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To P4 or not to P4


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Could you guys give me some advice?

I'm going to upgrade(again) and I need to choose between an AMD 1.33 with DDR or a P4 1.4 with Rambus or DDR (both around the same price with MB) . I originally set on the AMD which according to Tomshardware owns the P4 but I've started reading some reviews on Windows XP which say its good meaning its stable meaning it doesn't crash every 5 min. I don't know much about XP yet just that it has a new interface and it combines the best elements of Win2K with Win Mil and I read somewhere that its been optimized for the P4 (Microsoft being in bed with Intel and all) which made me start considering that. I'm excited by the idea of a more stable system, though I won't hold my breath. Also I know nobody knows much about XP right now but do you think BCM will run it? Like to hear your thoughts.

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I've had a chance to use XP its not a bad OS a bit memory intensive but good all the same, I believe it probably will run BCM as it supports 95/98/nt4 and 2000 applications. but as far as the AMD 's INTEL debate goes check some of the other threads as the debate has been raging their for a little while at this stage....

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Hell, from what I've heard, AMD's chips ALREADY counter the P4.

..From what I've heard, of course. Anyways, my experience with AMD has been crystal-smooth so far. The only problems I've had was a lack of a bootable system (caused by a POS broken heat sink.. both processor and heat sink had to be replaced, wasn't a problem with the processor itself though), and random rebooting after that (because my 250Watt PSU was too dinky.. "I'm givin' her all she's got Cap'n!"). Aside from those 2 annoying little niggles which were more my end than anything else, my AMD Thunderbird 1.1Ghz has been sweet as sugar so far. Plus, don't P4s cost like 5 billion dollars more than an equal AMD chip or something? Okay, so I'm exaggerating, but on NCIX.Com, a P4 1.3Ghz costs at least $200 more than an equal AMD Thunderbird 1.3Ghz (in Canadian dollars, of course).

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Read the "ADVICE NEEDED BUYING NEW PC" thread in this forum. Also:

This is out of COMPUTER GAMING WORLD 06/2001 issue. Tech Medics.

Q. WHICH PROCESSOR SHOULD I BUY

I'm thinking of ordering a system from Alienware and I was gonna get a machine with an AMD T-Bird 1.2GHz processor. But they also have an Intel Pentium 4 for about the same price. Which processor would you choose, and have you heard of either processor having any issues with games?

A. Since they're the ones that are gonna build your machine, I forwarded your message along to Gerald Zapata, Sales Manager at Alienware. This is what he had to say:

"Alienware has extensively tested both processors, and as a result, both processors are very stable and compatible with all your current games. But Intel's Pentium 4 will eventually outperform even the fastest AMD processors currently available as soon as games optimized for it are released. The Pentium 4 also uses the fastest Front-Side Bus af all processors that are available now, 400MHz. Another good thing to keep in mind is that the Pentium 4 has been optimized for Microsoft's upcoming Windows XP, which means even more potential for extra power from the processor."

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quote:

Intel's Pentium 4 will eventually outperform even the fastest AMD processors currently available as soon as games optimized for it are released.

That's just not gonna happen. Remember Streaming SIMD? No? Thats because nobody cared or "optimized" for it. The same thing was said about the Pentium 3. The truth is, Intel has to keep changing it to keep up with AMD. What we HAVE seen is many games optimized for 3DNow (Which dosnt really matter any more) because it stuck around while Intel was changing around all their "special features". Optimized or unoptimized, AMD has the chips with the most RAW POWER. In all the tests that you'll read about (Unless the results are rigged), you'll find that the 1.3Ghz AMD STILL outpaces the 1.7Ghz Pentium 4. That is just SAD. Then there's the prices as well. You can spend $450 for a 1.7Ghz P4, or $200 on a 1.3Ghz Tbird that still outpaces its P4 1.7Ghz counterpart. That said, opt for the AMD chip. There will be no "long run" because AMD is close behind with even more raw power while Intel is simply beating around the bush with a plethora of useless jerry riggings.

Here's specifically what I recommend:

Mainboard: Asus A7A266 ($150)

CPU: AMD 1200Mhz w/ 266Mhz bus ($180)

RAM: 256MB PC2100 266MHZ ECC DDR DIMM ($130)

For CPU cooling, I'd recommend an "Alpha PAL6035" ($30) with Arctic Silver II thermal compound ($10). You can pick up all that stuff from www.2cooltek.com. I've shopped there on numerous occasions, so I'll vouch for 'em. Also, the prices on the Mobo, CPU, and RAM are from www.mwave.com. Another place I frequently shop at (Although I Will-Call it, since the warehouse is near where I live).

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Short and Sweet:

An AMD 1.33 ghz BEATS the Pentium 4 1.7ghz in ALL benchmarks (aka, performance tests).

A Palomino chips will leave intel crying for their lost money.

When I see that the so called "P4 superiority thanks to software optimized for using the P4" I see another Intel marketting scheme. After all, wasnt that the same lame excuse they used with the pentium 3's? And guess what! AMD still beat the heck out Intel for 3+ years in a row. I've yet to see a software "optimized" for a P2 or P3.

Want quality, go AMD. Want marketing, go Intel.

Im building my rig soon (as soon as the $#$@# credit card arrives in the mail that is ARGH!), and it will be AMD. I aint going to Intel unless they give me a 2.5ghz chip for free.

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They will probably try that line in marketing ---> "$2500 dollars for a cool case and the best 3d card you can find with a 2.5 GHz chip thrown in for free". LOL

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I read that somewhere:

quote:

Q. Intel's P4 are now up to 1.7ghz. If everything is going so well, why are you still at the 1.33ghz Athlon Thunderbird?

We consider the 1.33ghz powerful enough to beat Intel's latest processors. We believe in people's logic in that they'll see the true difference. And we also think the market isn't ready for such powerful processors.

It was not exactly what was written, but it's about it.

Processor adaptation? Sure. Just like the MMX technology.

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Thanks for the advice guys.

I think I've decided to go with the AMD 1.33. Its sad that it outperforms the P4 1.7 which costs so much and by the time XP is released in October, even if it is optimized for the P4 it will most likely be obsolete.

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Plasmic: Ive found the BEST price to be at www.micropro.com

do NOT buy the RAM from them. They use really crappy brand RAM for some reason (the rest of the stuff they sell RULES). Buy your RAM (and cheaper) from www.crucial.com

do get a 7200 rpm hard drive, otherwise you will be wasting a lot of speed by using a 5200 rpm HDD.

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