what would you buy right now?

[sendatooli]

hi folks,
if you were going to purchase an amd cpu today and cost was a consideration (like under $130 for the cpu). with overclocking in mind, which cpu would you get? or would you wait a few monthes, if you didnt absoulutley need a new cpu today? which motherboard would you purchase to go with it? would you use pc133 ram if you had 1024 mb laying in your drawer? or would you spring for new pc2100?
now heres the big point: the new xp is not for everyone(so i hear) it is not easy to o/c without some sort of mechanical modification(again, so i hear). is the standard t-bird(1.4ghz?) still able to be o/c'd with a pencil? what are the chances of success with using a pencil? what level skill required to use a pencil?
what about a single mp system?

will an alpha pep66 with 27cfm fan cool this rig?

one more thing, will the athalon based cpu's optimize applications (audio editing) that rely heavily on intel sse simd?

again, is it better just to wait for a new generation of cpu's? or may amd indeed completely lock the multiplier? that seems to be the road they are heading down at this point.

in all honesty, ever since a k6 put a bad taste in my mouth i have been an intel boy. but amds current price to performance ratio is alluring! so i may give it a try if you guys reccomend what to get.

i mean, the intel rig that is as fast as amds fastest current offering
is 3 times the price. many people say the p4 is more stable than the amd offering, i dont know if thats true or not. but because of the price of the intel and the need to replace it every 5 monthes, amd is looking pretty good right now!


thank you,
sendatooli.

[.. AE 86 ..]

get a tbird 1 ghz or a 1.2ghz...
cheap and o/c ability is outstanding
mine is running at 1.53ghz (1ghz tbird)

i would go for the pc2100 rams so the tbird can run with its full potential

[sendatooli]

i was actually thinking about the 1.4 t-bird. only$26 more than the 1.0 where i get them. how hard is it to use the pencil on it? do i need to do this?

i also just read that the 1.33(1500+) xp o/c'd to 1500+ is faster than a 2.0 p4!!!! is this true? wow! do i need to "unlock" the xp to get it to 1500+? or just adjust the fsb on it? i hear its pretty hard to unlock the xp.

wow, if the xp pr1500 goes 1500+mhz with just fsb change. thats the chip for me! i can get them for $112 with the purchase of a motherboard. which i will need. the motherboard i want is a tyan it has an isa slot which i sorely need. it takes pc133. no ddr, unfortunatly. but, i need the darn isa slot. dont ask why.
i can also get an abit,asus or msi. but no isa slots on these.
does the tyan have o/c capability?


thank you,
sendatooli.

[sendatooli]

on second thought.
do you need to use a pencil to unlock the 1.4 t-bird? or is it factory unlocked? i dont really want to modify any chip.
what mhz will the xp pr1500 hit simply by overclocking the fsb while using crucial pc133 memory? unlocking the xp is something i decided definatly not to do at this point.
so in my price range the choices seem to be the xp pr1500 with o/c'd fsb only. wait for throughobred. or back to intel.

i started reading this amd board and it answered a lot of my questions. i have fried my share of cpu's. i am not in a financial position to fry a cpu or to have a machine that is not as stable as its non overclocked counterpart.
come to think of it, the xp pr1500 should be fast enough non overclocked to do anything accept get huge benchmark scores!

furthermore, intel may not go as fast as these amd processors, but it seems to me to be easier to o/c and does not require super cooling. please dont think i came here to bash amd, thats not the case. i simply came here to find out if amd is the right option for me. it indeed may be!

thank you,
sendatooli.

