1  |   Order by index

Dec 16, 2001, 2:56am

Hello posters!

Well it's about midnight here and i'm bored out of my mind. I just read
this: www.emulators.com/pentium4.htm And well, although i've been a fan of
AMD for a long time i never knew how bad the Pentium people wanted to make
money. I recommend not getting any Pentum 4 proccesers (watch-out becuase
Dells' all come with Pentiums - Not that they are ALL bad). First of all i
want to know what you think about this topic. But don't get me wrong, all
pentiums aren't that bad but they seem to be going with marketing the
mega-hertz (or giga-hertz) value more then actual performance. The page
basicly says that they removed L3 cache and made L1 cache very small and
went for smaller size and few transisters (which is.....less money to make
it.....even though they still charge more) just for raw speed.

Secondly, on the topic of fast things, which CPU do you think performs the
best (not based on the mega-hertz value). And i've been wondering: What is
the fastest (instert name hgere)? (motherbaoards, graphics cards, memory,
you name it) (and i do mean performace as well, not based on any speed
numbers or memory size)

Thanks,
Cozmo

Dec 16, 2001, 3:36am

A good processer (AMD) And a Good Video card, and Bus Speed always help the
computer. Instead of haveing a 1.5gzh processer and a slow bus the processer
will only run as fast as the bus can move data...

--
TrekkerX
Commatron & Athnex
http://www.commatron.com
http://www.athnex.com
[View Quote]

Dec 16, 2001, 12:19pm

I don't know if these would be considered the "best" components, but
they are considered "top of the line" at this point in time:

CPU: AMD XP 1900+ (it runs at 1.6 GHz)
I have never bought any Intel processor past the PII, so my answer may
be a little biased. I have AMD procs ranging from pre-Thunderbird times
all the way to the newest XP proc. I have not had a problem with any of
them and they all seem to be stable (even the OEM procs can withstand my
evil burn-in testing. ;) One thing to mention is that they run a LOT
hotter than Intel procs. I saw a video on Tom's Hardware Guide that
showed what happens when the heatsink/fan combo was removed. The Intel
system just slowed down, while the AMD proc actually started to smoke in
just a few seconds. I heard that AMD is working with motherboard or
power supply manufacturers (I forget which one, maybe it is both) so
that if the processor reaches a certain temp, it will cut power to the
motherboard, and prevent overheating. If you get a new AMD proc, you
NEED GOOD COOLING!

RAM: Corsair DDR RAM
Good for overclocking.

Motherboard: (AMD Only) ASUS A7V266-E
Here is a review:
http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/asus/a7v266-e/. It has a
feature that will either throttle the CPU speed if it reaches a certain
temp or shut the system down to prevent overheating.

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 3, GeForce 3 Ti 200, or GeForce 3 Ti 500

Case: Any aluminum case (I personally like Lian-Li cases)

Sound Card: I would go with Creative Labs' Audigy line of sound cards

The above is just my opinion. If you want reviews of hardware, check out
these sites:

http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.hardocp.com/
http://www.maximumpc.com/ (check out the Reader's Forum)
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/
http://www.dansdata.com/
http://www.gamepc.com/

Builderz
Stuff-X Network
http://www.stuff-x.com/
PGP Key ID: 0xAC0E7073 (for non-commercial use)

[View Quote]

Dec 16, 2001, 12:52pm

[View Quote] <snip>

> Secondly, on the topic of fast things, which CPU do you think performs the
> best (not based on the mega-hertz value). And i've been wondering: What is
> the fastest (instert name hgere)? (motherbaoards, graphics cards, memory,
> you name it) (and i do mean performace as well, not based on any speed
> numbers or memory size)

<snip>

The AMD Palomino/Thunderbird cores generally outperform the P4/P3 series
from Intel. Both processors have their advantages, such as P4's heat-death
protection (CPU lowers its own clockspeed according to temps) and Athlon's
lack-thereof.

