Which to build?

[Milan]

Option 1:

P4 1.8a
Gigabyte GA-81HXP
2x RDRAM 1066
Radeon 9500 pro

vs

Option 2:

AMD 2400XP
Asus A7N8x
2x DDR333
Geforce4 4400 or maybe 9500 pro (work well with nvidia mobo?)

-------------------------

I do mostly gaming and want a fast computer that wont slow down to much when times get tough (instagib quake 3 with 10 people in 1 room). All the other things I do is just stuff like word for school.

Which one would you choose and why? Thanks.

[Zerileous]

im no expert but 2 looks better to me (although i do tend to favor AMDs in general). I dont think the RDRAM is worth the power drop but im no expert. I dont think there would be any ati-nvidea conflicts but i havent heard otherwise.

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

If what you do is mostly games, then I would go with the P4 with rdram...bandwidth baby! sdram and ddr of any current speed can't keep up with the bandwidth that rdram and the P4 delivers...if all you care about is FPS, then the P4 would be my choice. It's a tossup when it comes to the top of the line vid cards, but if you like to tweek your drivers, then Nvidia has a wider selection to play with. Example, the opengl drivers in the 368 driverset delivers more fps than the next set, so I riped the opengl .dll from the 368 set and used them in quite a few sets of drivers from Nvidia, and I have had success with the 508 opengl .dll also.
I will soon be playing with D3D .dll's to see if any performance can be gained by switching them around too.
P.S. To any and all, feel free to e-mail me for details as to how I hacked my drivers.

[LiGhTBoY]

2 is better because .........it is just better =P. You wont >notice< a difference in games (yes you can see the FPS number going up and down, but your eye cannot catch all of them ;-) ). What you will notice is a kick aRse system in folding.

[deRusett]

Well we are on an overclocking forum right??

If you want to overclock that bad boy # 1 is better all the way, AND if you can get a 1.8a C1 stepping your SET!!

You can probably get equal performance out of both PC's with overclocking both, I would go with the intel, just because I am an intel guy, and would like to hear more stories of 1.8's hitting 3ghz

[Namagomi]

number 2, says the amd/nvidia fanboy.

[Arkaine23]

#2

overclocking is just more precise with an unlocked multiplyer
rdram doesn't handle FSB so well

[Krusty]

My vote is for #2. It will wind up costing you less money so you can afford to buy more games.

Also, assuming the board is nforce2 (too lazy to look at the moment), upgrade thate memory to somethign like the corsair xms 3500 and wait on buying the video card a little bit. The gf4MX card on board should have no trouble running quake3, and when it does, you can then upgrade your video card to something better than you would be able to buy right now.

[deRusett]

never admit to being a fanboy, fanboys are stupid, not willing to look at facts, you may prefer a company. but being a fanboy would mean you use the company no matter what because you think it is the best even if all proof indicates otherwise

[Johnny Knoxville]

look at my computer in the sig, its PIMP, the 8IHXP Pwns
you can overclock that 1.8 to 2.4 easily

[craigiz1]

I did Intel the first time. Now I'm going with AMD. It's cheaper and is comparable to Intel in benchies. I want to see the diffrence between them if any.
Go with AMD.

[deRusett]

LOOK AT THE CHIP!


P4 1.8a = $100
atholon 2400+ = $174


How is the AMD cheaper???


the difference in price for the RAM equal out making the system price being pretty close to the same, but the P4 has higher Memory bandwidth.

[Milan]

Actually not only is the 1.8a way cheaper than the AMD chip it also overclocks a lot better. 1.8 to 2.8 is very possible on air cooling. :)

[Namagomi]

Originally posted by deRusett
never admit to being a fanboy, fanboys are stupid, not willing to look at facts, you may prefer a company. but being a fanboy would mean you use the company no matter what because you think it is the best even if all proof indicates otherwise

Hey, at least I'm an HONEST fanboy. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by deRusett
LOOK AT THE CHIP!


P4 1.8a = $100
atholon 2400+ = $174


How is the AMD cheaper???

Uh. Gee. Do I really need to go into this? AMD is cheaper because a 2400+ cold smokes a P4 1.8a, not to memtion a P4 2.4 And yeah, a 1.8a is 143 bucks at newegg, for the record. I don't know where you're getting 100. Anyways, a p4 2.4gig is 188 at newegg, which is, SHOCKER, 5 bucks MORE than a 2400+ at newegg. Looks like not only is AMD cheaper, but it's also hellafaster.

Talk about your intel fanboys.... ;)

[deRusett]

I got my Numbers from www.pricewatch.com

and the 1.8a can overclock WAY up there, and depending on how long the buyer is willing to weight he may even get a C1 stepping which have been seen to overclock over 3Ghz time and time again.