[Sonny]

The 1.4GHz 266FSB Thunderbirds are unlocked, no need for the pencil. A mild O/C will make it perform as good as a P4 2.0GHz at least. The ABIT KT7A-RAID that I own has a ISA slot, just make sure you get a version 1.3 so that if you decide to upgrade to an XP it will still be compatible. I would go for a DDR system if I were to build a totally new system now. Maybe an ABIT KR7A-RAID, PC2700 CAS2, GeForce3 Ti500... Lian-Li PC70:cool:

[sendatooli]

hi sonny, ok. between the 1.4 t-bird and the pr1500 xp, which should i get? assuming i will ONLY raise the fsb on the xp and not try to unlock it. are you sure that ALL t-bird 1.4 chips come unlocked? can i get by with my pc133 untill i can muster up about another $60 bucks for 512 of pc 2100? plus the abit boards you mentioned are a little too expensive for me! could i get a abit board without raid(i only have one drive). or how about the tyan board i mentioned? it seems like a good one for real cheap. i know it sounds silly that i am quabling over 60-80 bucks or so, but i got other priorities, and dont make a big salary!

anything faster than my p!!! 700@1016 would be nice. it doesnt need to be nearly the fastest machine out there!

do these chips have SSE? i think i might really need that. or does 3dnow accelerate professional audio editing applications too?

also, will my alpha pep66 w/27cfm fan be ok for one of these cpu's? if i need an sk6 or something that will raise the price. i am trying to salvage what i can here. not really to go for the highest possible overclock.


thank you,
sendatooli.

[Sonny]

Try the ABIT KT7A version 1.3, just make sure it has the KT133A chipset 'cause some jerk might try to sell you a KT7 with the KT133 chipset. It's your call if you want an XP. All 1.4GHz 266FSB chips are unlocked but there is a 200FSB version of it & those are locked. You will be stuck with SDRAM on the KT7A so you can forget about the PC2100 which is DDR. So the real question is do you want a DDR RAM or SDRAM system. The new EPOX MoBos are very well priced & have the new KT266A chipset that is IMHO the best chipset out there for DDR. I know nothing about TYAN so can't help you there.

[sendatooli]

alright, i just found out the 1.4 t-bird does not have sse. so that is out for me. the xp(palamino?) does have sse. so, the only remaining question is: how high will the xp pr1500 o/c with raising fsb ONLY?
or what about the morgan core duron? can that go as fast as an o/c'd 1.4 t-bird? does it have sse?(i think it does, from what i read here).
the nice thing about the morgans(palamino? or do i have this all wrong?) is they use less voltage create less heat and will probably work with my pep66.

other than that, i could get a stinking celeron 1.2. no, its not as fast as amd's offering's. although, it will be a less expensive option for me and i am used to tweaking them. still, i would like to give amd a try.

so, it looks like a morgan core duron or an xp. the xp must be faster than the duron, right?


thank you,
sendatooli.

[lonewolf1983]

okay,where to start
:)

tbird does not have SSE
the XP and morgan durons do
the XP is to the Morgan duron what the Tbird was to the Duron
the new duron goes about as fast as an old Tbird,but i dont like your chances of getting one to 1.4+ Ghz

the Morgan/Palomino cores do use less power and produce less heat,but not inconsiderably so,you will probably have to get a decent cooler no matter which way you go.

the celeron 1.2 is not that bad a chip,as it uses the newer Tulatin core,and can be overclocked nicely,however you will need a motherboard that supports it,and wont be as fast,as it is a still a celeron.

as for a motherboard,if your after cheap,and a motherboard that lets you use your old SDRAM then upgrade to DDR,try the
ECS K7S5A .
heard good things about it
otherwise go for a name brand KT-133A chipset mobo for Sdram
or a KT-266('a' if possible) for ddr
i personally find Epox good

back to cpu choice,i would go the athlon XP of some speed,as fast as your budget allows since you dont want to mess with mulitpliers,and will be a lot speedier than a new duron.
the limits will most likely be with your ram
and the chip of course,sadly atm we cant tell you just how much speed you will get out of it,but somewhere around 100-200mhz is possible

[chaosdriven]

XP1600
Epox 8KHA+
Good memory: Crucial or perhaps Mushkin.
Anyone heard of TwinMOS?