Processor: AMD AthlonXP series (1500+ is currently the best bang/buck)
Motherboard: (KT266A) ASUS A7V266-E or the Soltek SL-75DRV2
Graphics: Either the nVidia GeForce Ti 500 or the ATi Radeon 8500 (with some
driver fixes it could beat the GF3 TI 500)
Memory: Some nice CL2 PC2100 DDR SDRAM

Serious cooling will be in order, as well :)

You could:
A) Use a traditional HSF setup
B) Assemble a liquid cooling system
C) Buy a pre-assembled liquid cooling case, such as the Koolance rig
(www.koolance.com)

For you Intel nuts who may start attacking me, I ask you to read some
benchmarks :)
www.tomshardware.com
www.anandtech.com
www.sharkyextreme.com

Dec 16, 2001, 2:09pm

Yeah the 1900+ definately is nice....and I read that a guy overclocked his
1800+ to 1.9GHz (it beat the living heck outta the p4s in sandra
benchmarks), so you could possibly put a 1900+ up to 2Ghz and save yourself
$100-$200 over buying a P4.

RAM? I don't really know lots about that...other than SDRAM is $30 for 512MB
now (1 GB here I come!)

As for mobos...I personally like the MSI K7266A Pro2 board. A good site for
mobos and such: http://www.anandtech.com
I have a FIC mobo....and they took the info off their site...plus they
include obviously translated manuals that don't explain anything about what
the BIOS features do, and also when updating your bios they say "check the
version number" but I have yet to find where they put it.

Case: Aluminum cases are quite expensive. (I think the cheapest Lian-Li is
like $131 for MicroATX 2 5.25" bays, 2 3.5" bays, and an internal 3.5") But
if you don't want to spend that much money, I like the InWin S500. Not the
A500, I use that now and its a pain to work with. Just beware of the
purple-button cases....Oh yeah... http://www.directron.com has a lot of
caes, and I think they have one called the IG4000 or something....you can
put up to 4 8cm fans in there.

For sound cards...Yeah I agree with builderz. Creative Labs cards are pretty
cool. I use a SoundBlaster Live! MP3+ 5.1 now, it comes with some pretty
cool software too (music mixing, song creating, midi composing, other
stuff). And I think that the MP3+ is one of the cheaper Live!s so if an
Audigy is out of the question (Aren't they $70+?) then you can look at the
Live!'s.


--
Captain MAD Mike
-Governor, PC Addict, Odd Man

[View Quote]

Dec 16, 2001, 2:13pm

Heh I can still remember looking through the CompUSA ads and seeing all
those computers with AMD logos and going "ewwwww....I don't want an AMD"

Unfortunately, that was still sort-of going on when I was picking my CPU for
this comp. Oh, how I've changed.
Ah well...at least I only have a better Pentium 3 (P3 800EB...its not that
bad).
[View Quote]

Dec 16, 2001, 6:09pm

Ya...im not against all Pentiums but the Pentium 3 might be an ok CPU

[View Quote]

Dec 16, 2001, 6:10pm

yes the AMD can overheat pretty quickly but at least its a good CPU. As
long as you have a good cooling system youll be ok.

[View Quote]

Dec 17, 2001, 12:57am

Any processer needs a good cooling unit. AMD or Pentium or any other one

--
TrekkerX
Commatron & Athnex
http://www.commatron.com
http://www.athnex.com
[View Quote]

Dec 17, 2001, 11:06am

[View Quote] That's not entirely correct. VIA actually manufactures a .13 micron die chip
which runs with no cooling at 866MHz.

Also, AMD Thunderbird/Palomino cores produce a lot more heat than any of the
Pentium series. The Athlon can die of a heat death in around half a second
if the heatsink falls off (which is not too uncommon, actually).

Dec 17, 2001, 4:48pm

I agree.

Fox Mc Cloud <--- burned his first Thunderbird 1GHz

"shred" <no at 1.invalid> a écrit dans le message news: 3c1dedd7 at server1.Activeworlds.com...
[View Quote]

Dec 17, 2001, 8:11pm

Aside from my dual P2/400 server, I haven't owned an Intel chip since about
1996. Four out of my 5 machines are AMD...Athlons 1.4 and 850, a Duron 700,
and a K6/2-450.

Can't say as I'd have it any other way at this point in time :-)


[View Quote]

1  |   Order by index