Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Blue Mako on July 24, 2003, 12:05:07 AM
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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...
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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.
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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. :D :D :p
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Intel
MiniD <- Intel Employee
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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.
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burned twice by intel
spend extra 20 bucks on cooler and dont look back.
4th amd system without a problem.
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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 :).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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I us gigabyte in all my computers.
In fact i have a new in box MB for sale !!
It's the same one i use you can see it in the link below.
http://www.moto-one-computer.us/ (http://www.moto-one-computer.us/)
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Thank thing is Huge RC.
Seems the MB you want to sell is a P4 board and I have a AMD 2000 cpu.
I've decided not to get the a7n8x-vm board from ASUS as it has to many bugs according to user reviews. I'll prolly go with an MSI board with onboard GF-4 MX to get me by for now unless someone suggest better for me to investigate in the next few days.
thanks
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ZX, a 250W power supply is going to be too small. It might work, but I wouldn't risk it. (Certainly not if you plan on getting a different video card at some point.) I'd get a 300 - 400W range power supply. If you've got the money, a 330W or 380W Antec TruePower power supply is top of the line.
The A7N8X-VM is a micro ATX board, meaning it only has 3 PCI slots. I've used it once now and it seems ok, but it has absolutely no overclocking or tweaking options in the bios. It would be a good board for an office machine or a basic home pc. I wouldn't recommend this board for an extreme gaming rig or for someone who likes to tweak with their PC. It does NOT have the full nVidia Soundstorm audio either. (It does have onboard sound that is decent however.)
There are 4 nForce 2 chipset based Asus boards that I know of:
A7N8X Deluxe - Top of the line, with the full nVidia Soundstorm audio plus lots of other extras. (Firewire, Dual network, Serial ATA, etc) This board DOES NOT have integrated video, only the -VM has this.
A7N8X - This board lacks the Soundstorm audio of the Deluxe model, but still has adequate onboard audio. It also lacks some of the other goodies the Deluxe model has.
A7N8X-X - This is a budget board. There's not many extras with this board at all. Basically you get a floppy ribbon cable and a single IDE drive cable and that's it.
A7N8X-VM - As noted above, this board is a MicroATX board with onboard GeForce 4 MX video.
I personally prefer the Deluxe board out of these 4 if you have the funds to afford it. (Remember you will need to buy a video card since it doesn't have onboard video.)
As far as the MSI boards, I haven't personally built a system with one of their nForce 2 boards. They look OK on paper, but I can tell you that any nForce 2 board with integrated video will not support the 3200+, only up to the 3000+. (That comes straight from nVidia, only the non integrated video nForce 2 chipsets officially support the 400 MHz FSB that the 3200+ requires.) This isn't really a huge loss, considering the minor performance difference between the 3200+ and the 3000+.
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I use an AMD system.
XP3000+ (400fsb)
2 x 512mb DDR 400 in dual channel mode
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe mobo
nVidia GF4 Ti4600 (drivers from omega corner.com)
Average well over 120fps at 1600x1200x32