fingerprint Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 I'm buying a new comp and I have the choice between the following 2 setups. Can some people with experience tell me which whould gice the best performance with the lowest maintenance? I don't want to have to keep worrying about heat or drivers or compatibility issues. I want to hook it all up install my games and stuff and pretty much be set for a while. Thanks for any input, comments, advice, suggestions etc. These two setups cost exactly the same by the way. Setup #1 MSI K7N420 Pro NFORCE 420D Chipset w/LAN 266 Mhz FSB 360 Watt power supply and ATX Med Tower Case AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53 Ghz QuantiSpeed) 266FSB Socket A cpu fan, heatsink, 2 extra case fans 512 MB PC-2100 DDR RAM 40 GB UDMA-100 7200 RPM HD GeForce 3 Ti 200 64MB DDR TV-Out 4x AGP Audigy Gamer 2 USB ports and 2 extra USB ports connector all the standard extra goodies Setup #2 AOPEN AX45 Pentium 4 SIS 645 Chip UDMA-100 DDR Main Board 360 Watt power supply and ATX Med Tower Case Intel Pentium 4 1.8 Ghz cpu fan, heatsink, 2 extra case fans 512 MB PC-2100 DDR RAM 40 GB UDMA-100 7200 RPM HD GeForce 3 Ti 200 64MB DDR TV-Out 4x AGP Audigy Gamer 2 USB ports and 2 extra USB ports connector all the standard extra goodies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaguria Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 setup 1. I'd get it just for the AMD chip IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 AMD good!!! yea, i would go with the AMD also... but as for intel setup, umm, i dont think pc2100 DDR works with intel processors... unless im way off base here, and having a moment (i have them a lot:D) i would say that whoever told you that the intel setup comes with DDR is fulla it... The ram for intel processors is far inferior to DDR also if i remimber correctly... now if the real computer experts would get in here, the could really clear this up.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingerprint Posted April 18, 2002 Author Share Posted April 18, 2002 Well I am buying it at http://www.ibuypower.com and they are selling it that way so I hope it works lol. In fact right on the front page they are selling a bargain PC with the Intel and PC-2100 DDR RAM setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Simpson Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 I would get the AMD model, but you really should change the motherboard. The nForce 420D is an excellent chipset, however it comes bundled with a GeForce 2 MX. Since you're getting a GeForce 3 with your setup, there's no need for the 420D. The nForce 415D is the exact same motherboard as the 420D, but without the built-in graphics card. Get that instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicket the Ewok Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 PC2100 RAM does work with some Intel chipsets including the one mentioned. Personally, I don't think there's much in it. I'd go with the P4 if it was a Northwood, if it's the old type I'd go with the AMD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cqdemal Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 I believe P4s that are faster than 1.6GHz are all based on the Northwood core, and thus, are pretty much faster than AMD CPUs. Go for the 2nd setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 fast doesnt = good, AMD = good it may not have the clock speed, but its performance is so much better than intels, that at much lower clock speeds it performs the same... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil The Cat Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 if that 1.8 P4 is a northwood then deffinatly go that route but i would use the Abit BD7 motherboard. the 1.8a P4 will reac 2.4ghz without fail and often over 2.6ghz on air still. At those speeds it walks all over the athlon system. If its just 2 be ran at defalt then i would use the AMD system as at 1.53 is runnin on a 266 DDR bus where as the P4 is useing the DDR at 200, also the clock speed difference isnt large enough for the P4s super clocked architcture 2 win out. P4 northwoods ARE faster but only in the higher speed models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicket the Ewok Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I've just put together a machine with a Northwood 1.8Ghz P4 and Abit BD7 motherboard (machine at work, not home sadly). Lovely motherboard, lookslike it's got great overclocking potential with it's heat sensors and auto-shut off mode. Shame it only has 2 RAM slots and Red Hat doesn't like the RAID controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil The Cat Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 U should get 2.4ghz easy out of that Mr Ewok. The auto shutoff doesnt matter 2 much as it really and i say REALLY is hard to kill any CPU from overclocking, impossible if u take