MY Pentium D 805 2.66 Experience * Good Info *

[phil a meant]

I shouldn't be adding fuel to the fire, but here goes:

 

I have a Pentium D 805 clocked at 3.3ghz on stock voltage/cooling. It's a fairly fast chip, but consumes LOTS of power. I also have a Mac Mini 1.66ghz CoreDuo and a MacBook 2.0 Core2Duo. They can ALL do 1080p decoding, but the 805 uses a lot more processing power to do so. When encoding video (a VERY processor intensive task), the MacMini is just a bit slower than the PD805 (clocked at double the clock speed, though)- I attribute this to the faster memory/hard drive of my PD805 tower though.

 

The MacBook 2.0 Core2Duo is MUCH FASTER than the PD805 at encoding the same video DESPITE the slower RAM/Hard drive. And it uses about 1/4 of the power to do so. . .

 

I just ordered a Badaxe2 and a e6300 and will be selling my Aopen i945ga-PLF/PD805 on eBay.

[kjnnz]

I purchased a Pentium D 805 processor in March '07 from NewEgg for $70. I purchased it because at the time it was the only dual core processor I could afford (Everything else was $100+).

 

I'm not a fan at all of the Pentium D'isaster processor. I tried to build a system in a nice small desktop Micro-ATX case, however at first, the case's 200 watt power supply could not power the system (No optical drives / graphic cards, etc; just a Micro-ATX board and IDE hard drive). I moved the board into a ATX tower with a Antec 400 watt power supply and used the system for a couple of months.

 

I couldn't leave the system on 24/7 because it would put a noticeable dent in my electric bill. The thing would consume power like no other computer Ive ever seen (even at idle). I was not satisfied with the performance of the chip either (Geek Patrol (GeekBench) gives the chip an average score of 1550). People out there say this chip is a fantastic deal when you overclock it, however these people must not have to worry about paying electric bills.

 

I do not understand why anyone would want to use these chips when Pentium Dual Core chips and Core 2 chips are available (or Athlon X2 Brisbane core.. my new favorite chip). For some reason, NewEgg is selling the Pentium D 805 for $80 right now; that's more than what I paid for the chip over six months ago.

 

With all of the options available to users now, I believe the Pentium D 805 shouldn't even be considered when building a new system. Like many others have stated, you may be able to find a really cheap 805 processor, but if you intend to overclock it (I never did) be prepared to pay the difference in price fairly quickly in your (or your parents) electric bill.

 

Just my thoughts.

[Then there were none.]

The Pentium D is a cheap processor, but it runs hot and gets utterly trounced by the Core duo processors, so i would recommend a Core 2 on any new build, Hackintosh or PC