AMD or INTEL! Which system should I get?

[tcoche]

I'm definitly new to this. I'm looking for a new PC that will play games, music and do some photography. Nothing spectacular, I just want a PC. I was looking at the HP Media Center AMD x2 4200 and the Pentium D 920. What do you guys think? Help me out. Thanks!

 

[CompGeek]

Either the 930 or the 4400 or the 3800.
The 920 is too low clocked while the 4200 has only a 200mhz advantage over the 3800 while having the same cache.
BTW,there is no need comparing a 4200 to a 920 since the 4400 is much more expensive.

 

[CompGeek]

=>You'd be better of building your own

 

[tcoche]

thanks! Yeah I was thinkin about that. I already have a copy of XP pro and xp office, but I like everything you get with the media center. Also, I would probably spend more doing it myself than buying a new one. I would definitly upgrade that vid card. But which system is better do you think? thanks again

 

[RowdyRob]

I say go with the x2. Especially if your going to be doing gaming.

 

[admiral25]

I say go with amd and get a opty 165 for 325 at newegg and then get a good mobo and oc it... i have on and its running on stock voltage and with stock fan @2.6ghz prime95 stable 18hrs just as fast as a fx60 with out paying over 1000 bux

 

[tcoche]

Prozac26,

Yeah! I have limited funds available. So, me building my own system wouldn't be an option. It would cost thousands compared to 1100-1300. I appreciate the help. I am definitly leaning towards the AMD. Thanks!

 

[tcoche]

are you serious! Thanks! I will definitly do some researching tonight when I get home from work. Thanks for the links. I appreciate it. Do you have any recommendations as far as cpu, ram, hdd, monitor, ok basically a system!

 

[RowdyRob]

Well from the looks of it if you going to spend $1300 here is a decent PC setup:
CPU: AMD Opteron 165 Denmark----------------------------------$332
Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI-------------------------------------------------$118.99
Video: eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB-----------$295
HDD: Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500SD 250GB--------------$100
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR 400----------------$115
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total-----1005.99
Included is that total is estimated shipping.
Now that leaves you with plenty of extram money but i didnt include a PSU or an Optical drive. So you can add those in depending on your needs. Also i dont know what kind of case you want so that ios also not included. As for your PSU with this setup i recommend a 400-450 Watt PSU. If you plan on adding another Video card in and running in SLI you should bump it up to 450-500 watt to be on the safeside this way u have extra overhead. Not to mention OCing will also draw more wattage.
For the ram if you plan on doing some Overclocking you could take that ujp to a DDR 500 stick for about $140.
With this current setup u should be able to EASILY overclock to a stable 2.4 GHz without breaking a sweat.
Though that is just my recommendations. Plus if you build it yourself its alot easier to upgrade in the future if u decide that you want more RAM or anything.
Also as for the HDD i chose 250GB cause that a normal amount if you want to play games and have a music library while doing photgraphic work. If you want u can change it to a raptor for added performance.

 

[crizazykid2]

I'm impressed...an intelligent thread 8O no fanboy wars started.

Congrats...it is a first in the CPU section

 

[admiral25]

Well from the looks of it if you going to spend $1300 here is a decent PC setup:
CPU: AMD Opteron 165 Denmark----------------------------------$332
Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI-------------------------------------------------$118.99
Video: eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB-----------$295
HDD: Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500SD 250GB--------------$100
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR 400----------------$115
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total-----1005.99
Included is that total is estimated shipping.
Now that leaves you with plenty of extram money but i didnt include a PSU or an Optical drive. So you can add those in depending on your needs. Also i dont know what kind of case you want so that ios also not included. As for your PSU with this setup i recommend a 400-450 Watt PSU. If you plan on adding another Video card in and running in SLI you should bump it up to 450-500 watt to be on the safeside this way u have extra overhead. Not to mention OCing will also draw more wattage.
For the ram if you plan on doing some Overclocking you could take that ujp to a DDR 500 stick for about $140.
With this current setup u should be able to EASILY overclock to a stable 2.4 GHz without breaking a sweat.
Though that is just my recommendations. Plus if you build it yourself its alot easier to upgrade in the future if u decide that you want more RAM or anything.
Also as for the HDD i chose 250GB cause that a normal amount if you want to play games and have a music library while doing photgraphic work. If you want u can change it to a raptor for added performance.

