AMD Athlon XP OR Intel Celeron ???

[rs125]

Ive read a few reviews on here about amd and intel but they all seam to compare amd to the pentium 4 (which is out of by budget)

I can't decide weather to go with a intel or amd cpu -

It will be either --

Intel Celeron 2.2GHz (£88)
or
AMD Athlon XP 2100+(£75)


Please don't have a winge about yet another intel v amd thread as this is purely about the two cpu's listed above and not a general amd v intel discusion..

Thanks
gavin..

[rs125]

.

[reboot]

What do you use the computer for?
Do you play any games?
Do you mostly surf the net/email?
What sort (make/model) of motherboard are you going to get?
How much RAM do you want to put onboard? What type?

Can't answer your question until we know a LOT more.

[rs125]

Originally posted by reboot What do you use the computer for? Do you play any games? Do you mostly surf the net/email? What sort (make/model) of motherboard are you going to get? How much RAM do you want to put onboard? What type? Can't answer your question until we know a LOT more.

Ok - light gaming (must be able to handle top games though)
Alot of net surfing/ movies downloading and viewing etc

If i go AMD ill go for this M/B(with graphics card) -
Leadtek WinFast TwinForce 2 (including Geforce 4 Ti4200) (Socket A) Motherboard (LT-000-LT)
Featuring the blisteringly fast nForce415 chipset with dual interface DDR-SDRAM for enhanced memory performance. This package consists of the Leadtek WinFast A250 LE TD 64MB Geforce 4 Ti4200 AGP card and the WinFast K7N415DA motherboard, the A250 LE TD is a standard AGP card and may be used in any motherboard. A review of the Twinforce may be found at Tech PC

Motherboard Features
- 5 x PCI Slots
- 1 x AGP (4x) slot
- 3 x 184pin DDR-SDRAM slots
- Dual independant memory bus provides 4.2GB/s bandwidth
- Integrated Sound with AC3 Encoding & Digital Co-Axial interface
- Onboard 10/100mbps Realtek LAN.

Graphics Card Features - 64MB DDR-SDRAM, Geforce 4 Ti4200 chipset, Massive heatsink, TV Out, DVI and VGA outputs.

Note : Not compatible with AMD Athlon XP 'Thoroughbred' processors, standard Athlon XP processors are fine though.


Full Specification

Price: £140.00 (£164.50 Including VAT at 17.5%)


If i go intel i have no idea what M/B to get ..


RAM=at least 512 of ddr ram -as for type = i have no idea whats good and whats not


gavin....

[Nuclear Krusader]

Athlon with no second thoughts.

[LawyerRon]

I'm a big Intel fan but can tell you first hand the Atlon XP will blow the doors off the Celeron. It's basically comparable to the P4 to which it competes head to head. Make sure you put it on a good motherboard like the Asus A7N8X with the nForce2 chipset and you'll have a killer system. For budget systems, I don't even consider the Celeron any more.

[padawan]

XP for the same reasons as above.

[rs125]

Thanks for the replys


LawyerRon - i was hoping to use it with the mother board a listed above as im on a tight budget but want a good system..will the mother board a mention just slow the system down ?

(Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 (Socket A) Motherboard (MB-019-AS = £126)

(Leadtek WinFast TwinForce 2 (including Geforce 4 Ti4200) (Socket A) Motherboard (LT-000-LT) = £165)



I don't mind spending the extra money if the asus is alot better but what graphics card would you recomend i go for with it ?

[dackerman]

An ASUS A7N8X, deluxe or non, will suite you very good.

XP 2000+ or even higher would be the best CPU right now, the 1600+ is right at about $60 which is unbelievable if you are on a tight budget.

Good video card Geforce 4 Ti4600, 4200, they are all good. Wouldn't wait for the FX, looks like it may not be much better then the 9700 pro.

Dave

[RenegadeKing]

Get the Asus A7N8X board. The motherboard is the one thing you don't want to skimp on even for a budget system. A cheap motherboard only leads to problems. Also, the motherboard you picked out says that it isn't compatible with the T-bred XPs. They stopped making the Palomino XPs and they are almost all T-breds now. So if you got the 2100+ it would probably be a T-bred and not work.

[reboot]

Athlon, but not with that motherboard. Get the one mentioned above (the Asus A7N8X), and be prepared to spend money on a decent video card for gaming. The onboard video of the mobo you mention just isn't worth it, and you'd end up upgrading it anyhow.

[LawyerRon]

rs,
The Asus A7N8X Deluxe (or Non-deluxe) w/ the nForce2 chipset would be my first choice. The "Deluxe" has slightly better sound and onboard firewire. If you can find it, the Epox EPOX EP-8RDA is a good board to at about $93US. Epox also offers the EPOX EP-8RDA+ with the difference being the onboard LAN, at about $104US. A bit cheaper than the Asus but still a very fine performer.

As to the Video Card, I'm not a gamer so I'm not up to date on all the latest models, so others could better advise you.

[reboot]

Bleeding edge: Raedon 9700 Pro or GeForce FX
Leading edge: GeForce Ti 4xxx
Acceptable edge: GeForce 4 MX400
Budget video: GeForce 2MX
Don't bother: Hercules anything

[Force Flow]

Definately go with the Athlon and an nForce2 board. GF4 Ti4200 is a great card. I wouldn't touch the MX series, though. I would go with a GF3 before I went with a GF4 MX series card.

