Well, I have heard how well those Northwood Intel CPUs overclock and I have seen posts about it in the forums so I decided to try it myself.

P4 1.8a Northwood CPU
Albatron PX845PEV Pro motherboard (review pending)
1.85v core
Aquastealth Watercooling

Can you say 2.7GHZ? BAM!

Man, I was simply blown away as I inched up a bit at a time. I think what is holding me back is either the RAM or the core voltage. This motherboard rocks for overclocking. You can set the FSB up to 667 instead of the standard 533 for intel cpus. Plus you can set the voltage up to 1.85 without modding your cpu.

I ran a 3dmark2001 test to check stability (since it is the bitch of all tests) and I got a 15168 with a radeon 9700 at stock speeds. I even ran the test while my RAID 5 array was reinitializing (only draw back to a RAID 5 array... if you lockup and have to restart yoru system then the array rebuilds all the parity info which can take 30 - 45 min usually) so that was stealing a good amount of cpu power.

Can't wait to tweak it out and OC the vid card and see what I can get.... Mad Onion Fastest Webmasters List, here I come! WOOHOO...

This setup is sweet if you consider that you can find this motherboard for $85 and the CPU for $125... That's a 2.7GHZ combo for $210! YOu should get the same results with good air cooling like an alpha hsf. My temps never go over 35C. To compare you would probably get an equal performing AMD system by getting a 2400+ cpu and crank it up to 2300mhz. The price of that amd cpu plus a motherboard as stable and feature rich as this one you would drop around $240. It would still be a bit behind this intel setup though.

Well... I certainly have taken a bit of a turn towards the dark side known as Intel here fellas... may the CPU gods have mercy on my soul...

Here is a wcpuid shot to thwart the doubters...

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THATS JUST DAMN AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, another has switched to the dark side! Muahahaha!!!!

But anyway, the first reports of the northwoods CPU's I read was the guy automatically hit a 2.4ghz overclock from a 1.8a (on STOCK cooling), and with a little more tweaking of voltcore and better cooling (I think) he hit 2.7 and still was running cool. sheesh! You AMD folk are slow! (no offense...it's just been a while).

I think Coel pointed the same thing out a while ago too as an overclocked northwoods is cheaper than an AMD of lesser power.

Damn it, I need to buy a new CPU or something...and a new motherboard...and RAM for that motherboard...yerg

DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!!!!!

Hammer, Hammer, Hammer...

Ahh, good lookin BA, HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER!!!!!!!

*temptation rising to go out and buy a P4.......*

Help! Some stop me!

I've been tempted for awhile... I just don't know **** about P4's since I spent the majority of my last year researching AMD and nVidia and didn't even bother with ATi or Intel... so I have some catching up to do. Oh well, gives me something to do over christmas break.

well, it isnt so bad when yer so slow that what happens on the other end doesent even effect you, lol

I think I'll be building numerous systems...for isntance a faster P4 and all that crap....and a hammer depending on how butthurt my wallet will be after the fact. I can only imagine how expensive the hammer is going to be once it's out...

Oh Yeah, it is going to hurt the wallet plenty. Along with a new board and whatever RAM configuration it wants. I am hoping that the final configuration is dual channel, but that means another stick of XMS RAM. Such is the life of a hardware addicted pimp.

Hell, I'd love for the board to have dual-channel...though it just means the system will take longer to get all the parts for and nothing too top of the line going along with it...

Quote: Originally posted by Cyphre Hell, I'd love for the board to have dual-channel

That is diffrent with the hammer though.....the board actully will not have the RAM contoller on it. This is integrated into the chip. Which im thinking is probably why the chip is taking so long ( when it was supposed to be introduced DDR 333 was king)

Hey scapegoat, I'm actually tempted to get a P4 now too.

Those are good numders...........
sorry, I'll wait for the hammer as well before I jump ship.

If the Hammer doesn't perform as expected, I have no allegience to AMD.

I know this might sound outrageous but I saw a head to head with a 2.2 P4, a 1.4 Hammer, and a 2.0 t-bred and the hammer was right behind the P4. The 1.4 was just a reference chip though. Not a final.


It might have been a faster P4 but i cant seem to find the article anymore. Its like it disappeared. lol!

just two more weeks fellas and im gettin my p4 2.4 HAHAHAH

erm wut kind of ram did u use

Just remember overvoltage is the main cause of S.N.D.S yes Intels can overclock yes they are the better deal for your buck after the 2.2ghz mark but hey wait till barton and hammer arrive Intel