Help decide between CPUs

depending on how my marks go... i may be getting a new computer. After giving me a $2000 budget to start planning, i have come to the tough part. Picking the CPU

Intel P4 2.0GHz $469.00
Asus P4B533
or
AMD XP 2100+ $440.00
Asus A7N266-WA


Here is what else I'm plannin':
256 PC2700 DDR-RAM
Geforce4 Ti 4200 128RAm
Creative Live 5.1
350W PSU
LG 16X DVD ROM
LG 40X 12X 40 CDRW
Mator 80G 7200 and a 20G 7200 (tha latter for backup)

Since they r roughy the same price, which one will perform better wit their motherboard. I also heard that the P4s work better wit R-RAM.

TechSpot Price Watch

Athlon XP 2100+ (1.73GHz, 256KB, 266MHz, Socket A) - Retail Box
(AMD) - (AXP2100BOX) $189.00

Intel Pentium4 Processor 2.20GHz, 400MHz FSB, Socket 478
(Intel) - (RK80532PC049512) $234.95

CPUs, Chipsets and Mobos > R.I.P. Rambus (Intel to drop support of Rambus)
http://www.3dspotlight.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=283&highlight=rambus

these r in canadian prices. And i cant afford the 2.2Ghz witout going out of my budget. So its Athlon 2100+ Xp or 2.0Ghz P4

I see you're getting an Nforce board. If you're getting all those other components just go with the A7V333. The board you're thinking of now won't support your PC2700 DDR anyway, it will run at PC2100.
But that's only if you're going AMD. Which I don't reccomend.
Intel has the support of all of the major companies in computing. In other words: they're more compatibleand work better with just about everything.
Also Mic with $45 you can buy some more RAM or upgrade another component!

Care to explain that ?

Compatibility issues nowadays aren't what they used to be. Getting an Athlon won't prevent you from using any piece of software out there.

Hardware wise, most issues relate to Via chipsets ( for AMD or Intel ) or it might also be an issue with a certain brand as we can see with Per's problem to get his Epox & ATI cards to live together.

PS. any news from Per ?

Top_Gun.

If you decide on the XP: spend the $$ you save on cooling fans. I'd also consider the PNY GF4 Ti4200 64mbDDR as it is cheaper & runs faster than the 128mb. The $$ saved there can go towards more system RAM.

Just some thoughts,

All the benchmarks I have seen so far:
the P4 2.0GHzA beats the Athlon Xp 2100+ in most tests (it changes to bout 50/50 wit the Athlon Xp 2200+). However, the P4 had R-Ram instead of DDR-Ram. What will perform better under tha DDR-Ram?

One more thing, which has a better FSB? A year ago when i got this piece of crap (compared to today ), between a Athlon tm 1.2Ghz and a p4 1.7 Ghz ($1200 to $3000), the sales person said that the athlon has a 266 FSB and the p4 400 fsb. Yet he said that the p4 only runs under a single pump. Now I been reading that 2day p4 r running quadpumps to get the 400 and 533 FSBs. Is the Athlon Xp still runnin under 266 and which is better?

to be honest, I have been using both platforms and have found them both to be excellent.

Yippee - back to the old debate

Pentium 4s have higher Mhz ratings compared to athlons, they also run faster Bus speeds (400Mhz = 100x4, and 533Mhz = 133x4). However, they only have high MHz ratings because they do less instructions per clock cycle.

Athlons are lots cheaper, run cheaper memory (DDR266or333 as opposed to P4 RD-RAM, which is needed to get the most from P4 BTW.). On a downside though Athlons run so hot you will be able to save money on your heating bill

So...in tha end, should i buy tha 2.0GHz A or the XP 2100+ (since they r in tha same price range)

I would go with the P4a 2.0Ghz. That northwood core should allow an overclock to 2.2 or 2.3 which means it will beat the Athlon by even more
But thats before the Thoroughbreds...
Still waiting for the AMD Operton/Hammer myself.

As one said... if you choose to pick AMD..you better have some cash ready for all the fans you got to install.
I use INTEL only cause of the cooling.

A friend of mine bought a AMD Athlon 1.4 ghz, and the machine just rebooted every 30 minutes.... why ? well we found out that the heat was at 50 + all the time...

Then i got him to buy a fan for an 2ghz proccessor !! just to make sure we had this bastard.
Guess what ? didnt help...well it helped a bit..but still it was at 45 degrees !!

Sure AMD Athlon XP has probably a 1 % better performance in games, but when the heat starts going...you will loose that performance part...pretty fast !!!

Most AMD proccessors are just old proccessors who have been tweaked. The one my friend bought was actually an 1ghz....

Installing only one AMD based system isn't enough to judge the whole series.

It is a known fact that AMD processors need a very good cooling but it goes for any CPU above 1GHZ. The bottom line is both are good buys. Just go to a store & see which is available & pick that one.

If you know what you are doing, neither CPU will overheat nor need a Turbo Jet fan to cool it. Just make sure you have good thermal paste ( Artic Silver comes to mind here ) & just arrange your IDE cables making sure they don't get in the way of the airflow to & from your CPU.

The AMD / INTEL debate is beat & tired ( really ). At this level they are both worthy components ( opponents ? ).

Yeah...if you are assembling your own computer. But you shouldn't need to open the case of a finished assembled computer. Of course thats something everyone does anyways..but to determine who is best between intel and amd.

With intel you dont need any cooling gel to get it to perform. And when the prices between intel and amd is as close as it is today.. INTEL is the obvious choice in my opionion.

In this case, Top_gun is building his PC so if he does things right ( as I'm sure he will ) there won't be any need to open the case again only to upgrade certain components.

Any person in his right mind wouldn't buy a 200+ CPU & not put a cooling system on it. Bottom line is both perform very well & have very good bang for buck ratios period.

I see you are a ferocious Intel defender ( I think they can stand up for themselves ) so I won't even bother arguing.

PS. I'm not an AMD fanboy or anything, I just go with what provides the best performance for what I am willing to pay ( be it Intel, AMD, Cyrix, IDt or even MAC ).

hehe yah.. a bit..after spending huge cash on intel..you kinda treat it as your own son !

Make sure to post his graduation pictures here -> A picture of you & where you post from