What overclocks better an AMD or a Intel? thats really the question I am assuming that the person posting on an overclockers forum is looking to overclock, IF the 1.8a overclocks to give the same performace as the AMD overclocked would it not be better to get the intel all fanboyishness aside? IF it can not, then get the AMD chip.

[Namagomi]

Yeah, a 1.8a C1 would be nice to get, but he would have to go out and buy a Dell with a 1.8 P4, toss the rest of the system (all 700 bucks worth :( ), hope it has a C1, and then if he's luckly, he could get it to 3.0gig on aircooling.

I'd think Milan would just be better off buying a 2400+ for 183 bucks from newegg, and later kick it up to 2600 or 2800 speeds, which would suck the core off a realistically-overclocked 1.8gig P4.

He's ALSO be able to upgrade to a barton in a few months without a new motherboard, since that will be socket A.
In short, I'd think Milan would be better off with the AMD as it would be cheaper, faster, and more (buzzword alert) "future-proof."

[JML]

Well, the AMD board supports AGP 8x, if that matters ;)

[Johnny Knoxville]

Originally posted by JML
Well, the AMD board supports AGP 8x, if that matters ;)

AGP 8X sucks, it's a 2% difference :rolleyes:

[JML]

Then I guess it doesn't matter :D

[LiGhTBoY]

Originally posted by deRusett
LOOK AT THE CHIP!


P4 1.8a = $100
atholon 2400+ = $174


How is the AMD cheaper???


the difference in price for the RAM equal out making the system price being pretty close to the same, but the P4 has higher Memory bandwidth.

You should compare a 100 pentium with the 2800+

Come on get serious, compare 2.53 with 2400+ and then post again

[Milan]

Every game benchmark I have seen has shown Intel way ahead of AMD. How is AMD better?

And keep in mind I would be buying the chip (especially 1.8a) with the intention of taking it to 2.6 or 2.8.

[Milan]

I have another question

northwood 1.8 = 1.8a right?

When looking on pricewatch as long as it says 512k I can assume its a 1.8a correct?

[Demont]

milan i dont understand what you mean by "every benchmark" we are not comparing 2800+ amds and 3 gig intels here, you are looking at buying a system, the 2400+ is going to just basicly beat any 1.8-2.4 intel chip stock & overclocked. disregarding a c1 stepping chip, which is not availible atm. but then again, neither is the 1800+ tbred b so who cares about the future. right now that 2400+ is going to do much better. plus, would be amazing to get 2.8 off of a 1.8(non c1 stepping), i've not seen it done, 2.4 is a more reasonable guess. where as you could probably get that 2400+ up beyond 2800+ levels.

also, the 9500 pro is better than the ti4400 & ti4600. it thrashes them in some benchmarks, and does worse than them in others. but the 9500 pro totally rules them with AA and Aniso on. something you may as well use since you will be playing quake at an unneccesary rate of 300+ fps. :D not to mention this card is about 30-50 dollars cheaper than your average ti4600. definatly the way to go. ( my next upgrade will be a 9500 pro) btw, where can you even get a ti4400, they stopped producing them i thought...

ps. a little tip, pricewatch is a hassle, all the retailers are evil, these are the sites to buy from: www.newegg.com just plain the best. end of story. also googlegear.com and svcompucycle.com sometimes have better prices and are almost as reliable.

[JML]

I have to agree with Demont about PriceWatch. I'd much rather deal with a site I have used a lot and trust, such as newegg.

"the 2400+ is going to just basicly beat any 1.8-2.4 intel chip stock & overclocked" -posted by Demont

I would like to see those benchmarks

[Demont]

Originally posted by JML
I have to agree with Demont about PriceWatch. I'd much rather deal with a site I have used a lot and trust, such as newegg.

"the 2400+ is going to just basicly beat any 1.8-2.4 intel chip stock & overclocked" -posted by Demont

I would like to see those benchmarks

i made an error i just wanted to say that the 2400+ o/c'ed will beat the 1.8 o/c'ed. i didnt mean to include the 2.4 in that statment. but the 2400+ stock does beat the 2.4 intel stock from what i've seen. (slim margin, and it depends on what apps and games you use i guess. )

[deRusett]

Originally posted by LiGhTBoY


You should compare a 100 pentium with the 2800+

Come on get serious, compare 2.53 with 2400+ and then post again

My post was bcause of the thread origionators post,

that is why I compared the 2 CPU's

how about you read a little instead of just throwing a post out

[LiGhTBoY]

Originally posted by deRusett


My post was bcause of the thread origionators post,

that is why I compared the 2 CPU's

how about you read a little instead of just throwing a post out

:rolleyes: :confused: :clap:

I was talking about the prices

[deRusett]

Oh my price was in reply to the post above mine that said the AMD choice was cheaper because AMD chips are cheaper then intel chips