Good AMD CPU?

[fredbass]

Originally Posted by Grrbob25

hmmm..... right now I'm looking at the Athlon 64 X2 4200, but the socket AM2 one, if i can find a Ati mobo with a crossfire chipset, thats a good deal for AM2, i might be in business, but I'm not paying 180 for a mobo, they can forget that


also, anyone know what ATI chipset i would need to run a x300 and, to crossfire a pair of x1600's???

Well I've got the Abit AT8 32X xfire board with the X2 4400+/939 and I'm happy so far, but I guess it's out of your price range.

[Grrbob25]

contary to what i JUST posted (sorry i'm very fickle) i actually like the athlon 4000 alot, the dual-core thing would only really help during muli-tasking which I dont do alot of, plus its almost 100 dollars less, which sorta saves me


so here the set up as it would be (this is most likely the FINAL edition as it fits perfectly into my price range and would make me one happy camper.)

Athlon 64 4000 2.40ghtz, 2000mhtz FSB, 1mb l2 cache
Ati Radeon x300 128mb (only temporary untill I get enough to buy a x1600 PRO, no money spent on this one, i got it from a friend)
1gb RAM
win xp home

The Core 2 duo is much different than what you might think. It's not two seperate processors that run different tasks. It can do that, but it's more like two seperate processors that split the load on 1 task at the same time. This allows the processors to share the load 50/50 resulting in much less power consumption and reduced heat build up from an overworked single processor.
Therefore, a 2.4 x 2 core 2 duo is more like a 4.8Ghz in a way

[THE_MASK]

Spot on SS.

[Grrbob25]

i wish I could afford it!

Originally Posted by Grrbob25

i wish I could afford it!

They aren't that expensive. That is why Intel is just wiping the floor with AMD right now. It's an affordable processor and it is much better than anything AMD has out there right now. Even the low end Core 2 duo's are fast. I think the slowest one runs at 1.6GhZ or 1.8ghz x 2 and can compete with an Intel P4 Extreme Edition 3.6 and win. Or compete with the AMD 4600 X2 and win according to the benchmarks that you can look up on the net. Also, that 1.6 or 1.8Ghz core 2 duo processor is nearly $300-$400 cheaper than either of those two. It's a no brainer on what to spend your money on IMHO! Just google the benchmarks and look at the prices of what you can afford.

When AMD comes out with something better (which might not be for a year or two) then put your money with them. That's my plan anyways. I'm going with who has the best techno right now and will worry about who has the best techno in about 2 years or so before upgrading to a new PC. This gives me time to allow the kinks in Windows Vista to get worked out and see what video cards are going to support the new DX10 that is suppose to be released sometime with Vista. I'd say it will be another 1-2 years or so before it has all come together. That has been the "average" time that it's taken in the past for new operating systems and hardware to become a bit more perfected.

[Grrbob25]

the ATi XPRESS 200 Crossfire is compatiable with the x1600 in crossfire, am I wrong? I would get a Xpress 3200 If I really had to, but if i can get away with a x200 Ill be happy

[toryu]

I'm using the Athlon 64 3700+, and having a great time with it. My rig is as follows:

CPU: Athlon 64 3700, socket 754
MB: DFI Lanparty NF3 250GB
Ram: 1gig PC3200
Vid: Geforce 6800GT, AGP 8
HD: 80Gig primary, 120gig secondary drive, both Ultra DMA5

Other non-speed related stuff:
Case: Antec SOHO big grey metallic windowed thing
PS: 470W Antec
CD: Plextor DVD+RW primary, 52x CD-rom secondary
Monitor: 19inch Sony LCD

It's a fast rig. I originally had a DFI Lanparty NF2 and an Athlon XP3200, and got the Geforce vid card for that. So it's an AGP board. When I was next upgrading, I didn't want to ditch the vid card, so I was stuck with AGP motherboards. I had a good experience with the DFI lp2 board, so I opted for another DFI board, this time NF3. I got it for $99. The CPU cost me $200+, can't remember right now. It's been a while.

Overall, the performance is great. I can't complain. I have room for another gig of ram, I can always put more storage in, in the shape of larger, faster hard drives (the DFI NF3 board gives you the option of Ultra ATA or SATA), so I'm sorted for the next while. The Geforce 6800GT wasn't on the market awfully long, but it's fast as hell. I'm glad I bought one when I did. I won't be hurting myself to remain with it. The next upgrade I make will have to be toward a PCI-E solution, and I can't afford to do that for a long time

[Immacolata]

Do as subserpent suggests. Check out how much a newfangled intel "conroe" / Core Duo setup will cost you. It is superior to AMD's offerings in almost every way at the moment. Unless it is hideously more expensive than an AMD setup, why go for 2nd best?

Note: I run an AMD X2 setup myself, and have been AMD user since 2001. But I'd swich with the bat on an eyelid. I stayed away from intel because the P4 was crap and they got cocky with their silly rambus shenanigans. The new "P5" seems to be really good, however.

[Denson]

I have a feling that my PC becomes a little old & slow
Anyway, i'm also trapped with AGP.
Upgraded from Xp1800+ to Barton 2600+ 12 moths ago ( 1 year for CPU is like ice age for earth ) and after some time changed the GF 5200FX for GF 6600 GT by GALAXY ( stock oc 525mhz ) so for now it's enough for me.
COD2, BF2 works fine on 1024x768 with high details. In SH3 i get 40 FPS on average so for now i'll wait maybe a year, when Vista, DX10 and DualCore will become more common.I hope they won't change socket or any technology in next 12 moths. I'm trapped now in socket 462 and AGP, never thought that PCX will gain popularity so quickly and that after P4 showed it's limits and everyone wondered what Inet will do ( some sayed they'll combine P M with something new) they bring a Core Duo battleship. I'm sure that AMD has somethig to counter Intel supremacy in some time, but at the moment any AMD fan must admit that Intel Core Duo is reeaally fast and OC well wich is the problem in recent AMD CPU's (see Tomshardware for more info)

[Grrbob25]

I would go with conroe too, but the mobo's are expensive, few that i can find have a ati chipset that supports crossfire, and most only use ddr2, which would be costly to upgrade from my current ddr based system, so its over 300 for the mobo, the memory plus the price of the cpui, which makes it WAY out of my price range