your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cqdemal Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 acdcfanbill, Intel's Northwood-based P4s have been thrashing the Athlon XPs lately. Take a look at GameSpot Hardware's review of P4 2.4GHz, there's a chart comparing the newer P4s and the newest of Athlon XPs. BTW, by faster I mean performing better ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ham Yoyo Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 Get setup No. 2. I just built this system last month. Its awesome. Pentium 4 1.8 GHz Northwood ASUS P4S333 Mobo 256 MB of PC 2700 333MHz DDR RAM GeForce3 Ti 200 video card Sound Blaster PCI 512 EAX Soundcard with 4 Cambridge Soundworks SBS52 speakers Western Digital 30.7 GB hard drive Windows 98 Panasonic E70i 17 inch monitor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 OMG Fingerprint...Stay away from the SIS Chipset board. I heard for months about SIS's highly anticipated chipsets that were coming out and how good they were going to be. Man, I bought an ECS board that came "highly recommended", and the thing gave me nothing but problems. It was slow, and it would not allow me to install win2000. I emailed ECS (Elitegroup) and called them numerous times and all I got back was an automated email and a lot of music on hold...but that is a different topic. Anyway, my point is that I personally am tired of haveing any doubts as to the stability of my system. Therefore, I reccomend staying away from the SIS chipset. As an extra tidbit of info for you, I replaced that ECS board with an MSI K7T266 Pro2 board and I could not be happier. Everything runs smoother, faster and I have no fears or concerns as to it's stability. MSI makes good boards. nForce chipsets are good too...even the onboard audio is good. As a side note...Ham Yoyo...what are you doing running Win98 on that system? Windows 2000 would improve your performance big time. It manages RAM WAY better and it is way more stable. Plus you can use NTFS...and have the cool fade menus If compatibility is an issue for you, Windows2000 has been 99.9% compatible with anything I have ever wanted to run on it...even programs that were not designed for it. The only things that ever didn't work were REALLY old DOS games and even those can be emulated. Also, you can always dual-boot. You don't have to use Win2000 and I am in no way trying to pressure you into doing anything. I am just very happy with Win2000 and it's performance...especially when I compare it with Win98. Just some thoughts for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ham Yoyo Posted April 21, 2002 Share Posted April 21, 2002 I have no problems at all with my ASUS board. It is fast and very stable. ASUS is a very good brand. As for not using Windows 2000. I don't want to shell out another $100 for an operating system. I paid $100 for Windows 98 when it came out and it does everything I want it to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted April 21, 2002 Share Posted April 21, 2002 I hear you Ham. That is cool. I just like Win2000 a lot 'cause it did give me a significant performance increase. I also very much understand about not wanting to shell out more money for another OS. Anyway, one more thing and then I promise to shut up about the OS thing. I have seen Win2000 pro on www.pricewatch.com for about $130.00 which is a bit pricey. However, a good alternative to Windows 2000 is the new XP. I have seen the home edition on pricewatch for $70-75.00 It is a bit bloated, but it is a very stable and good OS. And it is based on the NT/2000 line. So...just a little more food for thought for you. Ok, i am really done now...thanks for humoring me, Ham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil The Cat Posted April 21, 2002 Share Posted April 21, 2002 XP home isnt that great so id prob either go for 2k Pro or if u want another class OS, XP pro. Iv used both of them and XP is by far my favourite (but IS slower at times). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cqdemal Posted April 22, 2002 Share Posted April 22, 2002 XP Home is not so good... It loves to tease me by freezing without any reason for about 30-45 seconds! XP Pro NEVER freezes, NEVER crashes. How's that for an OS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbydrmmr Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 You are both right. XP pro is better than home...although, i don't know if it is all that more stable. Home is based on the NT kernel too. I do like XP Pro...and 2000 Pro is great too...a bit faster than XP too, as Evil the Cat said. I was just offering a better solution to him using win98 for his 1.8ghz P4 system. I said home only because it is about $40-50 less than Pro right now and our buddy Ham YoYo doesn't want to spend more for another OS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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