posted 09-09- 08:11 AM               

How do you guys feel about Intel vs AMD. I'm
going to upgrade a computer and it looks like
it will cost about $120 dollars more for an
Intel than an AMD. This mainly is due to the
different types of ram used by the processors.

posted 09-09- 12:13 PM               

Just as Jery explained, AMD run more instructions oer secnd than Pentium can, this is part of the debate about AMD changing their processor naming to the old Pentium rating instead of Mhz Rating, because some strange people think it's better to have more megahertz and so buy Pentium, when in truth Pentium are over priced and overstated.

Do yourself a realy big favor and buy AMD.. Infact, Use the money that a P4 would cost and buy an AMD, examp1e in the UK as follows:

P4 1.5Ghz - £141
Athlon 1.4Gnz - 109

From Toms Hadware Guide: http://www4.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q2/010608/

"AMD's newly released Athlon 1400/266 is able to beat Intel's Pentium 4 1.7 GHz in a lot of benchmarks. The Intel processor performs better in Internet content creation software and some new 3D-games. Athlon can leave Pentium 4 far behind in 3D-rendering software, because of its superior FPU-performance.

Except for 3D-rendering software, Athlon 1400 and Pentium 4 1.7 GHz are pretty much neck on neck. However, the lower price tag of Athlon 1400/266 is clearly making it the more attractive product. It is also more versatile, as you can find inexpensive (though lower performing) PC133 platforms as well as DDR-motherboards for it, while Pentium 4 is still only supported by Intel850 platforms that require the expensive RDRAM memory.

The 100/200 MHz FSB version of Athlon 1400 (B-type) should only be considered by people who want to upgrade their VIA Apollo KT133 platforms, which are unable to run the 133 MHz front side bus. The ones of you that are anyway planning the purchase of a new motherboard or a completely new system should stay away from the slower Athlon 1400.

Duron 950 is reaching 75-85% the scores of an Athlon at 1 GHz and its street price is almost the same as the Athlon. From that point of view, it is certainly the least interesting processor of this comparison right now."

posted 09-09- 12:55 PM               

But chipsets - ahhh, the untimely demise of the BX chipset - a moment of silence. Anyway, I'd like to avoid the VIA chipset, but the alternative from Intel anymore isn't much more stable. I am taking a strong interest in the Abit VH6T motherboard, starting with a PIII 1 gig and maybe later getting one of the faster Tualitins at 1.3 or 1.5.

The hardest part is going to be relegating my BX62 to second-hand status, no matter what I get. However --- for performance/price, AMD does seem to be the way to go. And I may do that yet....I am close, but money is still a object.

posted 09-10- 05:01 PM               

AMD chips tend to run hotter and its better to pick all the right parts yourself.

Get a GOOD heatsink and use artic silver thermal paste not just the pad thats on most heatsinks.

Make sure you get a good board too. Suprisingly one of the best boards latly is a budget board.

The ECS K7S5A, its the first board on the market that uses the SIS735 chipset(even though there is only one It has onboard lan and sound and supports 2 sticks of DDR or SD ram.

If your buying new ram get some www.crucial.com DDR ram, its not much more if any more money then PC133 ram.

There is also the new steping (revision) of the ali majik chipset which is even faster, both of them blow away the older ali chipset and the VIA kt133A chipset and the AMD chipsets.

Also make sure you get a good power supply.

Visit some tech sites and check out some reviews.

Start in the forums here. www.ars-technica.com

Just say what you want and they will be able to help ya out.

Describe exactly what you want to do with the machine, the more detail the better.

