Help with buying computer

[el_turista]

AMD Athlon XP System

Case: Aspire X-Dreamer II (with 350W PSU) - $59
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton - $87
Cooling: Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040 - $23
Motherboard: MSI K7N2 Delta-L - $80
Memory: 512-MB (2x256-MB) Corsair PC3200 DDR - $98
Hard Drive: 80GB Western Digital SE - $70
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9600XT - $160
Monitor: Samsung 955DF - $190
Sound Card: 6-Channel Integrated - $0
Speakers: Logitech Z640 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: AOpen 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive - $46
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $15
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $84
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8


Total: $995


Intel Pentium 4 System

Case: Aspire X-Dreamer II (with 350W PSU) - $59
CPU: Pentium 4-2.66 GHz Retail - $160
Cooling: included Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: ABIT IS7-E - $87
Memory: 2 x 256-MB PC2700 DDR - $66
Hard Drive: 80GB Western Digital SE - $70
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9600XT - $160
Monitor: Samsung 955DF - $190
Sound Card: 6-Channel Integrated - $0
Speakers: Logitech Z640 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: LITE-ON 16X DVD Drive - $27
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical - $15
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard - $15
Operating System: Windows XP Home - $84
Floppy: Panasonic, TEAC, etc. - $8


Total: $1,001


Lets say i have between 1000 us and 1500.

My current system is a

athlon 2100+
256 ram
msi mainboard sis 745 chipset based
nvidia geforce 2 mx mx 400
soundblaster mp3+
dvd and cdr combo.


so... my questions for you guys ...

1) im guessing it would be nice to KEEP my computer, and go for a new one instead of upgrading this one.... cause at the end of the day the money investment would be pretty similar... and its not a bad idea to have two computers (this one has a nice tv card any way)

2) of those two confogurations above... wich one is better? this intel or amd decission.... caramba! is hard to know.

3) i dont know anything about overcloacking... i never did it to my 2100... so..

a) is is dangerous?
b) what about this new 2500 with restrictions to overclock? why? jhow can i get the other ones? does newegg have the old ones?


thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Slasher42]

First of on the P4 system get the 2.6C it has 800mhz FSB and Hyper Threading.

Then as for choosing between those 2, it depends on what your doing. If your doing Image or Video editing type stuff you want the P4, no one can argue that its better at that stuff.

If you dont care about image/video editting then its really a toss-up, your gonna have people suggest AMD and others will tell you P4. Just go with what you feel more comfortable with. AMD is cheaper then Intel, but from your budget that doesnt particularly matter.

When your operating a computer at over 2ghz gaming is really more depended on your Vid card then your CPU when all is said and done.

Just my 2 cents. Good Luck.

Also, Crashman is gonna come tell you to spend the extra $12 and get the IS7 with Firewire and Raid over the IS7-E.

 

[Snaggle]

The new amd xp chips are all locked-meaning almost no overclocking,getting an unlocked older one is now just chance.I'm uncertain if that intel cpu is locked or not;but also think you should choose an intel with 800 fsb and just disable the hyperthreading if you don't want it.

Overclocking is just like supercharging an engine,it overheats it and can blowout the engine or melt down the cpu(which can take other things with it;but if you cool it properly and maintain your pc the risk is small.

I also think you should shell out $29.99 more at newegg for the asus radeon xp/tv,because of the bundled software:

" Half Life 2
- Battle Engine Aquila
- Gun Metal
- 6 in 1 Game Pack
- ASUS DVDXP
- Power Director Pro
- Media Show
- Cool 3D
- Photo Express
- ASUS Utilities & Driver "-Asus

 

[Johanthegnarler]

Benchmark wise my computer runs as fast as a 2.8c non overclocked.
Marketing terms. To be honest.. with hyperthreading and that 800 fsb it really doesn't make a difference between games.. and surfing the net.. it doesn't do anything for me there either.
I guess it copies mp3 fast.. but it only takes me a couple of minutes per cd to convert them all to wma3 files.. other than that i guess I don't need a pentium.

Just my opinions as i always say i don't care about benchmarks every site says something different. I just ignore it.. and look at the actual specs.
Video card benchmarks are pretty sound as well as other components.. there's just too many configurations to run cpu's on.

p4 2.8 533fsb
intel mobo
1gb rdram pc 800
radeon9800 pro
120gb seagate s-ata

 

[el_turista]

thanks guys... i was about to get a dell in my insanity and stress