
Wait until P4 3600E(Prescott,800FSB,HyperThreading), even if you
decide to go with the current Socket 478-Northwood, they will be much
cheaper.

Best regards...

How exactly do you expect Intel to solve the heat issue? Socket 775
isn't a cure-all, the transistor count and 90nm size, leakage, will
still be present.