Intel is tempting me, is it worth the $

[anvil82]

I want to upgrade soon (within 2 weeks) and I just about had my mind set on

amd 2500+ barton ($125)
epox 8rda3+ ($120 speculated)

total = $245

then I see these 2.4c intel processors hitting 3.4ghz with 1100mhz fsb.

So now I am thinking about

intel 2.4c ($200)
abit ic7 ($150)

Total = $350

Is it worth the extra $100+?

Do I need the ic7-g to overclock well? I don't need the extra sata controllers, or gigabit lan (I think that's the only difference).

Thanks.

 

[TC]

The regular version should OC just as well. The G just has more eye candy. For the extra money you will definitely get a little extra performance. I had a 2800+ and sold it because I could only hit 2400MHz using water cooling, and at the time that barely put that box on par with a 3.06 I had. If you got a 2500+ up to about the same speed you'd be looking at roughly the same general performance as a 3.1-3.2GHz P4 with a 533 bus.

 

[anvil82]

Wow, that's all huh.

Thx, I guess I'll go with intel then, unless for some reason the regular ic7 doesn't overclcok well (so hard to find overclocks with the plain version).

I just invested in water cooling parts too, I don't even know if I need it now, but atleast it will be silent.

 

[jdmcnudgent]

yes, its worth it. intel is whopping ams's *** all over the place right now.

 

[micamica1217]

Wow, that's all huh.

Thx, I guess I'll go with intel then, unless for some reason the regular ic7 doesn't overclcok well (so hard to find overclocks with the plain version).

realy?

peeps all over the place are OCing with the same IC7 mobo I have.

mica

 

[anvil82]

realy?

peeps all over the place are OCing with the same IC7 mobo I have.

mica

Oh, well I meant like official reviews from various hardware sites.

If you say lots of peeps are overclocking them, then it sounds good.

Just gotta wait for my case to arrive and pick a heatercore.

I still can't decide on ram either.

 

[anvil82]

Ok, so I've basically decided I want the IC7, and a 2.4c.

Now the question I have is what ram to buy?

I do NOT want the ram to be my bottleneck.

I'm thinking about 2 x 256mb. I know it has 4 slots, but what if I run dual channel and then later i add another 256mb, can I still run dual ddr, how does that work?


I was thinking about

Corsair CMX256A-3500C2PT 256MB DDR433 PC3500 Memory w/Silver Heat Spreader

or

Corsair CMX256A-3500C2 256MB DDR433 PC3500 Memory w/Heat Spreader Retail

what is the difference? Their both $74.00 at googlegear.

Are these two chips overpriced? What would be a better buy to save me a few bucks?

 

[micamica1217]

try this......
lots of peeps are having great results with it.

mica

 

[batboy]

You can run two or four sticks in dual channel mode. Of course two sticks will typically overclock slightly better than four. Corsair XMS PC3500-C2 is good stuff, you can't go wrong with it. But, there are several other brands that will work just as well too.

 

[FunkDaMonkMan]

[color=ff9000]HOLD UP!!![/color]

let me get this straight....



You went to the INTEL forum.. and asked if you should get an AMD or an INTEL cpu? lol...


If you want the absolute fastest cpu, then yes go with intel, but right now the best bang for the buck is an AMD XP 1700 O/Ced to 2500mhz. That's a 3700 rating for 60 bucks.

 

[Lonely Raven]

Just to chime in.

I'm a hard core AMD fan, and I've been slowly switching my
rigs over to P4 after playing with the new P4 2.4c.

It just spanks everything else I have on a good Canterwood
board.

And, get this. I'm using a DFI board with around 270FSB!?!?

Unless you can get an AMD to do 2500Mhz (Actual), I don't
think you can keep up with the P4s at 3.3+ with over a gig
of FSB!

So much for me being hard core AMD. LOL

 

[Lonely Raven]

Just a note:

I still think the AMDs are a better bang for the buck, if
2200Mhz is enough power for you.

A 1700+ and an Epox RDA (new or old). EASY 200X10 or
200X11.

Can't keep up with the 2.4C, but at MUCH lest cost.

 

[Maxvla]

So much for me being hard core AMD. LOL

seeing more and more of these by the day

 

[FunkDaMonkMan]

seeing more and more of these by the day

actually... that's not good

I'd rather see two evenly matched companies to drive down prices and keep up R&D.

Competition = faster, cheaper chips

 

[Lonely Raven]

I don't think we can make them "make them" any faster.

They are really pushing hardware out now as quickly as they
can.

Pricing can be worked on though with equal/equal