Pricewatch help...

[RadicalEd0]

Indeed, I've had said 1ghz Tbird for almost 2 years and I've been giving it hell ever since and it's been perfectly fine for me :\

[SS5_Majin_Bebi]

Dude, I have an Athlon XP 1800+ and it solidly kicks ass. AMD chips are more stable than their Intel counterparts. Probably because more time is spent on makin sure they work before they are sold. Intel just care about profits. They do rush jobs. Go AMD, you will NOT be disappointed.

[jbone]

Um... I'm using a P3-733. I've been using it since before 1GHz+ CPUs were available.

The CPU doesn't matter. What matters is what you know how to do with it.

[SS5_Majin_Bebi]

O...k....jbone, if you knew your computer history you would know that AMD have been making chips as far back as the 486!! Ever heard of the AMD K6-2? My dad had one, it out-performed his equivalent Intel chip in just about everything.

[dwchang]

The CPU doesn't matter. What matters is what you know how to do with it.

O...k....jbone, if you knew your computer history you would know that AMD have been making chips as far back as the 486!! Ever heard of the AMD K6-2? My dad had one, it out-performed his equivalent Intel chip in just about everything.

Not entirely true jbone. Although the instructions are the same and the software the same, you are buying slight performance differences (and obviously more expensive in some cases).

Take for example the P4 architecture vs. the K7 architecture. Mhz to Mhz, the Athlon architecture is FAR more superior than the P4. Any computer engineer (even Intel) will admit this.

Intel opted to add pipeline stages to the P3 architecture b/c without it they couldn't get THAT much higher of a frequency (which the uneducated consumer equates to performance). Some of these pipeline stages do almost nothing at that, but does allow for a faster Frequency. The Athlon pipeline is 12 (perhaps 11) stages while the Intel is 20. Now, Intel may be able to go through each stage in say...2.6 Ghz, but if I only have 12 stages to go through at around 2.25 Ghz, the one with less stages is more efficient.

As I said earlier though, Intel opted for frequency since the consumer equates higher numbers with better performance (makes sense right?). We opted for performance model numbers (since we can't drive our transistors at such a high frequency). Although people scoffed, after a few years, these model numbers have been accepted as fairly accurate when comparing P4 Freq. to AMD Model #. I might also add that I heard a rumor Intel will start doing Model #s too since they can't push their architecture much higher. But it is only a rumor.

The P3 on the otherhand, that's another story. Even myself (being an AMD employee) will admit the P3 architecture is a good architecture. It has no excess pipeline stages.

Now don't get me wrong, I see your point, essentially as I said earlier, both processors get you to the same point, but take different paths. I guess an easier way to digest is Athlon is: quickest way to a point is a line while Intel is a more roundabout way. Given, I can't say much more since Intel does have a much higher frequency at the time.

Perhaps I should've started a new thread on CPU history

[SS5_Majin_Bebi]

dwchang has hit the nail right on the head there. Intel wants to please people in the short term, AMD is more interested in long term satisfaction.

[dwchang]

dwchang has hit the nail right on the head there. Intel wants to please people in the short term, AMD is more interested in long term satisfaction.

Helps when you're a computer engineer at AMD .

Although (and no one is going to believe me), I would say that regardless. From learning fundamental design in college, I would never want to work for Intel since they well...don't follow those fundamentals. Of course, I understand that it's a business and DAMN they made a good decision. However, I'm a scientist and just couldn't see myself designing things like that (shrug).

[klinky]

-_-.

Hey hey, the stages still do stuff >_> <_<. The problem is getting enough instructions in to use them :\ Sorta >_> <_< something like that.

A P4 w/ 1066RDRAM & Hyperthreading is a pretty sweet deal. Cost effective :roll: - not really.

Also Intel does have SpeedStep technology in their processors, that in the VERY RARE case your cpu fan/heatsink die, the cpu slows itself down enough so it won't burn up. AMD still has the price performance crown tho :\


Anyways here are my suggestions...

Athlon XP 1800($67):
It's really 1.53Ghz :p. AMD has their only little name game going on to keep up with Intel. Though the numbers are actually a little conservative as most Athlons are 300 - 500 "Mhz" faster then a comparable Pentium4 at the *SAME* clockspeed.

Epox 8RDA Motherboard($88):
This guy is based off the nForce2 chipset. It's the fastest AMD chipset on the market at the moment. It also supports dual-channel memory access = better performance ^_^. Oh and the onboard sound I hear is excellent.

2x 184pin SimpleTech PC2700 DDR($29ea x 2 = $58):
This is just cheap DDR memory. You're not doing any overclocking on this machine and actually the ram will be running @ PC2100 levels. PC2100 = 266Mhz, PC2700 = 333Mhz. Only some of the newer Athlons support 333Mhz(PC2700) operation. However the ram is backwards compatible, just incase you ever want to upgrade, you can just put a new CPU in, instead of having to replace PC2100 ram with PC2700. The cost is only $4 more then PC2100 so it's worth it. You need two DIMMs to take advantage of dual channel memory. That's why I got two. Also 512MB is a good amount of ram.

Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM($119):
This drive is pretty good. Hard drives are always getting cheaper and 120GB is the best price point. They don't really make 20/40GB drives anymore and they're not really worth it. This one is $119. A 40GB drive is around $70. You pay less then twice as much, for three times as much storage. It's worth it :|


Asus V7100 Magic Pure 32MB($34.99):
This card is based on the nVidia Geforce2 chipset. It's kind of old(2yrs or so), but it still performs well. I got one of these when they first came out for $180 :\. Now they're down to $35. I am stuck with mine because it still perfornace "well enough" that I can't justify buying a new card just yet. :.. O. Good card, don't expect to play the latest and greatest games though. Games from about a year back, still play well. I doubt your main interest is games anyways. So this really doesn't need much attention.

PREMIER CP0-PR-TM7673P4 Mid Tower case($33):
This is just a cheap case that I thought looked ok enough. It has a AMD approved power supply. :\


Shipping:$33.20(may be different depending on where you're at.)

Total:$ 441.19



All prices are from the best online computer parts store in the world. <a href="http://www.newegg.com">NewEgg</a>.

You can move your old DVD-ROM & CDRW into your new computer.

This would be a pretty kick ass setup. I am planning on upgrading my machine to someting similar soon. Different video card/ different case maybe. But :p I have no MONEY! :O oh dear.

Also do you just want parts, or must the system be built completely? ! :O Do you posses the power to build the machine yourself or do you have a friend who can do it for you? :O




~klinky

[klinky]

Whoops! those are 256MB dimms btw, in case you didn't know.

[anneke]

I'm scared to build the computer myself. I have some people at work who are willing to help me, but I don't know. I feel bad having them help me. My father could help me but he has a habit of frying mother boards.

I would prefer to have the main pieces assembled. I know I can plug in a few drives, and the video card, but it's the whole mother board to case to fan thing and plugging in memory or what ever that freaks me.

I'm getting alot of advice help here, and I really appreciate it.

Anneke