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Building the ultimate P4-Willamette system

3lectr1c

3lectr1c

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I've had an idea for a while now of building an "ultimate" Socket 423/Pentium 4 Willamette desktop just for some impractical fun, and to see what the platform is truly capable of. I'm not planning on starting to buy parts yet - I'm actually not sure exactly when I will, but definitely not until after the June swap meet (unless there's stuff at the june swap meet that I could use). The point of this thread is to put a parts list together so I can start to look out for stuff, and so I can get a rough idea of how much this would all cost. Please reply with any advice or ideas you have,

Planned Components:

Motherboard: Intel D850GB is what I'm currently looking at. The downside is that they're expensive, but it's one of the only 423 boards I've found with 5 PCI slots instead of 3, it has AGP, it's an Intel board, and it looks like the caps they use are decent as well.
Edit: Looking around, there are a couple cheaper options that may work. I found a Gateway board that's under $50 and looks like it has identical capabilities to the Intel board. There are also a whole bunch of Dell Dimension 8100 boards out there for cheap, but they're a proprietary form factor so I can't use them.
CPU: 1.9GHz looks like the fastest I can reasonably get.
CPU Cooler: Unless the board I buy comes with one, I have no idea what to get. The boards I see appear to have four holes that go to likely standard mounts in the back of the ATX case, but what keyboards should I look for to find a cooler that will fit properly over the CPU?
RAM: 1GB of RDRAM
GPU: No clue. What GPU would pair nicely with a 1.9GHz Willamette while also not costing an arm and a leg?
Case: The plan here is to scavenge some old build off craigslist or facebook marketplace, then sell whatever parts were in it. Just looking in my area I've already found two candidates so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. I need a case with four 5.25" bays and at least two 3.5" bays. I think I'm going with something that's silver aluminum. I love the 2000s look of those. Must also have at least two internal hard drive bays.
PSU: I'm just going to go with something modern and reliable here instead of trusting some cap plague crap. I do however REALLY like the idea of getting a modern, reliable supply, then slapping a reproduction "Bestec" sticker on it or something like that, right in view of anyone that looks inside.
Storage: I'm going to stick to spinning rust and get two fast drives in RAID 0. I'm thinking dual WD Raptor 10K drives with a SATA card.
Front bay drives: DVD-ROM, CD writer, and a multi card reader (will need an adapter) in the 5.25" slots with one left over for the future. I may also try to get a 5.25" floppy drive in there if I can. 3.5" bays will hold a floppy drive and a ZIP drive, with one left over the future if I get the ideal case.
PCI Slots: Creative Audigy 2, FireWire 400, WPA-2 compatible WiFi card, SATA controller, will probably also need a second IDE controller.
Fans: I'll probably try to replace all fans with Noctuas for noise reduction. Gotta be able to hear those dual 10K hard drives clearly :)
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3

So, I mainly need advice on what GPU to use, the cooler, and if all of this sounds like it would possible (ie, there aren't any incompatibilities I've missed).
 
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3lectr1c said:
GPU: No clue. What GPU would pair nicely with a 1.9GHz Willamette while also not costing an arm and a leg?
Click to expand...

If you're looking to go gonzo with failed tech the obvious choice would be a Voodoo 5, but price is definitely an object there.

More practical choices if you're looking for cards that would have been paired with that motherboard setup when it was new would be either the original Radeon or a Geforce 2. Both represent about the best the year 2000 had to offer. They did sell Willamette into 2001, though, so a GeForce 3 also would count as a contemporary.
 
I can’t find much on the GeForce 3 besides a couple really expensive 3 Ti cards. I’m looking to not break the bank on a GPU so I’m thinking maybe something mid range that’s a few years newer? Not sure. I think GeForce 2 is too old. I’m targeting 2001/2002 here more than 2000. Think like, system built in 2000 with a Willamette that’s been upgraded with a couple things over the next few years, rather than 2000’s best and only 2000’s best.
 
Make sure the card you buy is compatible with the AGP slot you have.
The Voodoo 5500 is an early 3.3V card and doesn't work in P4 systems like the one you have.
AGP_&_AGP_Pro_Keying.svg.png
 
Unknown_K said:
Make sure the card you buy is compatible with the AGP slot you have.
The Voodoo 5500 is an early 3.3V card and doesn't work in P4 systems like the one you have.
Click to expand...

Weird. The Voodoo 4s for sale have universal keying but you’re right, the 5s seem to mostly be 3.3v.

I did of course have my tongue firmly buried in my cheek when I suggested it. Nobody should spend money on those things.

3lectr1c said:
I’m looking to not break the bank on a GPU so I’m thinking maybe something mid range that’s a few years newer? Not sure. I think GeForce 2 is too old.
Click to expand...

The GeForce 2 is honestly a better card than this deserves. ;)

To really do this right, since VooDoos aren’t on the table, you should track down one of those really oddball brand-X accelerators like a Trident Blade or, ooh, an XGI Volari Duo! I mean, the goal here isn’t performance, it’s maximum jank, right? One of those cards would go well with the theme of “I dumped all my money into this first gen P4, and for some reason the bad decisions keep happening…”. ;)
 
The goal with the build is more to push Socket 423 to its limits, rather than assembling the market failure PC. I'll go look up some benchmark numbers for some of the cards recommended and see which looks like a good pick - I'm looking more for something that is going to leave the CPU as the bottleneck.

Chuck(G) said:
I don't get the point of this, myself. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Because I can :)
 
Maybe if I was building a Pentium D Presler system and planning to overclock, but I don't Willamette's nearly as bad on the cooling end of things.
 
You know this would make for a really interesting booth at a VCF event - assemble a series of "maxed out particular era and compare them to each other. Was the P4 really so bad? Was AMD really better? How do the late-market Tualatins fare? Find out at VCF 2025.
 
As for a graphics card, may I humbly recommend the ATI Radeon 9600XT? I know its a few years late for the Willamette, but there are some advantages:

-its going to be "on par" with the fastest contemporary GPUs from a few years earlier
-nothing pairs better with a P4 than a Radeon
-working examples can be had for about $40, vs. $80+ for anything fast and contemporary
 
Chuck(G) said:
Is that the criterion for "vintage" now? I can remember when Pentium was deemed to be non-vintage here.
Click to expand...
Do we really need to have the "is the P4 really vintage?" discussion again in this thread. I'm seriously asking, because I love that discussion. :ROFLMAO:
 
hunterjwizzard said:
As for a graphics card, may I humbly recommend the ATI Radeon 9600XT? I know its a few years late for the Willamette, but there are some advantages:

-its going to be "on par" with the fastest contemporary GPUs from a few years earlier
-nothing pairs better with a P4 than a Radeon
-working examples can be had for about $40, vs. $80+ for anything fast and contemporary
Click to expand...
Looks like a good match. That may end up being my pick, thanks!
hunterjwizzard said:
Do we really need to have the "is the P4 really vintage?" discussion again in this thread. I'm seriously asking, because I love that discussion. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I'd rather not bring that topic up again here.
 
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