AMD or Intel

[Blue Mako]

Gents I'm planning on a new system purchase in the next month or two.  Probably aiming for about 2.4GHz processor speed.  The question is:  Which is better for gaming?  AMD or Pentium?

Any suggestions on vid card and M/B model would also be appreciated...

[Monty405]

amd is cheaper, with the money you save you could get a better graphics card.

i know past 2.5 ghz or xp rating intels are considered superior on a variety of benchmarks

if you chose amd, then you would most likly want an nforce 2 board, such as an asus a7n8x, those boards have been hot sellers.

i cant say much about which mb for an intel 2.4c since i have little experience.

would be easyier to recommend a vid. card if we knew how much you would lbe willing to spend.

[mipoikel]

I would take Intel.

New P4 2.4ghz FSB 800 (supports hyperthreading)

A good mobo could be ASUS P4P800  I865PE S478 4XDDR, USB2.0,RAID

Or P4C800

So why? You live in Australia? You have so hot environment that AMD cant work there.  

[FOGOLD]

I have gone off AMD since I have had big temperature problems withXP1800.  Had to install a case fan even in a coolermaster alloy case with 2 exhaust fans. Over 50o it locks up. Intel processors run MUCH cooler.

[beet1e]

AMD processor, Asus mobo A7N8X or A7V8X in a well ventilated case. In the current warm weather, my AMD runs at 52°. In the old (unventilated) case, it ran at 67° - never had any problems.

[FOGOLD]

Well since I cooled mine to under 50o no problems. Could have been the Northbridge of course.  Remember the earlier XP's ran much hotter. 50 is ludicrously hot for a processor anyhow.

[LoneStarBuckeye]

I've built and used several systems with both Athlon XP and Intel P4 chips.  In the performance range you're targeting, I doubt you'll find a big price difference among systems based on Intel or AMD processors.  If I were you, I'd try to pick up a Pentium 4 2.4/800 MHz processor that supports hyperthreading and couple it with a dual-channel DDR board (e.g., Abit IC7, which is much cheaper than its big brother IC7-G, without sacrificing features that normal users likely will need).  The Web abounds with stories of folks running those processors at 3.0 GHz and beyond, without increasing the stock voltages.  The Abit board is an excellent overclocking platform.

As for your video card, I've had great luck with ATI's 9700 and 9800 cards.  The 9800s are a bit pricey, and the 9700s may lie at the price/performance sweetspot right now.  I've also heard that some folks have had good luck overclocking the lesser Radeons, although I have no personal experience with that.

Good luck,

JNOV

[beet1e]

Lonestar - that's useful to know about the ATI 9700s etc. Skuzzy has said that the hardware requirements for AH2 will not include any nasty surprises, so I'm optimistic that those cards will work well.

[Mini D]

Intel

MiniD <- Intel Employee

[bloom25]

You actually have 3 options as I see it:

1.  Intel -  Go with a 2.4 'C'  (800 MHz FSB w/ Hyperthreading)  Put this on a Springdale (i865) based board like the Asus P4P800-E.  I'd also recommend using DDR400 memory, even though it's expensive right now.

2.  AMD - 2500+ (333 MHz FSB, 512 kB L2 cache)  Use this CPU with an nForce 2 Ultra 400 based board like the Asus A7N8X Deluxe.  This will only need DDR333 for top performance.  It also offers excellent built in sound, meaning you won't need to buy a soundcard.

Both of these systems would be very fast.  I'd give a slight overall edge to the P4 based system, especially for video encoding tasks, but from a gaming and office application standpoint the AMD based system is equally fast.  Price both options and make your decision based on what you can afford.

3.  Wait...

I say wait because neither option you pick right now has an upgrade path.  Both AMD and Intel are releasing new processors around the end of September (which isn't much longer now) to mid October.  AMD will be releasing the Athlon 64.  Intel will be releasing an updated version of the Pentium 4, which may actually be called the Pentium 5.  There is a *very* slim chance the next Intel CPU will fit on just a couple boards just released, but that will definately be it.  Even if you cannot afford these newer CPUs, the existing 3 GHz level CPUs are going to drop in price like a rock.

[lord dolf vader]

burned twice by intel


spend extra 20 bucks on cooler and dont look back.

4th amd system without a problem.

[ZXMAW]

My old board with a AMD 2000+ just burnt out and I need a new one so i've been doing a little research.
Seems more people like the ASUS A7n8x line over the s;ightly cheaper MSI K7N2 line of boards.

I chose the A7N8x-VM which has is a nForce2 motherboard with dual channel memory, 8X AGP, an integrated GeForce4 MX graphics card or something, LAN and supposedly killer audio.

For me this is what I need right now to get my hm puter up and running without spending to much.  I can add a MSI Ti-4200 later for about 120.00 or less and later (3-4 months) a AMD 2500 barton which I hear is VERY OVERCLOCKABLE...like up to a 3200 for 90.00 .....or less by then Doctor Bloom foresee's

A 2600+ you pay to much now and don't get enough later and so on up the line IMO from what i've read

My question is.....Will my currant 250 watt PS be able to run this board plus my currant hardware???

 

The Board A7N8x-vm
cd/cdr
dvd
floppy
512 pc2100 X 2

The old Board had onboard video as well  S3 Prosavage 64mg  

and what else will i need to do the job myself. Shims, paste ect. ??

I think I'll make my own ventilation design in the side cover with a Dremil tool and some colored mesh leaving a place in the center to attack an extra fan

ZXCHEAPASSbutINOVATIVEMAW


BTW best Places I've found to buy stuff or search for them is at Pricewatch.com
 TOMS HARWARE has of info for a guy like me to learn from and BLOOM25 never stears you in the wrong direction .

[Pfunk]

250W Power supply will probably work with a barebones system( processor,mobo,integrated graphics,cd&dvdroms, etc.)  You are gonna most definetly need to upgrade the PS if you plan on Overclocking or adding more case fans and a dedicated graphics card.

[Reschke]

Originally posted by ZXMAW
BTW best Places I've found to buy stuff or search for them is at Pricewatch.com
 TOMS HARWARE has of info for a guy like me to learn from and BLOOM25 never stears you in the wrong direction .

Try getting some prices from Newegg.com also there ZX. I recently put the following in my system with $22 FedEx Express Saver (3-4 days but it got to my office in 2 days shipped to Alabama) shipping and it only cost me a little over $800 after shipping. BTW I still use Pricewatch sometimes but I have gotten burned with bad "OEM" CPU's from some of those places that are listed there. Supposedly the "OEM" Athlon XP's are not even a made product as AMD supposedly only ships out retail boxes and the "OEM" CPU's are stripped of their HSF combo and sold for a few dollars cheaper. Personally I would rather have the 3 year warranty on the CPU than anything else. What I just wrote is what I was told by my former employer last week when I was in buying some stuff from him.
------------------------------------
CHIEFTEC Server Chasis (Aluminum Workstation Tower with Plastic Front Cover) Blue w/acrylic window - 450Watt Foxconn Power Supply **Now with 2 x Front USB2.0 and 1 x Firewire IEEE1394 ports** $85

CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) PC-3200C2PT With Platinum - Silver Heat Spreaders.Retail $260

Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail $129

AMD ATHLON XP 2800 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL $180

Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1 - OEM Full Version $143

Total is $797 + the $22 shipping.

[Pfunk]

Pricewatch is OK to use if you use it in combination with

http://www.resellerratings.com

It is amazing as to how many crappy companies there are on pricewatch