PIII or Athlon?

[Apache]

If someone was giving you a cpu and your choice was the Pentium III or Athlon, which would you choose & why? Assume the speed is 1gb mhz. Please note that this is a free cpu, therefore price is not subject to this discussion.

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Apache
=XO= VMF-323 Death Rattlers
VMF 323 Death Rattlers Web Site

[Westy]

PIII.  I base my choice solely on being a consumer, not an expert. I've just seen too many folks who use AMD being short changed or having problems in running programs that an Intel chip of the same speed could do handily. Aces High is one of them.

-Westy

[Swager]

Does that meant he Athlon processor does not handle AH very well?  This will be a deciding factor for my next machine.

I figured the 700 to 950 Athlons would be a smashing machine for Aces High!

Good Post Apache!

I also heard processor prices may be decreasing a bit due to new processors comming out.  Is that true??

[Apache]

Thanks Westy. This is the kind of info I am looking for.

Thanks Swager. I heard the same thing about prices. I believe someone told me that the Pentium IV is on the horizon and it has a speed of 1400 Mhz.

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Apache
=XO= VMF-323 Death Rattlers
VMF 323 Death Rattlers Web Site

[Kirin]

neither...  

Duron is the word!!! (codename: Spitfire   )

It's very pricey and can hold up with a PIII of same or even better CPU frequency. Sadly AMD sells them only up to 700MHZ - they don't want to make an adversary to their own Thunderbird. Another good reason: it uses SocketA!! Finally they get rid of that darn slot thingie - really hated it!!! Only real drawback: not much overclocking possibilities... even at normal speed they develope some good heat!!


Kirin

[Apache]

lol Kirin, maybe I should qualify the question like this. Intel or AMD?   As you may have noticed, I didn't include Cyrix. I have had nothing but high failure rates with anything Cyrix makes.

[Vermillion]

Westy, the Athlon is nothing like the old K2 chips

I have an Athlon 700 (oc'd 800) and it runs as fast in AH as any Intel processor on the market of the same clock speed.

Plus it was alot cheaper

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Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure
"Real Men fly Radials, Nancy Boys fly Spitfires"

[Westy]

 Rgr that Verm.  But it's the problems of folks who had the K2 that soured me on AMD. they were always cheaper but in my eyes there was a reason, that being sub-par performance.  Something to do with the math co-processor, or lack there-of.
  AMD might make a really good, "up to speed" chip now, and  Apache would be wise to listen to you and others with the new AMD cpu's before making a decision, but my next purchase will be an Intel P-III or P-IV chip. Kind of like the reputation General Motors developed for themselves in the early-mid 80's, their cars really] sucked and it takes a long time to change opinions and perceptions.
   Another item I would never consider buying is an SB "Live." This as a result of so many problems I've seen folk have as well as my own troubles with an AWE64.
 This, again, is only my opinion as semi-literate "PC stuff" consumer and not as a techo-dude or geek  

 -Westy

[AKDejaVu]

I'd go with the P3.  But then you can also reach me at david.staines@intel.com

It all seems to boil down to personal preference.  AMD users had initial problems with motherboards/powersupplies/agp.  P3 users had problems with i820 chipsets and SDRAM memory.  Both companies seem to have things under control now.  They all benchmark closely.  It doesn't really matter... though you may want to check out your power supply and make sure it is AMD aproved before going that route.

AKDejaVu

[RangerBob]

I faced this very decision just a few months ago and after researching the question I came to the conclusion that the PIII was the clear choice.

I agree with Westy. As a consumer I prefer the PIII.

You'll hear both sides of the question, but when it comes down to a decision you can count on the PIII.

My PIII 750mhz works perfectly.

Just my opinion.

Ranger Bob

[Hajo]

I built a gaming PC last December. Using the Athlon 600 and the Asus K7M motherboard.
I have had no problems playing AH or any other on-line gaming flight sim.  The Athlon performs just as well as any PentIII. and to boot the Athlon is generally cheaper.  One can get an Athlon 600 to 700 for a song now.  Just make sure your PC has a 500mhz processor for good video performance, elsewise your vid card will be cpu bound.

[strube]

I have been using a 600 MHZ Athlon for several months now in AH and have had no problems with it. Wouldn't hesitate to get another one. I don't think that past problems with any cpu should have much to do with how they run in the present.

[Dnil]

Was an intel user for ages, and in March went the Athlon route and got a 700.  I have not looked back, ZERO problems with it, awesome speed and has worked flawlessly.  It was MUCH cheaper then the intel version, thats what really swayed me, same performance but cheaper price.  IMHO you cant go wrong with either brand, with older AMDs they just sucked.

p.s. is the geforce mx card worth looking at, using a tnt2 ultra right now and wondering if it would be worht it.

p.s.s. Verm what did you do to overclock it?  just upped the FSB or did you use one of those clock modifiers?

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Dnil---Skyhawk until I get Dnil back
Maj. 900th Bloody Jaguars
Part time aircraft restorer. www.kingwoodcable.com/jheuer

[Vermillion]

I too was a diehard Intel fan until I got this processor.

Zero problems out of mine, and I'm even running a GeForce at x4 (3D Prophet SDR), but of course I'm running the VIA chipset and updated BIOS.

Dnil, I just bumped the FSB in the BIOS. I'm running PC133 memory so it was pretty easy to do.

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Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure
"Real Men fly Radials, Nancy Boys fly Spitfires"

[av8or]

i have run both chips i question and prefer the amd processor. i currently have an amd 800mhz processor and i am very happy with it and never had any problems.