Athlon XP or Wait For Clawhammer?

[LancerEvolution7]

Hey, Im planning to build a system right now. I was originally going to use the AMD Athlon XP 1700+, but then I saw that the Clawhammer is comming out by the end of this year. So should I wait for the Clawhammer processor or just build the system with a XP?
This isn't a business computer or anything like that. Its basically for home use(typing, surfing the web, gaming, mpeg encoding, etc).

Also can someone approximate the price for a hammer cpu when it hits the market. Thanks. I am not an AMD junky so suggestions for a Intel processor are also welcomed.

 

[kief]

Well it depends on when you need the machine. The XPs are cheap now. The New Athlon based on the K8/Clawhammer core wont be out for a few months, and when it is released you can bet itll be at a premium. No exact pricing is available yet, but you can bet it wont be cheap at least until its been out a few months. Same with the motherboards for em!

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[Matisaro]

Grab a 166 fsb mainboard and a 1700+, add to that a alphapal8045 heatsink, up the voltage to 1.85 and run the board at 166, that will most likel grab you a 2100+@166fsb, which is a very nice system, all for less than 400 bucks total(mobo, cpu, ram, heatsink).

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

Ok we don't know what you are going to be using it for or what system you have to hold you out till you upgrade so its kinda hard to recommend. Myself I would wait for the hammer and maybe even for serial ata. But thats just me and I have a decent system already so I don't really have the need to upgrade yet.

 

[kevin_cjh]

I have the same question too,but i think time to make fun is much important

 

[tbirdXPplus]

XP now! the hammers will be pretty expensive for a while, and AMD is gonna place XP as there next duron(that is, to compete with cel1.7, 1.8).
XPs are cheap now, and the price is not gonna fall much more. use the XP for 2 or 3 years, then buy a cheap hammer then.

hello~!

 

[BuddyAtBzboyz]

I'd say you might wanna just go for a budget amd system right now overclock it and wait for the hammer to drop in price in a year or so (if your system with an xp isn't enough) then upgrade again and sell your old parts to someone or make a backup rig. Of course this is based on the fact that I think the hammer will be worth the upgrade, it just might not be all we hope it is.

 

[HolyGrenade]

I had an athlon 650 for forever! I got myself an XP1800+ on an A7V333 mobo. My plan is to wait for the Clawhammer to come out and make the barton cheap enough to buy in bagfulls. Then I'll get a barton.

Then I'll let AMD Iron out all the bugs in their x86-64 beast and allow all the chipset manufacturers to do the same with their sandy bits. When I'm satisfied I'll probably get one of those. But that upgrade of mine is prolly 2 years away at the least.

<b><font color=red>I'm a bomb technician. If you see me running, try to keep up.</font color=red></b>

 

[papasmurf]

you will be waiting a while. if you need a proc now get an xp but if you can afford to wait a few months then go for it! the hammers will be my next upgrade. (from an xp 1800 overclocked to 1.76ghz) I must be on top, my machine shall stay uber! I just havent had it long enough for it to be puched to second place!!!!! ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!! sob sob sob...

Introducing Tapeworms! The new big thing for weight loss!

 

[Dinski]

Generally, it is more profitable to wait.
Even if you find the Hammer's price too high, its appearance will cause decline of K7's price.
Despite of the memory dancing prices, for your pocket is better to buy a PC right when you most needed. If you don't need it right now, then wait.

 

[SammyBoy]

XP if you need a new system before the end of the year. AMD said that the Hammer will probably intro in December, but probably won't hit retail channels until January. And, like people said, it will cost a pretty penny.

Also, at this point, since you seem to be entertaining thoughts of an Intel system maybe, don't neglect the P4 1.6A or 1.8A if you have thoughts of overclocking. You can probably overclock those suckers to 2.4GHz with a 133MHz FSB, meaning you'll have a system with a P4 2.4B, for quite a bit less (the 1.8A will have a FSB of 133MHz, equal to the "B" version of P4s, while the 1.6A will have a FSB of 150MHz, meaning it will perform even better than the 2.4B). Just look around for the motherboards that can lock the PCI/ACP buses to run in spec or support the 133MHz FSB (the will have a 1/5 divider that keeps the PCI/AGP in spec), and pick up some PC2700 DDR or PC1066 RDRAM (maybe PC800 RDRAM if you're lucky, but I bet many of those have been rebranded at PC1066 RDRAM if they can do the 133MHz FSB).

Or, do what Mat said and get a 1600+ or 1700+ AXP, some PC2700 DDR, and a KT333 or IWill XP333 board, increase the core voltage, pop a AX-7 with a 50CFM 80MM fan on top, and bring the FSB to 166MHz. You'll have a computer that will have a clockspeed equivalent to a 2100+, but performance equal to a mythical 2300+ or 2400+.

-SammyBoy

 

[markgun]

I totally agree with that. I just built a system for a friend with an MSI KT3 Ultra for $77 and an AXP 1600+ for $66, cranked the FSB to 166 and it reads 2200+ (but it's probably a little slower, i think it rounds up). I don't think this mobo has a divider at the 166MHz FSB though, but running prime95 shows no stability problems. It is running a little warm.. it's only using a $9 heatsink, it's close to 55C idle and around 60C under load.

 

[PCcashCow]

your not talking about the Hammer due in 2003 are you ??
Because if you are then you still going to have to wait for the HyperTransport, and 64-bit applicatons, although it is full backwards compatiable, it will be insaely expensive

-tim

It seems that every time I reboot my wallet gets smaller.

 

[Matisaro]

your not talking about the Hammer due in 2003 are you ??
Because if you are then you still going to have to wait for the HyperTransport, and 64-bit applicatons, although it is full backwards compatiable, it will be insaely expensive

Hammer motherboards come with hypertransport.

64 bit applications are not needed for top performance

and insanely expensive it will not be, amd has stated hammer will replace the axp as its main cpu, and should remain competitivly priced versus intel(read cheaper).

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[eden]

Also Hyper Transport is supposed to infact lower prices, as it's a simple 8-bit interface, nothing near complex! It could be the tradeoff for higher Clawhammer prices, so it balances out and becomes once again similar to AXP system combos.

--
An AMD employee's diary: Today I kicked an Intel worker in the "Willy"! :lol:

 

[kevin_cjh]

i am absolutely agree with u ,because of short of money,i choice a kt333+duron,then wait for the (0.13)AMD-about 1,2month later i with change it.then when the clawhammer comes out ,i think i will switch to it..how can we use a cpu for a very long time,right?

 

[PCcashCow]

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-946228.html

also check out John Crank's words in PC-Upgrade

It seems that every time I reboot my wallet gets smaller.