I am trying to set up a build for my girlfriend and I'm between two processors, the P4 Prescott @ 3.2ghz and the P4 Northwood @ 3.2ghz. I was going with the prescott in the beginning, but everyone has been saying that they run too hot, even with a different heatsink/fan combo. I am also wondering what motherboard to get for one of these processors. When i search on Newegg the motherboards that can handle Prescott core processors are labeled as such, but there are none that say Pentium 4 Northwood, does this mean that any socket 478 mobo w/ 800 fsb can take on the Northwood with no problem. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best board for the prescott and/or northwood?

what are your intentions for this pc?

I have run the prescott with a Thermaltake cooler for quite some time and never had any heat problems with it. I believe there were some initial problems with the Prescott but they are in the past. For me there is no choice, the Prescott rules. Wizard ICT. Microsoft Certified Professional

Pentium 4 3.2Ghz Prescott is newer. ASPIRE ATXB4KLW-AL Antec 400W ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe AMD 3700+ San Diego Corsair 1GB 2x512 eVGA 6600GT 250GB Hard Drive Sound Blaster Audigy Windows XP HOME W/SP2

The computer is giong to be used just for basic computing, word processing, and lower graphic titles such as Ragnarok Online. I know that a 3.2ghz processor is not needed at all for any of this, but i'd like to have a processor that will be able to handle whatever is thrown at it in the future. I have no intentions of overclocking this processor though, so i dont think heat will be much of an issue even with the stock heatsink/fan, but i keep hearing nothing but bad news about the heat of a prescott. If i do go with the prescott should i stick with the stock cooling or what should i get to replace it that would be affordable and effective.