Basic CPU & Mobo Questions

[Chaosgasket]

Okay I am beginning to look at building my new computer and I had a few questions.

What are some opinions on Athlon XP vs Pentium 4?
Which is faster? Which has better prices?

What are some good motherboards for either?

Also what are some good internet sites for a newbie with some basic computer experience (I know basic info and have installed several components on my current computer).

Thanks for your opinions and info.

 

[tkteo]

I personally do not think speed is that much of an issue, given today's clock speeds. I do prefer a Pentium 4 because it has less energy consumption, and less heat generated, than the Athlon. (And you get a really decent heatsink if you buy the retail version of the P4).

Can't tell you much about motherboards, because I cannot remember exact models, but I have a bias for Asustek and Abit.

For sites, the only three I really visit are Techspot, Anandtech and CDRinfo. Tweak3D, occasionally.

 

[SNGX1275]

Just surf around the forums, do searches in the forums (search feature at top under banner). There is no cut and dry answer to your questions, but there are many many threads/posts that deal with these issues. Just got to take some time and look around.

 

[xp0gam3r]

a gd CPu would be an Athlon ( if your a gamer) otherwise...I would recommend Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 model as for a dual core, its a gd price. As for motherboards, I would always go for an AsRock (gamers in particular) but for a good price Mobo, go for Sapphire or Asus!

Gd luck

Xp0gam3r

Edit: Please look at the date of threads before posting

 

[blckeagls]

For a processor:
I would get a Core 2 Duo. If you want to search google on some benchmarks, It shows that the Core 2 Duo outperforms almost all other processors.

But the truth of the matter is, what will you be doing with the system? If you want to play high end games with amazing graphics, your biggest worry will be the video card and ram. I would suggest, for budget reasons, a Geforce 7600GT or 7800GT, maybe one of the GS's depending on your budget. If this computer is just for work, and surfing the internet just get like an ASUS or Intel Motherboard, intel if you are getting a intel processor, with an onboard video card. For a gaming video card, i would suggest 20 pixel pipelines, to help get you more FPS.

Edit: Please look at the date of threads before posting

 

[xp0gam3r]

For a processor:
I would get a Core 2 Duo. If you want to search google on some benchmarks, It shows that the Core 2 Duo outperforms almost all other processors.

But the truth of the matter is, what will you be doing with the system? If you want to play high end games with amazing graphics, your biggest worry will be the video card and ram. I would suggest, for budget reasons, a Geforce 7600GT or 7800GT, maybe one of the GS's depending on your budget. If this computer is just for work, and surfing the internet just get like an ASUS or Intel Motherboard, intel if you are getting a intel processor, with an onboard video card. For a gaming video card, i would suggest 20 pixel pipelines, to help get you more FPS.

Dude...your are wrong in sayin tht if ur gan play high end games....most important things are ram n GPU!!! RAM!!!!??!?!?! CPU N GPU r more important then ram (doesnt mean tht ram isnt important), but he needs to think in gettin a gd MOBO, CPU thn a GD CPU. After tht, ram. Look at it this way, Quake 4 is a high end game, but you can play it wit a Core 2 Duo E6300 and an nvidia GeForce 7600GS with ONLY 512MB ram, without it gettin stucky.

 

[Boogityboo04]

Look at it this way, Quake 4 is a high end game, but you can play it wit a Core 2 Duo E6300 and an nvidia GeForce 7600GS with ONLY 512MB ram, without it gettin stucky.

You could also play it "gd" with integrated graphics, a C2D and 1GB of RAM. In fact, I did until recently. I hate to burst your bubble, but RAM is probably more important then having the latest and "gdest" in graphics cards. Until the 8800GT came out, graphics technology was usually behind CPU, and the graphics card and RAM were two performance bottlenecks.

Sorry for getting of topic.

 

[wolfram]

lol guys, this thread is from 2003 :haha:

 

[tifc8lraz]

Dude...your are wrong in sayin tht if ur gan play high end games....most important things are ram n GPU!!! RAM!!!!??!?!?! CPU N GPU r more important then ram (doesnt mean tht ram isnt important), but he needs to think in gettin a gd MOBO, CPU thn a GD CPU. After tht, ram. Look at it this way, Quake 4 is a high end game, but you can play it wit a Core 2 Duo E6300 and an nvidia GeForce 7600GS with ONLY 512MB ram, without it gettin stucky.

Memory and GPU are the most important things in a computer. You can get away with having a slightly dated processor, whereas you are screwed if you have a little amount of memory. 512Mb is the minimum requirement and will lag some withought more memory.

 

[wolfram]

You're correct Cfitzarl. I currently have only 512MB RAM, and I can just play Revolt lol

No Battlefield 2 or FEAR until I get my new system.

 

[xp0gam3r]

You're correct Cfitzarl. I currently have only 512MB RAM, and I can just play Revolt lol

No Battlefield 2 or FEAR until I get my new system.

You are actualli wrong, I'm atm playin F.E.A.R on a Core 2 Duo E6300, with ATi Radeon X1300 512MB, AND ONLY 512 RAM, and everythin is on high quality, n it doesnt lag atal! simple as that....min is 512MB now for some games, but F.E.A.R, ther u go, im playin it at 512MB ram n everythin on High, so I no need to upgrade unless I'm goin to play battlefield 2142 which has a min of 768mb and a recommended of 1.5GB - so its totalli fine

 

[xp0gam3r]

Btw...ny1 no hw to use VB, coz i need help in somethin...

I created a button and would like to know how to make this button to a command. That command is, when the button is clicked, I want it to enter text(that I choose) into a textbox!!


Urgent Help!!

 

[tifc8lraz]

You are actualli wrong, I'm atm playin F.E.A.R on a Core 2 Duo E6300, with ATi Radeon X1300 512MB, AND ONLY 512 RAM, and everythin is on high quality, n it doesnt lag atal! simple as that....min is 512MB now for some games, but F.E.A.R, ther u go, im playin it at 512MB ram n everythin on High, so I no need to upgrade unless I'm goin to play battlefield 2142 which has a min of 768mb and a recommended of 1.5GB - so its totalli fine

If you had more memory, you could play on higher specs, btw what's your FEAR resolution?

 

[xp0gam3r]

My PC

I got Core 2 Duo E6300 at 1.86GHz, Ati radeon x1300 512MB, 512MB ram and i play F.E.A.R on high quality wit a resolution of 1280 x 1024 (my LCD resolution) and it doesnt lag a single tiny bit, if im thinkin of playin Battlefield 2142 soon, i might upgrade my RAM as it is required for it.

 

[xp0gam3r]

Help

hey dude...du no hw i can upload my software to the internet...I want to place it in a site were people will be able to download it...any ideas>>

 

[tifc8lraz]

hey dude...du no hw i can upload my software to the internet...I want to place it in a site were people will be able to download it...any ideas>>

Start up your own thread in the software section of the forums.

 

[wolfram]

You are actualli wrong, I'm atm playin F.E.A.R on a Core 2 Duo E6300, with ATi Radeon X1300 512MB, AND ONLY 512 RAM, and everythin is on high quality, n it doesnt lag atal! simple as that....min is 512MB now for some games, but F.E.A.R, ther u go, im playin it at 512MB ram n everythin on High, so I no need to upgrade unless I'm goin to play battlefield 2142 which has a min of 768mb and a recommended of 1.5GB - so its totalli fine

Well, maybe your PC can do that. But with my system, BF2 lags a little (the GPU can handle it very well), because even with 1GB RAM, there was some lag, especially with larger levels.
But that's gonna change soon....