It's time to replace my computer, looking on pricewatch, the Athlon 64-bit 3200 is similar price to a 3.2 Ghz P4. Is it worth the $40 for the 64-bit processor, or should I stick with the P4? Is there a better place to buy these? -Chux
Locally I deal with Nanosystem and Tranmicro along University Ave over at the UofM. Their price is higher then online but they are local and that's what I liked about it. Easier for exchange in case of an issue. There's no shipping or waiting to mess with. IMHO, if the price is only a difference of $40... I'd go with an Intel... but right now, I'm sticking to AMD. They are as fast or a bit faster then the Intel if you're into gaming. If you're into major graphic or data crunching output... stick with Intel.
Depending on when you're going to buy the Intel 64-bit procs should be out later this year. However if you're planning on getting a 64-bit CPU get an Athlon FX, not the A64. The vanilla A64 doesn't do near as well as a P4. Also stay away from the Prescott P4s, they run HOT. Best processor under $500: 3.2 Northwood P4. The A64 will only beat it when number-crunching. Get the P4 and save some cash for an X800 or 6800 video card if you do gaming. HT rules for multimedia. I've been sitting on an Iwill DH800 motherboard only missing CPUs so I'm finally going to get a set of 3.06s for it
I just built 4 computers outa old spare parts (PentiumI 233mhz to PenIII 1.0GHZ, two socket7 AMD 350mhz to 500mhz) Spent $380 (w/shipping) on uprated miscellaneous parts off the net. The parts would have cost me 5 times that amount 3 to 5 years ago. I networked (w/firewall) them and got Hispeed modem cable service. Faster than DSL (I got a deal from a family member who works for Comcast for 12 months at $30 bucks/month. Whoo-Hoo!!!) The network works great! (It is what I went to school for, but now I own a furniture store!!!, I myself dont get it?) ANYHOOO! I cant tell you what to buy, but I can tell ya this: 1) Buy quality, motherboards and memory are very important to a systems stability. If ya get cheap MB's they always gain a short and lock your system. Also buy a quality power supply. 2) Intel has just announced that they are going to use AMD'S technology to make the chips run more efficiently. 3) New Intel chips are going to have more multi function coprocessors on one chip. They are not going to add any more transistors on the "chip board" because they generate too much heat. We are finally reaching the stage technology where transistors may go the way of the vacuum tubes. 4) Mac computers are 3 levels above the PC's, they use Risc not Cisc. And now Mac's are Unix based. Winblows needs to catch up so does Intel. http://cse.stanford.edu/class/sophomore-college/projects-00/risc/risccisc/ So I cant really tell you which one is the bomb, but myself, I'm going to stay cheap and just upgrade my video card processor so I can "FRAGG!" with the best of them. :mrgreen: I'll wait till everything dies or gets way to slow or unsecure cuz of hackers or more compatable with other devices (ie. no more Plug and Pray!) Then I'll upgrade to a mobile laptop unit that will integrate or encompass my portable cell phone, camera, mp3 player, pda, car alarm-ecm/utech/vishnu/turboXS ect., with hi-speed internet then I will be happy.
Meh, I've used dual G5s and they're not much faster than the dual 2.8 Xeon system I played with a few months ago. The biggest hurdle right now between Windows and Mac is to get a stable 64-bit OS (and apps) to address the abilities of the 64-bit CPUs. However I'll still take a Mac for printing output anyday, the color is a LOT better with X than Windoze. How much are you looking to spend? That's what determines what kind of computer to get. If you don't mind the cost then decide what you really want to use it for.
Not a whole lot of software support for 64bit. Youll have this pimptastic proccessor and not even be utilizing it unless you downlaod a special version of windows or a 64bit *nix OS. I'm stil a firm beliver in Intel and the Pentium platform. I'd buy their chips and chipsets everytime... if I could afford them Every Pentium I've got my hands on out performed similar spid AMD chips I have and my currnet P4 2ghz still kicks some seriouse ass. I've used AMD, Intel and Cyrix since the 486 SX 25mhz was THE **** and I'd buy Intel everytime. Maybe I'm bias tho?
pentium, soyo or asus board... dont get the fastest processor out... just over clock, and put in a thermaltake heatsink..... i'm running 3ghz on a 2.2 pentium 4. soyo board and 1gb ram... 2 120gb western digital 8gb cache drives in raid 0. ati 9700 pro video card, and a audigy2 zs 24bit sound card.... all from my days of playing eq. huge raids of 60+ people tend to lag the average machine. newegg.com is a good place to get stuff.. i also can buy some of this stuff at cost (~5 to 10% off of best buy prices) so if you need anything give a hollar. it ships from chicago and takes 3-4 days..
Now I know whom to contact at buying things at or a little above cost... you'll be hearing from me soon.
5-10% off BB prices is nowhere near cost Can you get 3.2 Xeons (1MB cache) at slightly over cost? I'd surely like a pair of those. Or maybe the 2MB versions *drool* Be careful what you overclock. The Prescott Pentiums suck for OCing. I can get 3.5 GHz and 1066 MHz FSB off 2.4 M0-stepping Xeons on my board but I opted for D1 stepping 3.06s since overclocking is not always stable and it voids warranties left and right. Just because a motherboard has overclocking features built in does not mean it is supported. I may OC my FSB just because I'm angry at my CPUs and couldn't wait for Nocona Xeons. 1066 FSB Xeons here I come! I just blew over $3k building my new system. Iwill DH800 2x 3.06/533/512 Xeons 2GB Mushkin PC3200 2-3-2 @1.65 Antec True550w PSU 74GB WD Raptor SATA boot drive Adaptec 39320 RAID host adapter 2x 18GB Seagate 15k U320 drives LOADS of IDE hard drives in swap trays and FireWire enclosures several Pioneer DVD burners in FireWire enclosures ...and some other crap. I'll get a GeForce 6800 when they come out too. If you ever want to go dual just let me know, I've got just a little knowledge into SMP systems
Well, in talking to you guys, and some at work (Best Buy) and fellow computer geeks at school. I've decided that most guys with more experience (built 4 or more computers) accept nothing less than the 64-bit. So that is my decision. I've narrowed it down to 2 motherboards, I'm not sure which is better. We have the cheaper one ($123) http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-490&depa=0 or the beast ($190) http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-481&depa=0 is it worth the extra money? I'm tempted to just get the more basic version, but expandable to 8GB of ram, wow that might make it a long time before I'll need to build a new computer! What do you all think???
oops, well, upon further inspection, only the cheaper one will fit the processors in my pricerange, they're different sockets! well, that solves that, thanks anyway.
Those are both good boards. I stand by my previous statement of getting the FX over the basic A64 processor. The FX is a lot more expensive but by far a better CPU. As for RAM unless you're using that for a server or number-crunching rig you'll never need more than 1GB of RAM. However if that FX board requires ECC RAM it's going to be a bit more expensive than unbuffered stuff and not of much use unless the FX requires it. Make sure to use either Mushkin or Corsair memory if you want good memory. Both have good onboard RAID controllers. I don't ever really use RAID since striping is so volatile but I do use SCSI RAID for gamer serving and video scratch space so if the volume fails I'm not out anything important. I'd never wager a boot drive on RAID. If you want a fast boot drive get a Western Digital Raptor 74GB SATA drive. Those things are fast, quiet, and reliable. Best thing short of SCSI. If you need some help sorting things out let me know. I just got finished putting my new rig together and built another dual system for a friend of mine. I'm not turned to the 64-bit market yet as there is no performance gain in those over my Xeons, so until we start seeing 64-bit native apps and OS I'll stick with my ridiculously overpriced Intel 32-bit procs