Personally I would say the ECS K7S5A motherboard, with 2 sticks of crucial DDR 2100 ram 256megs, 1.4 266mhz FSB athlon a good power supply and heatsink. But I would have to do more research on the sink and power supply.

posted 09-10- 05:14 PM               

The guy that builds my computers is an asus
dealer. I've always had asus boards and have
had good luck with them. This is what he is
proposing:

AMD..............................INTEL

ASUS MB 150.00.............ASUS MB 200.00
DDRRAM 256 Meg 55.00....RAMBUS 256 Meg 115.00
CPU 1.4 Gig 150.00..........CPU 1.5 Gig 175.00

What do you think?

posted 09-10- 09:11 PM               

It uses the P4 and 133 MHz SDRAM (not RAMBUS ram).

posted 09-10- 10:36 PM               

ASUS makes good boards; I think they outsell most of the Abit, for which I have a preference, but even the one Spanky mentions...well...boards have come a long way, and we can thank AMD for that because they provided the competition for Intel and they refused to give up. It is one reason why choices are so hard now.

I still haven't decided, and I started thinking about it 3 months ago. Hmmm...if they can get DDR to work well with the P4...and DDR prices stay in line with PC 133 RAM...heck, like I'd notice the speed difference!

posted 09-10- 11:02 PM               

That was the Asus a7v133, I don't think it was asus's fault though but rather the Via kt133a chipset southbridge, cause its known for corruption problems.

Now I have ordered the ECS one I mentioned above, its a faster board, and supports DDR and is more stable, and has built in LAN. AND its cheaper by about $100 Canadian, really as long as it runs good (as in no DOA or stupid one off problems) It will be great.

Oh I forgot to mention, that board ISN'T an overclockers board. Thats fine with me though.

About your particular motherboard choice Smokey, what chipset does it use?

The ECS board is about 60-70 US. Do a search if you want and check out the reviews on it.

Also get hi quality ram, a brand name, crucial is my first choice, and corsair is also a good name. Really with ram so cheap I don't see the purpose of saving 5 bucks and getting generic ram.

Crucial has free 2nd day shipping in the states too.

And yeah you gotta spend some of that money you saved on ram on the PSU, but not the total amount, I mean are you building a whole new computer or is it an upgrade?

The P4s demand alot of power too now.

A good case with good airflow is also another thing that the new Athlons AND p4s require. So both of those don't really seem like a strike against the Athlon.

Its cool that intel has finally dropped their prices. At least people that would rather go with intel don't have to pay as much of a premium.

And about SDram and a P4, that just doesn't sound like a good idea to me, sure it makes it more affordable, and will work out great for the big box makers, but for the home maker trying to get the best out of his machine I think its a really bad idea, the P4 gets some of its performance advantages (when it gets any) from its high ram bandwidth, you loose that when you pair it up with SDram. I think the chip will underperform then, and even more athlons will be beating P4s set up like that.

All I know is do your research and don't be afraid to return or exchange parts if they don't work out.

I outlined my problems with my asus and the store I bought from had no problem RMAing it to asus and crediting me, then the special ordered the ECS board for me and are crediting me back the balance.

For Canadians, they are www.vibecomputers.com

and they gave me BETTER prices then listed on their page when I asked for them.

posted 09-11- 03:24 PM               

What was happening.

Well every time I tried to unzip a large file from the CDrom to my hard drive it would either be corrupted or lock up the computer.

AND, when ever I was installing SOME games (seems to be again a large file issue) it would lock up the computer.

It really sucked cause I like the board besides that, no worry though cause I'm getting a better board for less money now

I had tried ALL the fixes, and there is TONS of them.

Heres a place to find out more info on the problems with this board and the via southbridge chip.

http://www.a7vtroubleshooting.com/

If your not having any problems then your probly fine.

2 of the most common problems were, corrupted sound and corrupted data on the harddrives.

posted 09-11- 05:30 PM               

Look for some chipset reviews for more info.

BTW with asus boards you can tell the chipset brand by there naming.

A7A = ALI
A7V = VIA
A7M = AMD
A7S = SIS

posted 09-14- 02:18 PM               

What do I do!?!?!?!?

posted 09-14- 05:59 PM               

I tried that AND the newest beta bios and it still didn't ever fix my problems.

Thats why I figure the actual board was bad.