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im going to upgrade my processor and motherboard...mostly for better gaming quality. should i go with a P4 say around 2 GHZ or and AMD athlon? what are the pros and cons of each? what should i go with?
I myself have always had intel processors. My neighbor , whom is a senior software engineer , just built his own system and he used an AMD . Told me you get more bang for your buck, with the AMD's ! I like the stability of Intels product .On the AMD , they seem to have a overheating problem , so if you decide to go AMD , make sure you have a good cooling system in place. Your ? has caused arguments that go on and on .In the end you have to decide what product to go with ,so I would try and do as much research as possible , and then make a informed decision ! Good Luck ,Nick
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blah overheating problems?
I have an athlon it works fine and has been for the past year.
Intel have the same overheating probs as athlons , the new athlon XP's are even cooler than mine and my athlon never goes above 46deg.
As for performance well the p4 is pants and everyone knows it.
The althons out perform the P4's by far, u may wana read up on why .
Also you are implying that AMD's are not stable that just isnt true.
hm Intel i cant think of any pros for buying a P4 , if you want intel buy a P3 they are more efficient that the mess they made of the p4.
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This will get some interesting comments. I prefer the Intel over AMD. They are both great. I like stability and the fact that I dont need alot of extra cooling or noise. The majority of the hardcore gamers I know happen to have AMD. They are definitely good. They do run hot so cool em well if you decide on AMD.. Intel is also more expensive so that may factor in but for me I would spend the extra cash.
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It is a known fact that if one is going to run hot it will be amd. Cmon you all know this. just because yours does not run hot does not mean amd is not the hotter of the two.
I read review after review when getting my cpu and I did not see where amd beat the pants out of intel. I must have missed those sites.
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I have an AMD and i must say that I love it. I have read that the reason for the AMD overheat problem is that when an AMD processor is bought it is already maxed out to it's potential. However, when an Intel processor is bought overclocking is required to get the max potential out of it. And when you overclock an Intel processor you'd better be sure you have the same type of cooling required for an AMD.
Hot or not I go with AMD so I don't have to do a lot fooling around with me system.
Check out www.tomshardware.com for some good reviews. It's all going to come down to what you feel you can handle and deal with in the long run.
If I'm wrong about the above I'm sure that someone will let me know. :)
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Ive had both and the P4 seems to outperform Athlon on Graphics and speed, which is what you want, unfortunatly P4 is a lot more expensive, so if you've got the money, get a P4, if your more on a budget, you'll still get great performance out of an Athlon.
If you really want speed, get a P4 with the 850 Chipset MoBo (RDRAM). It flys. Ive got one and everything runs super fast. Now RDRAM (PC800)is only $80 for 256MB, which isnt too bad.
Get good cooling no matter what you get. You'll get better performance and longevity.
Also, AMD uses a huge amount of juice, get a Good Power Supply.
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You pay more for Intel but that is what I prefer. Both need adequate cooling for life and the p4 is not so power hungry as listed above. Either way you cant go wrong so I guess it depends on what you want to spend and what you want to do with your machine.
OS
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Go with the new Penitum 4 3ghz if you have the money. AMD is cheaper then Intel, but overall the Intel Pentium 4 is better then the AMD Atholon XP
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Forget it all.
You need to decide how much money you want to spend.
AMD and intel don't differ that much in processor capabillity.
Intel is more expensive than AMD but has a fare better warranty on its processors than AMD.
Choose whisely
Greetings!
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OMG, how many times are we going to argue over this? The top-end Athlons and P4 will have performance differences, one day AMD is faster, the next, P4, and besides, the differences are minimal, when YOU're using the computer, no difference can be felt. Only in benchmakrs, can someone see the +/- 20 performance points. BOTTOM LINE: have money and want the CURRENT fastest CPU, go wih P4, if you want a solid performer and keep some money go AMD (their new chips come out in a few month), as for overheating, unless you OC it, the factory HS and fan will keep everything running smoothly.
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Yup, most should opt for the Athlon, as the price difference can't be ignored. Personally, I don't trust AMD. Myself and friends of mine have had many bad experiences with them, going back to K6. Either way, if you OC, don't skimp and get a nice cooling system.
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Intel is more expensive because of the name because its been around longer, i go for the mom and pops company CPU! AMD!! all the way!
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wow i had no idea what a heated (no pun intended) argument this is...money is somewhat of an issue which is originally why i looked into the Athlon XP. i was thinking to get an Athlon XP 18 or 1900 and i had planned on adding another case fan, getting a copper shim, and upgrading the standard CPU fan to a mega-fan to take care of heating problems...but then theres the P4 on the other hand which i suppose i wouldn't need as much cooling devices so i'd save some money there...overall im torn as to where to take my system. intel has now introduced hyper-threading and such and are a bigger generally more reliable option from what im hearing. this is contrasted however with all the good reviews i can find on Athlons that say they outperform P4's and area also cheaper...i suppose im leaning toward an athlon...but thanks for all the great comments and any more would be appreciated
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AMD. Simply excellent. Great value too.
Intel. Also excellent. at the top end, P4's are faster, but only because they have a 533 bus and 1066 memory.
If you ran a P4 with plain old ddr, the Athlon would hammer it with the same memory. But why would anyone do that?
It all boils down to, do you have less than $1000 to spend? If so, get the Athlon (should hit around $600 for a good setup) if you want the P4, expect to hit arount eh $1000 mark.
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Just to add my 2 cents, for gaming I would prefer AMD. The money you save on buying..say an 1800+ vs a P4 1.8 you could put towards a better video card. I think (completely unproven theory) that an 1800+ w/ a Geforce4 Ti4200 would outperform a P4 2.0 w/ a Geforce4 mx 440.
I guess what I am saying is that if you spend a little less on your CPU you can get more bang on your other components while staying within your budget.
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If you get an Athlon XP make sure:
1. The power supply is AMD approved & at least 350Watts
2. The mainboard is a name brand (like MSI)with a stable chipset and AMD recommended
and you'll be fine
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If you get P4 you must also get rambus or the P3 is faster. The question comes down to how much do you want to spend.
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