[JAWS]

I'll keep it simple:
Epox 8KHA+
xp 1800

there's just to much to list!:)

[tbirdkiri]

ok this is my take on it,
go for the kt7a v1.3 i have one and its a butee.
ok here come the fun part >=-)
i think on that budget id go for the 1ghz mp...
i have the 1.2 and i get 1.533 rock stable but make sure u get GOOD cooling cause they are cool ships but when u add 33 to 400 mhz they do warm up.
i use a thermalright sk6 which also is a butee.
the 1ghz mp has the full set of sse instructions and a few amd thought up.
so u pay 130 for the processor and you get a 1.33ghz MP with sse
and you'll be happy i swear!
MP cuase its unlocked and has alot! of potential!
GOOD LUCK!

[tbirdkiri]

oo yeah i buy all my stuff here (http://www.newegg.com) . the 1ghz mp is in and out here so i dont gaurantee ut'll be there but i'd go here (http://www.sharkeyextreme.com/hardware/weekly_cpu/) to find the best price from a reputable dealer.

[sendatooli]

ok, i narrowed it down to two cpu's!
the mp 1.0, or the xp 1500. which will go faster? i take it the mp 1.0 will not reach the same mhz as the xp 1500, but is the mp still gonna be faster?


help me choose fast! i would like to order this afternoon!


thank you,
sendatooli.

p.s. i might get a low end abit mobo, or maybe still get the tyan.
do all the athalon 266 buss mobo's run the xp or single mp?

[Slurgi]

I have the Asus A7A that supports both DDR and SDRAM.

It has 3 SDRAM slots and supports 2 GB i THINK.

If you get an unlocked CPU, you still cannot change the multiplier with this board.

The latest BIOS supports the XP

An XP PR 1800, Asus A7A (cheap board) and you can keep all your old memory, but it still has two DDR slots if you want to upgrade.

This sounds like the perfect solution for you :)

[sendatooli]

hmm., i am confused again! is the mp 1.0 faster than the xp 1500 when both are overclocked as far as they will go stable with air cooling? which inexpensive mobo will let me change the multiplier has an isa slot and takes ddr or sdram?


thank you,
sendatooli.

[Gonzo]

I love the Softmenu of ABIT boards. The KT7A and KG7 boards will support the mp or xp (get latest bios). The KT7A is SDRAM and the KG7 is DDR.

[Sonny]

Originally posted by sendatooli
hmm., i am confused again! is the mp 1.0 faster than the xp 1500 when both are overclocked as far as they will go stable with air cooling? which inexpensive mobo will let me change the multiplier has an isa slot and takes ddr or sdram?


thank you,
sendatooli.

Nope. XP is faster.

[sendatooli]

well i went to a few stores today. they all told me for hard core audio editing i should buy intel. well intel is a tad bit too expensive for me at this point.
i could afford the xp 1500. not the 1800. i could also afford the mp 1.0. i am not willing to unlock the xp for a number of reasons. my understanding is the the mp is the same as the xp only smp enabled and multiplier unlocked. the xp 1500 should still end up at a higher speed with the bus at say 150 then the mp since the mp is starting at only 1.0. right?

so assuming my memory is up to the task, how high should the xp1500 go with only an fsb overclock?


thank you,
sendatooli.

[Mike G]

Well I have a XP1500 running at 1510Mhz atm without really trying to go mad and overclock it (151x10).

It can go higher I'm sure as it's rock steady through Prime95 and playing UT (the best stress tester IMO !). As the Sig thing doesn't seem to be working for me I'll post my Rig below:

AMD XP1500+ @ 1510Mhz (151x10), Chaintech 7KJD Mobo, 256 Cheap DDR Ram, 1.76 Volts.

Sisoft benchies are :-

CPU/FPU 4243/2059
Multimedia 8395/9661

Not posting my mem benchies 'cos they're crap and I'm not sure why yet :p

Mike G