AMD Athlon XP or Intel Pentium 4 for games? VideoCard Q too.

i want to make my new pc piece by piece, i know how it works but im not a pro and i have some questions.

i heard AMD's proccesors where better for games, i know they can be easly overclocked and all, but the highest clock speed a amd athlon xp is 2.2 ghz, with the 3200+, right? but 2.2 ghz isn't incredibly high these days for gaming. then why AMD's proccesors are so good for gaming? for more power, i should go with intel pentium 4's proccesors, those can go up to 3.6 ghz right now, right?

 

The 2.2 GHZ AMD clock speed is not equivalent to a P4's 2.2 GHZ clock speed. Just like a an Apple's 2 GHZ is not equivalent to a P4's 2 GHZ. This is why most manufactors don't name their chipsets after the clock speed, since it's all different.

Depends. TBH, the Intel Extreme Edition is way way over priced, and from what I've heard doesn't even surpass the AMD 64 in most games. I think AMD is the way to go; they are pretty cheap, they scream, and they have the only 64 bit processors on the market.

 

64 bits proccesors are sadly not for my budget. but if a AMD athlon xp at 2.2 ghz doesn't run like a pentium 4 2.2ghz, then how can i be sure if a game will run under my system?

i'm lost..


and for my video card, will an AGP GeForce FX 5500OC 256 Mb will do a good job? recommanded? any drivers for linux?

thx for your help

 

For games AMD is definately the way to go.

....As you will gather AMD actually promote their chips against what the competition performs at in 'real-life' applications.

...In other words the clock speed may appear 'low' but when combined with the on-die cache, the bus speed and AMD's enhanced instructiuons, the actual 'real-life' performance is 'higher'.

I've currently got three P.C's at home, all with AMD processors, the latest being a 3.4ghz 64bit Athlon.

...Many years ago I did run Intel processors, but now you are basically paying for a name that means very little. (*see footnote)

...The biggest clue to the success of AMD in the games world is when you go to any of the professional gaming tournaments staged around the world. They are damn near all AMD for very good reasons, and its not just for sponsorship. AMD consistently keep producing the goods that perform and offer value for money.


*footnote:

As you know the processor is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the choice of motherboard, RAM or graphics card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

....You could have the fastest, most powerfullest multi-threading processor in the world and still not be able to play the latest game due to a poor choice in board, RAM or card!!!!!!!!!!

 

here's what i want for my next pc (and this is with my low budget):

Mother board:
Asus A7V400-MX
- -Athlon XP 400MHz front side bus
- -Ethernet 10/100
- -2x DDR333 slots
- -AGP 8x slot
- -3 PCI slots
- -On-board 5.1 soundcard
- -On-board video card

Memory:
2x DDR PC333 256 mb

Video Card:
AGP GeForce FX 5500OC de 256 Mb

Proccesor:
AMD Athlon XP 2800 (not sure)

anything to change? good choices? bad choices?

 

Athlons a great choice - Faster and Cheaper than intel. Might want more memory than 512mb though - I find my computer gets a little slow despite having 512mb, so for a super zappy system, go for more.

No idea on the video card though, havn't kept up to date with video cards for a while

 

I have an athlon64 and it works like a charm.

Wasn't very expensive, either...

You should really really consider the 3000+ athlon64 processor, in my opinion. It's a great chip.

 

Since you are going for a 32bit AMD cpu, I suggest the following:
-Asus A7N8X E-Deluxe (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-478&depa=1)
-2x DDR PC400 512mb RAM
-At least an ATI 9600XT or a 9800 Pro, but if you really can afford it, get a nVidia 6800GT or nVidia 6600GT AGP which are the "current" cards for this generation

The reason I recommend 1gig of dual channel 512mb ram is because you do notice a difference in both loading times AND speed. I once ran in dual channel mode with two sticks of 256mb of RAM and it was great but when I then put in 2 sticks of 512mb RAM, I noticed things loaded faster and no slowdown where there used to be slowdown. The onboard sound in the mobo you listed is crap, it uses the CPU for some of the operations and that hinders gameplay. THe onboard sound on the mobo I suggested is pure hardware, meaning it does not use the CPU, it also have Digital Dolby something something which I heard is top of the line, so it can be a good home theater PC.

If you can't afford the 1gig of ram, get at least one stick of 512mb RAM and later on get another of the same capacity and preferably the same brand and then run them in Dual Channel mode. The nForce2 chipset is THE best chipset out there for the AMD CPU, don't go for VIA or SIS unless you really can't afford the extra kick the nforce 2 provides.