[rs125]

Wright then - so far i have decided on the-
motherboard = Asus A7N8X delux n Force 2
processor = AMD thoroughbred xp2100+


Next onto graphics cards - reboot you advise either the Raedon 9700 Pro or GeForce FX but these are to expensive , does it matter what make the card is as long as it uses the Geforce Ti 4xxx ? (ie - asus or Leadtek etc) - i was swaying towards this one = Asus V9280S SuperFast Ti4200-8X (GX-007-AS) but if there are better cheaper cards around thats good a this one alone is £174.25 ..


next will be memory




thanks

gavin....

[Nuclear Krusader]

Memory? Crucial or Kingston.

If you plan to overclock then get Mushkin or Corsair.

Don't bother with other brands.

[cmillion]

I'd get a Ti4200 and just overclock it to the speed of a 4400 or 4600.

[reboot]

Keep looking. Not sure about UK pricing but even a Raedon 7000 or 7500 isn't too bad for gaming. About the same quality as the GF4MX. Good for a budget build.

[mike breck]

You can get an Abit Siluro G4 Ti4200 OTES 64Mb DDR at Dabs for £112.99

http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-se...turer&stab=ref

Out of the box it runs at 275/500MHz which is the same as a Ti4400. You can very easily overclock it to 300/600MHz which is near the speed of a Ti4600.

A good, solid card that has received many excellent reviews.

HTH

[HAL9000]

It's rare.. but it happens... I'm gonna say go with the XP, but I also argue one thing, stay away from the VIA chipset motherboards. Get yourself a SiS if you want stable, nForce2 if you want stable and speed for a few more dollars.

[Fraughton]

I would look into the radeon 9500 series. The 9500 is faster than any geforce4 with better picture quality for about the same price. I'm presently saving up for one of these myself.

[Force Flow]

Just one more thing I thought I might add; just so there's no confusion along the way, the 2100+ is not 2.1GHz. It's 1.73GHz.

I just thought you might not be aware of it since you're comparing an Intel 2.2GHz to an AMD 2100+.

[morriswindgate]

No Brainer 256K (XP) of L1 Cache always beats 128K (Celeron).

[cliffboy]

I second Hal9000. Go for the NForce 2 mobo. If it's quite expensive for you, settle for another ASUS or EPOX mobo that uses the SiS chipsets.

[rs125]

Thanks you all for your help


What do you mean via & sis chipsets ??? what type has the Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 mother board got ??

Also ive been looking at other Asus motherboards i little cheaper then the one above and have found this one -

Asus A7V8X (Socket A) Motherboard (MB-015-AS)
The ASUS A7V8X motherboard is loaded with the most advanced technologies to deliver maximum performance for Socket A processors. Based on the advanced VIA® KT400 chipset with DDR 400 support, the ASUS A7V8X also features AGP8X, USB 2.0 as well as SP-DIF in/out interface and 10/100 LAN.

- 3 x 184pin DDR-SDRAM ports (2 supporting DDR333/400)
- 6 x PCI slots (blue slot is a combined PCI and Asus optional connector)
- 1 x AGP(4x/8x) slot
- DDR400 support
- 2 x UDMA133 (supports upto 4 device)
- 6 x USB 2.0 ports


Now this M/B is over £50 cheaper then the A7N8X but is it still anygood ??

thanks

gavin..

[Force Flow]

That board has a VIA chipset, which you should get away from.

The Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 motherboard has an nForce2 chipset.

[rs125]

Ok ill go with the Asus A7N8X .



Is this graphics card a good budget one ?-- Sapphire ATI Radeon 9100 Atlantis 128MB DDR DVI/TV (AGP) - Retail (GX-011-SP)
Turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, the ATLANTIS RADEON 9100’s rendering capabilities such as TRUFORM™, SMARTSHADER™, and SMOOTHVISION will reignite your passion for a truly immersive 3D experience. 128MB DDR memory provides lightning-fast 3D graphics. TRUFORM™ technology to make characters and objects more rounded and natural. HYPER Z™ II technology conserves memory bandwidth for improved performance in demanding applications. SMOOTHVISION™, ATI’s most advanced anti-aliasing, eliminates distracting visual artifacts for smoother looking images. High resolution 32-bit 3D gaming up to 2048x1536. Featuring - 250MHz / 200MHz (400MHz DDR) clock speeds, DVI Out / TV Out, AGP 8x, 128MB DDR memory.


Full Specification

Price: £61.60 (£72.38 Including VAT at 17.5%)


This one is more around price range..

[reboot]

That's an excellent card. Not bleeding edge, but you'll get superb game performance from it. Nice price too.

[RenegadeKing]

Originally posted by force_flow2002 That board has a VIA chipset, which you should get away from.

I honestly don't see what's so bad about via. I've used the KT133A thru the KT400, and they all seem just fine to me. I agree though, that the nForce2 is a better chipset.

[glc]

The Radeon 9100 is a relabeled 8500, which is an excellent general purpose card, and can't really be beat for that price.