I don't possess all the facts to compare an Athlon XP versus a Pentium 4....see text

[Burt Gummer]

Hello all. Me again. I am obtaining components for my first build. I am deciding between a Pentium 4 2.0 GHZ, and an Athlon XP 2000+ or higher. I get confused about FSB, 400/533, 200/266, Northbridge, Southbridge. I am looking at mostly using it for graphics intensive gaming. I'll also use it for work and the internet.

I need any information ya'll can give me to make an informed decision. Thanks in advance.


Burt

[Alfie]

The fsb speeds shown are the speeds the cpu communicates with the motherboard's chipset.
The basic speeds are 100mhz and 133 mhz.
The figures shown are following a double speed equation or a quad speed equation.
The bus speeds for the system overall is still 100 or 133 mhz.,regardless of system.
If you were to compare the systems side by side,you would see very little difference.(All parts equal)
If you were to benchmark the systems,you would see the AMD pull ahead in certain areas as the Intel would pull ahead in different areas.
The AMD cpu still boasts the most powerful fpu and it's because of this it's still strong for 3d applications.(gaming)
The major thing with gaming is based more upon your choice of video cards.
The raw power of both cpus will get the job done,but the bottleneck in either system would be the choice of video card.
The fastest cards are the Nvidia's 4 series(not mx).,but tends to lack in crystal clear image
The card with the most eye candy is the Matrox parhelia.
More features on that card than you can shake a stick at plus support for surrond gaming(3 monitors)
Memory choice also plays a role,go with top quality,etc.

[HAL9000]

Personally, I would say either would be fine. Since you talking "graphics intensive" spend the money on the video card. Should you go the P4 route, drop down to a 1.8Ghz processor and spend the extra saved cash on the vid card.

[LawyerRon]

You won't really notice a difference in performance between the AMD and Intel cpus. Both will be plenty fast enough. I give the edge to Intel however for their thermal protection and lower operating temps. I like Hal's idea too about dropping down to the 1.8.

[Burt Gummer]

Thanks all. This is exactly the info I am needing. To beh onest, I am leaning towards the Pentium 4.

I would like to maybe one day do some overclocking. Is either choice going to be a prob?

I have decided to go with an Asus mobo either way. I like the Verbal POST feature. I would also like to configure it to handle a RAID in a mirror manner.

[HAL9000]

The higher end AMD's are losing their overclocking ability as the core comes to its peak. The P4 1.8A is very overclockable and many people are hitting 2.4Ghz and beyond.

As for board suggestions, if you want RAID, take a look at the ASUS P4B533-E-L. It has RAID, Firewire, LAN, 6 channel sound, and USB 2.0.

Intel actually makes a board now (can't remember the model number) that has an onboard Promise RAID controller, but no overclocking with the Intel board, just the ultimate in stability.

[Furius92]

SiS just came out with the SiS 648 chipset for the P4. It supports PC3200 (400MHz DDR SDRAM) as well as USB 2.0 and integrated Firewire ports. It comes with all the extras, and faster RAM support, like the Intel chipsets, but costs less. I believe only Abit makes a SiS 648 chipset board right now, but I'd expect to see an Asus board coming soon.

[coog]

Hals' right. the 1.6A and 1.8A northwood P-4's are what you want, and they are very good for overclocking and highly recomended for it. I haven't got too deep into overclocking yet, because I just got this pc going yesterday. I changed the fsb to 113/38 in the bios and it's running at 2034 mhz{2.03ghz} I'm using the Asus P4S333 with a 1.8A p4, 512MB samsung pc2700,Geforce2mx400{pine-Nvidia} I almost bought the p4s533, and wish I had for the other features it has. you can read all about the asus' at www.asus.com I'v'e heard a lot of good things about them. also newegg has a inexpensive case called a Maxtop, it has a side and top fan, 2 backfans plus 1 front fan spaces, my cpu seems to stay at 104 degreesF., and the case tempature stay's at room tempature, looks OK too, -$32 ! I bought the samsung pc2700 from www.buyaib.com they had the best price on it -$50 less than anywhere else. goodluck on your build.

[Burt Gummer]

Oh yes.
Good information.

I believe I read somewhere that the 400MHZ FSB can be sped up past the 533MHZ FSB. So many numbers, so many Three Letter Acronyms...

Please alaborate.

[Airmack]

If you do OC make sure you got the HSF to handle it! Also on AMD cpu's dont you have to connect them little prongs to OC it?

[HAL9000]

The factory Intel heatsink is sufficient for all but extreme overclocking. The AMD must have the bridges filled if you want to be able to change the multiplier, you can change the FSB regardless.

[Blakhart]

The process needed to allow an xp to oc is very involved, amounting to micro surgery in essence. If that is your thing, have at it. I would seek out one who has done this a few times and pay for it. No I do not know anyone who does this.
I do not oc my xp as it is too much of a hassle for the little that is gained.

[piasabird]

Abit IT7 MAX is a motherboard with 4 Raid and 2 IDE slots for a total of 12 IDE drives.

Abit IT7 MAX2 HAS 2 Serial ATA, 2 IDE, 2 Raid IDE.

Both have no PS2,Paralell,or Serial Ports.
Both have 1394 Firewire.

I guess they wanted to be innovative.