 

Get 1GB of ram, it's not terribly expensive and the kick in the pants is worth it.

Get a good power supply; this is surprisngly key to a good system.

Finally, I would recommend getting a mobo with a PCI Express slot. AGP cards will probably fade away (much like PCI did) and it will be difficult to find a good replacement. Also, AGP cards cost more than their PCI Express counterparts. It's a worthy investment, that's for sure.

Get a 6600 GT or a 6800 GT. A 6800 GT can be O/C to be identical to the 6800 Ultra, and it's 100 bucks less. :-D

 

DOnt forget a case that has a good cooling set up for fans. Look for the following. A case that has a fan placement where you hard drives go, a side case fan over the PCI card area and big enough to where you don't have a lot of wire clutter in a small area taht blocks airflow.

 

i consider it, but i have two question: first one, at wich speed is it running?

question no2: can you run a 32-bit os under a 64-bit proccesor?

and for the video cards, i would rather go on the nvidia side, simply because they support linux . :smt045


and for the PCIE, i can't find any real good deals for a motherboard that suport it and/or a video card, is this suported by linux anyway?

your help is very apreciated.

edit: i think i'll stop looking at 64-bit proccesors, from what i've read today, it seems you'll need new drivers for every key coponent of your system (video card, sound card,...) , now i try to imagine to find those new 64-bit drivers for linux, oh man... more, 32-bit software won't run under 64-bit proccesors (this is kinda strange, but this is what i readed! is this right?)
and windows isn't ready for 64-bit technology (linux is ready, but i won't be able to play alot of games with it...)

that's what i hate about PCs, it evolve too fast and when you purshase something , you know it will be useless in 6 months. :-(

 

Lol, thats rubbish, here's the facts m8: A 64bit processor only runs in 64bit mode when you install an OS and / or apps that support 64bit technology.

...I've been running a 64bit processor for ages and have not had to install a single new driver 'cos I'm still running the 32bit version on WinXP-pro with 32bit apps to match.

...You can extend the logic further if you like by considering dual-processor motherboards. Two processors only work together when an app / OS has / gives the instructions for the processors to work together. No instructions equals only one processor 'working'.

 

You should get an N-Vidia GeForce FX5700. Chaintech makes similar cards that are approved by N-Vidia, but much cheaper. At least they're available down here.

the 256 MB one is like 110 dollars.

 

Go for an AMD system if games and mulitmedia are the main use.

If possible go for and athlon 64 CPU and try to get a motherboard with pci-expres seeing as all new gen videocards are pci-x
Also 1 gig of ram would be a nice investemnt seeing as windows and games take up more and more in the future.

 

anyone have a good mother board for amd 64 and PCI E not too expansive and ''complete'' i could consider? it could be an option.

i think i'll go for 1024 mb of ram, so many members reccomand it. ;-)

 

Well the problem is that there aren't any descent mobo's with pci-x for the amd64.
But they should be arround in a month or 2 and thet are worth the wait as pci-x is the new standard to stay.

 

Yes, I also really recommend waiting a few months. This is a really bad time to buy/build a PC at the moment as the industry is going through so many changes - PCI-Express being the main one, and also, hopefully, the death (finally) of the ISA bus!

And if you wait a while, hopefully you can save a bit more for a new graphics card! I wouldn't recommend a GeForce FX to anyone in this day of age - any new game next year *won't* run too great on any of them.

 

Oh, and if you plan to run any games on Linux, you'll find yourself pretty disappointed. I'd recommend a second harddrive w/ Wndows XP or a partition for Windows XP. Linux, while good for certain things (like macs) just has a sad assortment of compatible games.

 

i visited a futureshop (well, its called bestbuy in the us) today, the 26th december, with a friend. I don't have to remember you it was the boxing day, and i found a good deal for a geforce 5500 OC of 256 mb. i know this isn't the best card ever made, but this is what i can afford, sadly. So, normally, the card is 200$ CAN and i paid it 80$ CAN. there was good deal on memory too: DDR400 512MB for 69.99, normally at 120.00 )all in canadian dollards again) , sadly enough, i had no money left. i think i'll take one tomorow.

I'll end those dreams of PCI express and amd 64 Mobo, it will cost too much for me. I know it won't be the perfect pc, but it will be good enough for me.


As for the Proccesor, A what about a sempron? they are cheap but would they do an acceptable job?
<

cahaz.

 

Semprons are just the AthlonXP series rebranded - they're just newer stock.