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Author
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Topic: AMD or PIII??
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semmern
Pilot
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posted 03-28- 10:00 AM
   
Right. I've finally managed to talk my dad into paying for a PC upgrade (not an easy task  ). Talked to a feller who's willing to do it for not-a-lot of money, and he gave me the choice of a P-III 800 MHz, or an AMD (he didn't say what AMD) of 1000 MHz. He said that the AMD is better for gaming, which is what I'm upgrading for. Now, whadda you experts say??? AMD or P3???IP: Logged |
Nat
JAG
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posted 03-28- 11:41 AM
I take a much more simplistic view of CPU upgrades now, here's how I put it (from a price list I got yesterday)Pentium III 800mhz = £158
for about that price you could have this:
AMD Athlon 950mhz = £147 or
AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1000mhz = £167 Quiet simply, I'd have the AMD because I get much more CPU power for my money, and even if someone said that the FPU is better on a PIII I'd say so what, my 1000mhz atleast matches your P3-800 on FPU but my CPU is faster! (although I believe that the AMD FPU is atleast as good as the Pentium now anyway) Anyway, same money, better AMD Myself I'm an AMD person anyway, but how could I not be when you compair prices IP: Logged |
nealg
Pilot
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posted 03-28- 12:52 PM
In spite of the differences, and incompatibilities ( they are legion, and still exist ), AMD is certainly the way to go for gaming. And all - or almost all - of the problems have been, or are being, overcome. It just involves searching and maybe a lot of driver-type trials. For some things, there are no problems at all. Mainly, if going AMD, select a motherboard that is reputable and has been extensively tested - this will cut down on the amount of 'tech' time you have to spend later.Considering the motherboard problems being experienced with the newer PIII's and P4's, AMD would be the best choice all around. This info is partly from personal experience ( my son just got a AMD Tbird 1 gig with a Abit KT7 RAID Motherboard, and all we have had to do so far is update the VIA drivers ) and from the various reviews, tech and user, that I have read over the last 3 to 6 months. In fact, my next system, if and when I upgrade, will likely be AMD.
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nealg=FC= IP: Logged |
Lothar
Pilot
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posted 03-28- 01:49 PM
I ran into a nasty glitch between my GeForce 2MX and my Gigabyte socket-A motherboard. It would freeze all the time. The only solution was to get a replacement motherboard (same model), which has worked very well.These kinds of problems seem to be pretty common, based on my research. Component incompatibilty can happen with YOUR components, even if the identical setup works for someone else.
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semmern
Pilot
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posted 03-28- 02:39 PM
Righto. Think I'll go for the AMD then. Thanks guys.IP: Logged |
Aui
Pilot
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posted 03-29- 06:41 PM
I've also been thinking of upgrading to an AMD for some time but I'm wondering two things:I think there used to be a problem with AMD motherboards and 2x AGP. Does anyone know if this has been solved with the newer motherboards (ie does 4x AGP work nowadays)? Also; does PC133 RAM work with the AMDs or do they require PC100? (Don't know were I've got this from either...) Oh, one more thing... has anyone here tried using a power supply that has not been approved for Athlon usage (and that together with the Athlon CPU...)? For example units of 250 or 230W? //Aui
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Jerry
Pilot
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posted 03-29- 09:51 PM
Athlon T-Birds and the right motherboard use PC 133.IP: Logged |
nealg
Pilot
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posted 03-29- 11:30 PM
As to the AGP query; still seems to be a problem, but only in some cases. If you pick a motherboard with a scaleable BIOS in a SoftMenu format, chances are it works ok. I think it is more with the VIA chipset and certain video cards, but since the - I think - 4.29 VIA drivers, haven't read much on it.Dunno about the power supply issue. I would guess, though, that 300 should be the minimum when you get into the 1 gig range; more because we would tend to add more on with the extra processing, plus the extra cooling that seems to be needed still. With the popularity of the Athlon line, and sales it has generated, there is no lack of tech info out there. Seems every tech site has a great deal of knowledge built up, and add to it daily. One of these days, I will actually try to read all of it.
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nealg=FC= IP: Logged |
ZooL
Pilot
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posted 03-31- 01:25 AM
make sure you go with a DDR board! Thats the only reason why the tbird is beating the pentium 4 in all the benchmarks!IP: Logged |
Aui
Pilot
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posted 03-31- 02:18 PM
Ok, thanks for the answers!IP: Logged | |
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