CDRLabs.com

Will the P4 Celeron's work on an 865G-based mobo? Newegg lists 400MHz FSB support for it (it's an MSI Neo2 mobo). I'm going with the Celeron is a) it's cheap, and b) with that mobo, I get Dual-DDR so 400MHz FSB is no-problem using my old DDR266 memory (which will be underclocked to 200MHz, leave LOTs of OC'ing head-room ).

2.4Ghz Celerons tend to OC VERY good too...
440+MHz Memory will help to make up for the 128KB cache...as will 2.6+GHz...

Won't work. Intel 865 chipset requires a minimum of a Northwood core. Not only that but putting a Celery on a Springdale based motherboard is truly a waste of silicon. All that bandwidth would go to waste.

You're better off with a 845PE based motherboard with that CPU.

Spend an extra 180 and get a Pentium 2.4C where the average OC is 3.2GHZ.

You also don't seem to understand memory tech. Your 266mhz DDR is actually running @ 133mhz. DDR uses the leading and trailing, so you half memory speeds to get the true clock.

Bottom line is that you aren't going to underclock your memory. You'd need to overlock it (unlikely for PC2100 aka DDR266) to 200mhz.

Ah, but the 845's don't do dual-channel memory, so performance will suck even more.

This is for a budget system upgrade, so I don't want to spend to much $, since it's not my computer.

I'll be getting a 2.6C with an 875P mobo, and the Kingston HyperX 434MHz memory so I'll have some OC headroom.

Not to worried about speed on this, but want to keep the whole upgrade cost under $200. And the new mobo will be upgradable to an 800 FSB chip in the future.

EDIT:
Oh, I've got an Abit BD7 mobo right now running a P4 1.7GHz. Performace is ok, but the bump to 400+MHz memory will help almost as much as the clock speed.

MSI's site says it supports 400MHz FSB with Northwood only.
Is the stupid Celeron a Northwood core?

No. My point is that you need a CPU that can handle the additional memory bandwidth. Celery can't so it's a waste of money.

Alright: New solution.

Keep the Abit 845 Mobo, get the 2.4Ghz Celeron, ditch the DDR266 memory and replace with DDR333 (for OC headroom), and oc the hell out of the cpu...

BUT: how much faster does oc'ing the FSB push the RAM when the RAM doesn't run at the FSB speed anyway???

Depends, most RAM does run synchronously. There are different memory dividers you can mess with so memory is running fast but asynchronously.

Intel's bus speeds are on a quad pumped bus. What that means is that a 400MHZ Intel bus is really 100MHZ, 800MHZ is 200MHZ in reality.

Getting a new 2.4C is a good call because not only can you OC the hell out of it, but it has hyperthreading which tricks the OS (assuming you have XP or 2K) into thinking its a multiprocessor system. Pretty nice when you're able to do 2-3 solid CPU intensive tasks at once with no slowdowns.

2ghz+ celerons are the only ones based on the northwood core. The other problem is that they have less on-die (CPU) cache... which cripples them.

Don't buy a Celeron.
The celeron is based on a P4 architecture, but with a lot lesser Cache.
And Cache is very important in the architecture of a P4 !!

So a Celeron is DEAD SLOW !!

Read a review on Tom: http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20021016/index.html

One thing is certain: the Celeron is no longer the hot tip that it used to be, because the entry-level processors from AMD (Athlon XP 1600+ to 1900+) offer more performance for the same money. The Pentium 4 is not even in the running here: the current models are significantly more expensive, but also significantly more powerful than the Celerons.

if you want to go cheap, get a Nforce 2 mobo with a AXP !!

From what I've seen the celeron is at most 25% slower doing even some non-typical stuff than the northwood p4 of the same speed. Most the time it's almost as fast (<%5 difference in speed).

For the price, the 2GHz+ Celerons are a much better value than any p4.


But I have to agree that the sub 2GHz AthlonXPs are a better value still. But it all comes down to your needs. If you don't trust the VIA or Nvidia mobos, then there's no reason to buy an AMD CPU.

That's one of the reasons I recently bought an 845 with a celeron 2.0GHz. Great chipset with a CPU that's more than fast enough for what I was doing. Upgradable to a p4 later on when they're cheaper.