Thread: Athlon or Pentium ?????

I'm looking to buy a new PC - currently have a Pentium I, 200 MHz (Don't laugh) !!

I am wondering about ->

Why are Athlon AMD processors cheaper than Pentium IV ??

The AMD 2 Gig is quoted as being substantially faster than a 2.2 Gig Pentium IV, according to benchmark test. If so, then why is it cheaper ????? is it really true ? is Pentium more expensive becos its got a brand name ie like BMW ? or is it a better chip ??

And the Celeron chip is cheaper still ?????? are they inferior chips ????

Anyone any opinion on the Benchmark test? supposed to be a test using "typical office applications" ????? they don't seem to be using the graphics cards ??? i mean my 200Mhz is ok to use for "office applications" !!

Steve,

What are you going to use it for??

It's dead easy to go off into a blah-blah megahertz this many that many argument. Firstly decide what it's for!

To use your car analogy, you wouldn't want a Ferrari to take on a camping holiday.

If you're using it for games / video editing / etc, go for the biggest fastest processor etc possible.

For a bit of C programming (esp. DOS based) and writing the odd letter, stick to your 200Mhz & buy lots of beer instead!!!

Cheers,

Rob.

oh i want a big fast beast of a PC !!!!!!
i want a 2 gig, with 64 meg graphics card etc for games, separate DVD and CD slots for easier copying, 128 meg RAM etc

but still wondering about these different chips ??????

Go with an Athlon they are sweet! But 128mb of ram isnt enough anymore, you need at least 256! I have an Athlon XP 1900+ and its pretty sweet, Im gonna hold out on another upgrade untill AMD lets the hammer go

Which chip is better? I'd say Intel, but every computer I've built for myself and others runs AMD.
The way I look at it, Intel is like a classic muscle car - proven and powerful.
AMD is like a tripped out import - cheap and fast.
Both are great automobiles.

I run a 1.2G AMD with 768MB. I think it gets the job done.

I have heard that AMD's Althon architecture won't let the chip push over 2Gs. Anyone know more?

The pentium 4 is not more powerfull! It has a longer pipeline meaning it could outpreform the athlons but it doesnt. On a clock for clock basis the Athlon XP's totally destroy the Pentium 4 in all benchmarks other than things designed for the pentium 4's. And the Athlon's heat problems are supposed to be solved with the new ones that are .13 micron which should be around any day now. As for not being able to push over 2ghz with an athlon that is so untrue! My friend has had no problem running his Athlon XP 2000+ at 2.134Ghz (with the use of some extra cooling in there of couse).

My Athlon XP has one fan on the heatsink, and 2 case fans, plus a hard drive cooler, no problems ever with overheating, case temp stays between 70f-83f and the CPU runs around 109f-113f under heavy loads and I can play games onlin for hours and the temp has never gone over 115f.

I have an AMD AthlonXP 1700+, and I have to say it is great. I have never had an overheating problem, and it is super fast. I also have a GeForce4 MX...Get the GeForce4 Ti...With 128 MB VRAM.

I also think the Athlon is the better choice at the moment.

As to the problems they experience. Most are due to the motherboard or power supply. Some are due to the dual VIA chip sets (north and south bridges). I have a EPOX MB with a VIA and an AMD chip set that has never given me a problem. (Though the EPOX have now been discovered to not be 100% compatible with the ATX form factor and I hear that they will not take the heatsink wrapped around the GForce4 cards, as well as some fans)

Buy a good MB (say the Epox, but do your research) and don't pass the monitor's power thru the PC, give the monitor its own power plug. (Spending a little bit more on a quality power supply can help)

Celrons are the cut down P4 chips. They have half the onboard cache that the P4 has. Not good for number crunching / CAD / software rendering. Spend the extra to get an Athlon.

No matter which way you look at it above 1GHz is fast.
I personally went for a P4 1.5 because it was the cheapest thing I could find.
However I do agree with Clyde, don't cut costs on the memory, that'll speed your system up a lot.