1.4Ghz Celeron -vs- 1Ghz PIII

Originally posted by Shaft
I'd like to hear opinions on whether it's worth the money

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IMHO?! NO! 1Ghz -vs- 1.4Ghz isn't going to matter on a dated bx board. Save your money & upgrade.

Actually a few of the folks at delltalks recieved free units from Powerleap in order to do benchmarks/reviews and they observed as much as a 20 fps increase in some games from the PIII 1ghz, and on a Geforce 3, no less. I really think it would help my other problem, and if it doesn't I can just return it (they have a 30-day money-back guarantee policy). Also I can sell my old processor and vid card to a friend of mine and get back a large portion of what I've spent.

your still limited by bus speed on an outdated slot1 board.

I understand that, but I don't have the sufficient funds to buy and/or build a new computer right now. I'm trying to extent the life of my current comp to last me a couple years in college.

Originally posted by Shaft
I'm trying to extent the life of my current comp to last me a couple years in college.

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Then leave well enough alone. There's no great advantage to using a budget Celeron™ just because it's a lil' faster. You won't even notice the difference.

Keep in mind that the new Celeron uses a .13 micron technology and uses the new prefetching techology, making not only the clockspeed faster, but the architecture as well. I've also heard that a processor in the ballpark of 1.5ghz is recommended for the Geforce 4.

Hi ya Shaft,

I too have looked at PowerLeaps products. They're real slow on email replies tho'.

Your BX board only supports up to 100mhz FSB. That kinda limits things. I went over to Mad Onion to see what a 1.0ghz PIII & a Ti 4400 128mb benches stock. I found a PIII 1.0, 100FSB, 440BX, AGP2x, Ti 4400 stock benchmark: 7844. I then searched for a 1.4 Tualatin, Ti 4400. I found a stock (non-BX440) 133FSB, AGP4x, Ti 4400: 6865.

Suggestion: Find someone on the Dell board w/the Tualatin & the 100mhz BX440 & a Ti 4400 & have them run 3D Mark 2001 (330) & you do the same. Both at stock speeds. Compare your #'s & that 7844 # I supplied. Both of you can oc the Ti's & then check again. Or you can benchmark your system, order the 1.4 Tualatin, bench it on your machine & see for yourself if there is a worthwhile improvement. :grinthumb

If you do either/both: lemme know what #'s ya get, plz.

Here is one of the fellas from delltalks that did the upgrade, keep in mind that he has a Geforce 3 and my gains would likely be greater. Note the 20fps gain in Quake 3. His mobo is even older than mine!

http://duhvoodooman.com/powrleap/PLspeed2.htm

That 3DMark score is probably the highest end of them, because on the benchmark comparison mine is usually over 100 marks above the average. I haven't found anyone with a Geforce 4 that did the upgrade yet, but with that 30-day money back guarantee I could give it a shot myself.

Shaft,

Voodoo has a nice site & the charts are cool. Defineately shows the Tualatin 1.4 ahead @ all steps.

I read your other post. I think you're at a crossroad. 400w PSU & the Tualatin on the BX board @ 100mhz or get a 133mhz (min) board , 400w & a 133mhz (min) CPU.

Look at this Gigabyte board for $60! http://techspot.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=516598/ut=a5f7e3495194d1d5/
http://www.giga-byte.com/products/8idx.htm

Then you add in a 1.5 P4 for $123. http://techspot.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=465753/ut=a5f7e3495194d1d5/

$183 + shipping & you have a 1.5 P4 @ 400mhz instead of a 1.4 P3 @ 100mhz. That oughta be worth the $13 extra. :grinthumb

Think about it.

If I got a new mobo, I'd have to get a new case. If I went that route I'd get an Athlon around 2100+, then I'd have to get 512 mb of DDR Ram, etc. By the time I'd be done I'd be well over $500, which is money I can't spend right now (gotta save SOME for college ). I think that if I spent the $180 on the new processor now, held out for 1-1/2 to 2 years and built a new system then it would be the best way to go, financially.

UNLESS...I could built a good gaming PC for somewhere around $600 using the AMD platform. My mom needs a computer when I go to college, so if I could build a better system for myself, for around $600 I could leave this one at home. If you have any good links that could help me out, I'd appreciate that.

P.S. I want the case/mobo/powersupply already together...so a good bare bones system would be alright. A mostly pre-assembled would be better (sans video card).

I did some research on what it would cost me to get a custom-built Athlon system, or even custom build a machine myself and I decided to try the Powerleap upgrade. If it doesn't solve my problem I'll return it and use my money to go the more expensive route.

I installed my new processor today and I'm quite pleased with the results. My framerates haven't dropped below 30, and have increased by more than 10 in several of my games. I'm sure that I'm still limited by my mobo, but as long as I can maintain this level of performance I'll be happy.