best for the money

[Tommunist]

If I were to get a cpu, mobo, and ram (at least 512) for under 400 dollars (American) what would be the best I could do? I've looked at the 2.4c (~$175) with some of the 865 mobos (between $100-160) but I'm not sure if it would be still more worth it to go with a similar priced AMD with a most likely cheaper AMD mobo. The other issue I see is that the intel setup requires that I buy pc3200, which seems to be much more expensive than pc2700 (although maybe I'd need pc3200 for the AMD setup - I'm not exactly clear what would be best there). Any suggestions would be appreciated - thanx. As a side note I would rather spend more like 300 dollars but will go up to 400 dollars if it is really worth it.

"Don't question it!!!" - Err

 

[shadus]

I'd really suggest the Intel setup just because it is tremendously faster and just as overclockable as the amd and perhaps more in some cases.

Intel 2.4c / $161.00
ABit IS7-E / $96.00
2x256 Corsair PC3200 / $118.00 ($59.00/Ea)
Total: $375.00

AMD 2500+ / $89.00
Abit NF7 (400FSB) / $92.00
2x256 Corsair PC2700 / $98.00 ($49.00)
Total: $279.00

Of course, the amd is not going ot be nearly as fast as the Intel... to even have a shot at comparing you'd have to go up to a 400mhz fsb and that means going up to the pc3200 ram and paying *alot* more.

Just depends what you want, for a midrange/low end system amd is nice, for anything even touching high end right now intel is the way to go. (If my mind serves me right, the 2.4c compares about equally to the 2800+, 2.6c to the 3000+, 2.8c to the 3200+, and the 3.0c or better just makes the amds look pathetic.)

Shadus

 

[Tommunist]

Are you pricing out low latency memory in both cases there? If yes, I'd like to know from what retailer cause those seem like pretty good prices.

"Don't question it!!!" - Err

 

[shadus]

That is NOT LL, it's C2. The Model numbers are CMX256-3200C2 and CMX256-2700C2 off pricewatch. The LL rated modules are NOT good to use in 865/875 boards... the default timing can cause stability issues until it's adjusted. 865/875 recommended timings are 2-3-2-6-T1 or drop back to 2.5 timings.

Hell you can get the TWINX512-3200C2 for $120 or the TWINX512-2700LL for about $130.

The stuff I listed is better than Value but not as good as Low Latency... I don't trust the value and generally C2 does everything I need it to do.

Shadus

 

[smitbret]

>I'd really suggest the Intel setup just because it is tremendously faster<

What?
-Brett

 

[Mephistopheles]

Tremendously faster might be a bit overstated, but the 2.4C will outperform the 2500+ very, <i>very</i> easily. And it is also excellent for OCing, just like the 2500+.

<font color=red><b>M</b></font color=red>ephistopheles

 

[smitbret]

I'm good with that.
-Brett

 

[HardWareBoss]

I'll toss in my 2 cents I'm with you.

 

[Flinx]

And the 2.4C is almost twice the cost of the 2500.

The loving are the daring!

 

[Tommunist]

A good point. If I were to spend another hundred dollars on the reccommended amd setup (such that it would be the same price as the reccommended intel setup) I could get a faster processor (2800+) and better ram. I'm not sure how this would compare but it seems it would be pretty close....anyone care to chime in?

"Don't question it!!!" - Err