Please underclock the 830,840 and Extreme 840 to 2.8GHz on the nF4-SLI motherboard(s) in which the 820 failed and see if they all remain stable under worst-case test conditions.
This would give additional vital pointers to the actual problem area. The smoke-screens from both nVidia and intel are not at all helpful.

might want to add that these cpu's now have builtin DRM aswell... which is being kept pretty quiet by Intel dont you think.

water cooling and max oc please!!!!!

Question of XP Home Edition .

Does the Microsoft XP Home Edition support the non-hyperthreaded dual-core processors (Intel Pentium D..820,830,840) ?

Notice this MKB article:
Windows XP and Hyperthreading

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...n-us;810231#kb2

Has your lab tried running XP Home Edition with these processors.Intel,or AMD dual-cores for that matter. Thanks.

I would have been interested in seeing some compilation times of some large open source projects, such as the Linux kernel or some parts of KDE.

I'd really like to see how much faster something like "make -j3 ..." would be compared to single core systems.

I just put a P4D 820 in an Abit AL8.

Overclocked FSB @ 230, retail heatsink keeps CPU temp at a nominal 60C fully loaded running Hitman Contracts, Excel, Word, Explorer, Messenger, ICQ, Virtual CD, and hardware monitoring software.

Note: Case Design by Silverstone- Inverted ATX with 2 120mm fans ducted around the RAM and processor. 3 80mm fans push over the vid card and hard drives which are mounted beneath Enermax whisper 460 power supply.

Thanks for a quality review!

The one thing I was missing wasn't about benchmarks, but "desktop feel". You know how duallie guys talk about the "creamy smoothness" of their systems in everyday use, with all kinds of simultaneous apps open. You know, how they never see the Windows hourglass appearing, never get the one-second hiccups that get irritating after you start noticing them...

Just wondering if this kind of goodness is now available for fairly cheap one-socket mobos -- AMD's "X2" prices are above my budget. So, does the P-D 820 offer that?

(It should, but I want to ask first, in case there is some performance gotcha after all.)

All of the reviews I've read have compared the D820 with the P4 670 or with high end Athlon chips. I am thinking of purchasing an out-of-the-box system, where between two identical systems at the identical price the only difference is between one having a D820 and the other having a P4 640 with a 3.2 ghz clock. Is there a clear winner here? Thanks.

I recently got the Pentium D 820 processor.
And you know what? I am able to play 12 video clips, visit websites, and play a 3D game al l at the same time. And when I check out the amount of process it uses, the maximum it went up to was around 80-95%!

The Intel Dual Core CPU is a major improvement for multitasker like me. No question this is one fast machine. The only downside I can find is an appreciable heat signature which needs a heat reduction solution beyond cheezy fan/heat sink that Intel sells with these units. Figure it in to your caluclations if building your own box.

Just hope the developers start writing more apps that can effectively use both cores. Once that happens, and that is a sure thing with both Intel and AMD pushing the dual core track-I can see why-lots of people are going to be moving a blistering speeds on the net and with apps that previously took forever to start-up.

Give them a try. Nice CPU solution but be careful on choosing a heat drain. Either that or add a vent from your home's AC into the box-just kidding-but make sure to addres this matter before enbarking on this path.

Otherwise, it is smooth sailing.....

I just got a pentium d 830. I was wondering what temps other people have with the stock hsf. I idle around 52c and with a load at about 80c.

Nice job here, Ilya. Thank you very much for the excellent review.

My Pentium D has temp of 61-65 C when idle, is it normal? but it really hot.

When running game, it will up to 70 C or might be more. The Intel Desktop Utilities will pop up a window for warning me temp too high.

so 70 C is the max of it?

The test results show the L2 cache as 1024KB.......is it not 2MB or it is showing the L2 cache per core

OK...i just left a comment to the much newer review of the 3800+ X2 on how disappointed I was you only used singlethreaded multimedia apps on a dual core review...I mean how stupid was that!!!!

now I come to this older review and see you ran XMpeg which is far more multithreaded then virtualdub....What is up with such a difference in the review...Give the Intel chip the more multithreaded apps to shine...hmmmm...

Which side of the fence post are you sitting on???

could some one tell me what the max oc is for pentium D 820 watercooled

thanks

Wish I had of found this out before I bought my Pentium D setup 3 days ago!! Probably would have gone with P4 after seeing gaming benchmarks, ouch

If only i have read this before buying my dual core, sometimes i wish i should stuck with my instincts and buy AMD

Very helpful information on new technology of the dual core 64 bit CPU

I am building a gaming computer and don't hav big amount to spend so am getting a pentium 4 630 but im not shore now does anyone hav any tips (pc not jus 4 gaming will be doin other things on it) Thanks
Excellent review *****