I’ve always had Intel CPUs in my PC, but I’ve been thinking of switching to Athlon. The trouble is, I don’t know much about them. What’s the dealeo?
I know the Athlon XP 3000 is their top model… I think. What about the 2200? Is that still ok?
What’s comparable to a Mid range P4?
-g
Ideally, you want to go with an Athlon XP based on the Barton core, which has a bigger L2 cache. These would be the 2500+, the newest version of the 2800+ and the 3000+.
If you decide to go with an Athlon XP, make sure you get a motherboard that uses the Nforce2 chipset. Good ones include the Abit NF7-S, Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Epox 8RDA+ and Leadtek K7NCR18D-Pro.
These boards also have very robust motherboard audio, so you don’t even need a sound card.
Best regards,
Loyd Case
XP 3000 comparable to P4 3,0 GHz
XP 2200 comparable to P4 2,2 GHz
The wonders of PR-rating :)
Check http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030217/cpu_charts-20.html for a huge CPU comparison.
Try to get an Athlon with 166 MHz FSB - XP 2600 and above.
I can vouch for getting an nforce2 motherboard. Before I got my nforce2, I’m pretty sure I would not have been able to suggest an Anthlon based solution. Not because of anything to do with the CPU itself, but I just had too many compatibility issues with various motherboards. There may have been decent solutions before nforce2, but I tried a couple and it was not at all what I was used to with my BX chipset back in the day.
The nforce2, however, is fast, stable, and feature rich.
You’ll get the most bang for your buck with one of the new Barton core Athlon 2500s; I just built a new system with that CPU, which sells for $175. That’s a pretty damn good deal. The Athlon 3000 adds about $400 to that price–whether or not that’s worth the money is your call. I went with the 2500 figuring that I’d probably upgrade again (to one of the new Athlons with the 400 MHz front side bus) later this year. That way I’ll end up with a CPU that’s faster than the current 3000s, but end up paying about the same (if not a little less) than I’d pay by getting one right now.
I’d recommend one of the nForce2 motherboards, too. I have the Asus A7N8x Deluxe (integrated sound and dual ethernet) and am quite happy with it (or I was, once I updated the BIOS). Also, pay a little extra and get PC3200 RAM. If you do eventually upgrade to one of the 400 MHz front-side bus Athlons, you’ll be happy that you did.
Don’t be stupid, buy a real computer. Get a Mac. All of the same programs are available, and feature for feature they’re actually cheaper.
Been living under a rock since 1985, eh?
Loyd Case
LAUGH! Not if you’re a gamer.
If you want to spend all your time troubleshooting BSOD and trying to figure out how to uninstall spyware, buy a Windows PC. cough-loser-cough
Good luck finding games to play.
I don’t care if the Mac is better or not because there is ten times as much software available for the PC and that means I stick with it.
It’s like promoting an Xbox over a PS2. Sure, the Xbox is better technically, but the PS2 has got more games available and that’s what it’s all about.
Yeah, right. Macs never cra… :lol:
I couldn’t say that with a straight face. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I have a dual-G4 here. It’s about as stable as my main Athlon XP system, which means it crashes about once a
week. And this is with 10.2, which is supposed to be rock solid.
On the other hand, my production P4 system rarely crashes.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s faster than the dual G4?
The G4 mostly sits here unused, though, because I can’t get Freelancer, Raven Shield, Splinter Cell, Battlefield 1942, and just about every game I play these days.
Get real.
Loyd Case
This is a stupid question, I know, but I have to ask it.
With the new Barton Athlons out, I find myself itching to upgrade from my Athlon XP 1700. However, I have no idea whether the newer CPUs are even compatible with my (original) NForce motherboard.
Can anyone provide guidance?
I believe the nForce 1 supports a maximum 266MHz FSB therefore you can upgrade to an Athlon XP 2400+ (2.0GHz) or an Athlon XP2600+ if you can find the 266MHz version of this chip (they are in short supply).
I recently upgraded from an Athlon XP 1900+ to a 2400+ and my 3DMark score went from 8,900 to over 11,000.
The only thing I have to add is that if you get an Athlon XP, pay the extra money and get a good and, most importantly, quiet cooling solution. Because the standard AMD heatsink/fan combo is about about as loud as anything out there.
That’s one of the few advantages of the P4 over the Athlon. The Athlon needs pretty heavy cooling constantly or else it dies, whereas the P4 does need cooling, but it won’t smoke up in thermal death if your heatsink dies.
Ok, it’s settled. I’m getting a Mac. Do they still make ones shaped like a cube? :D
Seriously, Thanks for all the info. I’m still toying with the idea of building one myself, though I’ve never done it before. Just trying to keep the price down.
-g
Because the standard AMD heatsink/fan combo is about about as loud as anything out there.
Hmm. I bought two OEM Athlon XP 1900+ in retail packaging, and the HSF was actually fairly nice-- a skived aluminum deal with a relatively low profile fan. I don’t recall it being very loud.
Of course these days I would recommend getting something with a copper core, perhaps a skived copper cooler. Skiving is extremely efficient for heatsinks; the entire block is formed out of one piece of metal. The skiving process also naturally roughs up the fins for lots of surface area and air turbulence.
http://www.overclockers.com/articles715/
That’s for a P4, but you get the idea.
Ah yes I have seen reviews for that cooler. It has a unique design where the motor surrounds the blades. How is the sound and cooling Loyd ?
Ah yes I have seen reviews for that cooler. It has a unique design where the motor surrounds the blades. How is the sound and cooling Loyd ?[/quote]
It’s quite a bit quieter than most 5000+ RPM fans. While I haven’t overclocked anything with it, it did keep the old (and very hot) Athlon XP 2800+ cool enough to be stable (around 55 degrees C). I’m talking about the 2.25GHz XP that only shipped in limited quanities.
As ever,
Loyd