Building a system...(help)

AMd will be better for you, a tbird 1.33g on asus a7a266 or even a7m266 if you are keen on ddr.

dont get p4 just yet. its intel's stock clearance sale and newer p4s and the boards will be incompatible with the current one, since they will be socket478 against current socket423. wait for northwood and brookedale early next year if you really want a p4

girish

<font color=blue>die-hard fans don't have heat-sinks!</font color=blue>

Athlon is a MUCH better cpu.

Which cpu is better is a soapbox debate. Go to pricewatch.com and cut that ridiculous quote in half and send me 10% of it via paypal.

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It's only an island if you look at it from the water.

For what you're doing, you won't notice any difference between the P4 and the Athlon... so buy whichever brand you trust the most.

With that being said, buying an Athlon system now will give you an upgrade path for probably 150-250 dollars cheaper, but buying a current P4 will leave you with a dead platform...

also buying AMD will save you a crapload of money, so buy something else nice for yourself, (more ram, or bigger hard drive) Consider this, it takes a P4 1.7 GHz to beat an AMD 1.33 GHz chip with DDR ram.
then look at the prices, 1.7 GHz is WAY more than 1.33 GHz AMD. Then look at the ram for both platforms, you'll pay out the ass for RDram probably over $150 or more for quality stuff. For AMD with DDRram you'll pay under $100 for the best ram (Crucial PC2400 256 megs is under $90 and will run CAS2)
also do not buy any DDR motherboard without the AMD chipset on them, or else you won't get the full benefit of DDR ram, currently only AMD chipset gives good DDR performance.

Thanks to all who gave me advice.

I am leaving my Intel Safety net to buy:

AMD T-Bird 1333 266
Asus a7a266
512 MB DDR PC2100 Crucial
ATI Radeon 64MB

I'm glad I researched here because I wouldn't have even considered buying AMD before but price and overwhelming testimonials changed my mind.

I'll post the results of how I like the new system when it's up and running.

Thanks again.

*grins* watch it, you have given the anti AMD lamers a big target LOL

seriously though, read some of toms reviews, the p4 seems to be best at video editing and mpg making...bandwidth intensive apps.

its all about what you are doing. if its general stuff and games you can get an athlon, not notice the difference in many cases and use the extra moolah saved to go the DDR route, which i reccomend

the asus dual sdr/ddr board is a pretty good one. a7m266
ddr will help overall performance a little and moreso one bandwidth intensive apps.


I think im going crazy and hearing voices, but my Hamster says im not!

I wouldn't get the A7A266 because of the ali magik 1 chipset. It supports both DDR and SDR ram, but when you put in DDR ram you only get SDR performance for the most part.
I strongly suggest any motherboard with the AMD 760 chipset if you want to actually get good DDR performance. I own an Asus A7M266 and the only thing on it that could make me happier would be better front side bus overclocking, and multiplier adjustment. If you don't want to overclock its a very nice very stable board. I used to have an Asus A7V motherboard and my new system with A7M266 and DDR is 10x more stable. My computer very rarely crashes and my uptimes have gone from a day maybe two, up to 3, 4, and 5 days.
And I know that once I stop playing games on the ancient half life engine my computer will probably never crash.

is MRAM out i though they were still prototyping... and you can get it at 800 mhz... tell me where i can got some of that sh!t...  

you do not strengthen the weak by weakening the strong

I AGREE WITH THE OTHER GENTLEMEN. IF YOU HAVE A CREDIT CARD, GO TO PRICEWATCH AND CLICK UNDER PC WINDOWS OR WHATEVER OPERATING SYSTEM YOU PREFER. I WAS JUST AT A WEBSITE CALLED PORTATECH, AND THEY HAVE SEVERAL LEVELS OF CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE. YOU CAN SPEND HOURS ON PRICEWATCH, SEARCHING FOR COMPONENTS.

I checked out pricewatch...

The prices look good...but when I convert to CDN funds...and 15% CDN sales tax + shipping and customs taxes...savings would be minimal.

Also...my company has a computer purchase plan where I pay 10% down and repay the rest through payroll deduction over 18 mos./36 payments with no interest.

I must by all components from the same dealer though to get this. So paying a bit more for what I want is what I have to do.

Thanks for the tip though.

Bro, stop yelling. I could hear you across the building...

What is this MRAM thing everyone's going on about  

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My Athlon can beat your Ferrari off the line.