I would have him get ocz 2gig 2x1gig 2-3-2-5 with a dual core u really need 2 gigs and its future proof

 

[avatar3k]

get the a8n-sli premium, not the regular... its worth the $50...

get 2x1gb ram, doesnt matter if its valueselect or ocz platinum...

photo... get 2 hard drives? i churn out 10-50gigs of photos a month, and that's shooting JPEG. i can usually knock that down to 5gigs of keepers, and photoshopping turns the best of them into 50MB layered files - 250gb isnt enough for many active photographers

 

[illicitsc]

u guys might want to cut sumthing, cuz the hp package comes with a monitor i think

 

[someguyy]

i am with him SLI=super high end, super high budget.

go with a single PCI-e board

a 7800gt for about 280-300
AMD-3800 dual core
a nice antec PSU (or other quality name brand)
A hard drive between 160 and 250 gigs

you can also probaly get away with a somewhat cheap case. although they may not be stylish going cheap can save you alot of money.

i have one of these and its great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119047

as far as ram is concerned it depends on if you wan to overclock, if you dont plan on overclocking then you can save a bundle by getting some good value RAM. if you do want to overclock it will cost you a good bit more.

 

[RowdyRob]

I only gave him 1GB because i was trying to keep him close to $1300 while having enough flexability to add a decent case,PSU, and Optical drive. He can upgrade to 2GB whenever he needs its not 100% needed. And if you need to cut sumthing cus of the moniter just get a 6800GT instead.
And for the mobo, sorry im an ASUS fan. I trust ASUS with everything i own.
I was assuming he already had a moniter. But hey we cant tell him what to do these are just opinions. My Setup stands as is, and i will tand beside it that it is a decent setup for the money.

 

[ir_efrem]

HP media center really is a decent system (plus it has a PCI express slot) with a somewhat capable onboard video (GeForce 6100)
the system also comes with 2gig of ram

and a 21" LCD monitor that looks awsome

i know this cuzz my brother in law just purchased one of these systems

the system comes with preloaded XP media ...

so the price you guys are working on is $1100 (everything included)
you are going way over his budget concidering he still has to get a monitor, PSU, optical drives, case, Operating system, TV tuner card.....

why go high end on any single part...

a fairly decent single PCIx16 slot mobo with a value ram 2gig and a single 250 gig SATA drive with an X2 cpu
with a nice 6800 value card will out perform the HP media center by leaps and bounds and be cheaper
(and to top it ALL off the only thing that you will be building that will be Alot better than the base HP system is the video card and power supply) both of those are easy to change out on the HP

(no skimping allowed on the PSU) comon i know you guys can do better than this for a well equiped system, stop building him a system you want ...

 

[dvdpiddy]

I'm impressed...an intelligent thread 8O no fanboy wars started.

Congrats...it is a first in the CPU section

ok crizazy i stayed out of this long enough but since this a first in the cpu section ill stay quiet :!:

 

[luminaris]

boy, that's a first for DVD. I just know its gotta be eatin you alive just sitting there not saying anything about just how great and superior of a product Intel is. Man, its such a shame that your so quiet and can't respond. Oh well ... :lol:

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Building your own system can be very fun. Here is what I recommend:

Asus A8N-SLI Motherboard (there are different flavors at different price points.)
Athlon 64 single-core processor, I wouldn't get any of the really expensive ones.
1 7800 series GeForce video card (the GT's are an affordable choice, but not as good as the GTX's. . .)


Later on (year, year and a half) you could upgrade the above to:
Athlon FX 60 (Prices will have come down greatly! Might be rebranded as Athlon X2 by this time. . .)
Add a second video card (Prices will have come down greatly!)


This upgrade path is affordable. Keep in mind that the FX-60 is what I believe to be the end of the road for Socket 939 prcoessors. So I wouldn't buy an expensive Socket 939 processor with the expectation of upgrading, because why would you spend a lot of money for a minimal upgrade?

 

[sirkillalot]

I'm definitly new to this. I'm looking for a new PC that will play games, music and do some photography. Nothing spectacular, I just want a PC. I was looking at the HP Media Center AMD x2 4200 and the Pentium D 920. What do you guys think? Help me out. Thanks!

It also depends on when you want one. im holding out for a few more weeks to see what the new chips will be.
at the moment i would say build your own, and start with a fx 57.

 

[dvdpiddy]

dont luminris just dont

 

[luminaris]

I agree. Unless you've got full blown cash to spend, I would get a minimal processor now and upgrade later when prices fall.

 

[bweir]

If done properly, DIY hardware should always cost less than a COMPARABLE system built by Dell or HP. For what you can get for $1000 from Dell should cost $700-$800 yourself with better components. Software is another story, but having the XP CD helps and most OEM software that comes pre-loaded is absolute garbage.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

most OEM software that comes pre-loaded is absolute garbage.

"Most" would be an understatement.

 

[glasssplinter]

The other thing to consider: When I bought a Compaq that I planned on upgrading one thing lead to another. New graphics card needed a new power supply. Memory isn't an issue on that one though. Not enough space on the micro ATX board, case was too small for proper cooling. I wish I would have built it.