Which CPU/mb/mem is faster?

[dmicek]

I'm looking to buy a "sweet spot" level system that is going to give me the most value/performance for my dollar today. I'm going to be doing about 70% gaming and the rest normal business application stuff.

I may try some light over-clocking but nothing extensive.

So here's my question... with all other components being equal....which one of these two CPU/mobo/memory platforms will give me the fastest overall performance?

1) AMD Athlon XP 2400+
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
512kb Corsair XMS-3500 DDR

or

2) P4-2.4mhz 533fsb
Gigabyte GA-8IHXP
512Kb PC800 Rambus RDRAM

Thanks for your help.

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

Since you are only using PC800 ram for the Intel system, the ram is going to be out of sync with the processor, unless you overclock the ram to accomodate. You should have PC1066 ram to accomodate a 533 Mhz FSB. With PC1066 RDRam, the Intel setup would have the performance edge.

Thus, given the specs that you named, the Athlon XP2400+ will have the performance edge.

However, since you may be overclocking, you will definitely want a good HSF(If not watercooling), and a good power supply. This will jack the price up a bit. And don't be surprised if you end up paying more for the AMD system than the Intel, due to this.

For overclocking...I would recommend Intel due to ease of overclocking.

For Gaming...I would recommend AMD due to FPU and IPC performance.

For multi-tasking...I would recommend Intel.

Since you will be gaming mostly, I would thus, overall, recommend the Athlon setup.

On a side note, just this last week, I had almost the same question brought to me by one of my customers, and they got the same reply.



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[Crashman]

To get them around the same price, you should include PC1066 RDRAM, which is around the same price as PC3500 DDR SDRAM. And the processors are around the same price. So are the motherboards. The Intel CPU is far more overclockable though.

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[dmicek]

Thanks.. yes I agree I should compare with PC1066.

Since I'll be doing more gaming and not much overclocking ... I'm leaning towards the Athlon platform.

The Asus board also has 8x AGP and I'll want to get a Geforce FX next month and would want to take advanatage of the AGP 8x

Also has USB 2.0 onthe Asus.. I'm not sure if the Giga board is USB 2.0 or not.

 

[Crashman]

I'm sure we would all WANT the GeForceFX to take advantage of AGP8x, but I doubt it will make a meaningfull difference.

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[toss5000]

I have the asus board and love it. Its onboard sound quality beats the audigy. So you'd save money from buying a new soundcard.

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Kill many and you're a conquerer;
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[Col_Kiwi]

Well said.

-Col.Kiwi

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Possibly a better option would be to get the XP2600+ in the 333fsb version.
Run at the high bus speed to get more out your motherboard and ram.
Better for gaming.

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Note: This book was first published a year after Mr Bush graduated from College.</b>