Need some straight answers...

[eastley]

I need help. I have previously posted on here before about what CPU to get, I still cant decide so I need some expert help. these are the CPU's I have been thinking about.

AMD Athlon XP 3200+
AMD Athlon64 3000+
AMD Athlon64 3200+
P4 3.0c 800Mhz Bus (if i can get one where i live)

And once this is decided I need a Good motherboard. othing to expensive, like over $250 $AUS.
I also am a fan of AMD so i would like one of the AMD chips. And I dont over clock, my PC is just for general use and gaming.

 

[Degrador]

Gave up on the a64 2800+ with the MSI board? If I was buying a comp now, that's what I'd be going with. Either that or an a64 3000+...

 

[eastley]

Whats wrong with the A64 3200+??? Remember I dont over clock so if you said the 2800+ because it over clocks well then no thanks. I'm after a good stock speed rig.

 

[QuantumFlux]

I'm going to get an Athlon 64 3000+ and an Epox 8KDA3J (don't you love easy-to-remember mobo names ).

Edit: Forgot the bloody '+'.

 

[eastley]

Why not get the A64 3200??
And i will be getting the K8T Neo-FISR i reckon.

 

[Degrador]

There's nothing wrong with the 3200+ for stock, or the 2800+, for that matter. It all just comes down to budget. Weren't you wanting to get the ram and psu with that?

 

[Vette73]

I would go with a A64 3000+

It runs at rthe same Mhz as a 3200+ but is cheaper. Match that up with the Chaintech nForce3 250 board and you got a great bang for your buck system.

 

[eastley]

Yeah I am getting RAM and PSU with that..
Antec 430 watt true power (think that will handle the load) my ritmo 450 watt wont i dont reckon.
And probably a Geil 512MB PC3200 DDR RAM (ram aint suppose to go well in that motherboard though.)

 

[Degrador]

As I was saying in the other thread, if you're wanting good performance in latest generation games (DX9 games), I think you'll be better off with 1024MB memory and a 2800+ than 512 and a 3200+. Balance in a system is always the key.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Degrador
As I was saying in the other thread, if you're wanting good performance in latest generation games (DX9 games), I think you'll be better off with 1024MB memory and a 2800+ than 512 and a 3200+. Balance in a system is always the key.

Yea but is it a lot easier to upgrade Ram then it is a CPU. That and Ram prices are slowly dropping so getting a 3000+ and 512mb NOW is better then 2800+ and a gig now.

 

[Degrador]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Yea but is it a lot easier to upgrade Ram then it is a CPU. That and Ram prices are slowly dropping so getting a 3000+ and 512mb NOW is better then 2800+ and a gig now.

Yeah, perhaps, but I think eastley was saying a while ago he didn't want to upgrade in a while (correct me if I'm wrong), and being on a budget at the moment if you want to future proof to not require upgrading for a couple of years, then I'd still suggest going with a gig. If you might be upgrading in the future, then yes you probably would be better off getting a 3000+ or 3200+ with 512MB of ram now and a gig later.

 

[eastley]

Yeah im hoping this upgrade will last a while, I was going to go with the A64 3200+ 512 MB DDR Ram and in a few weeks get another stick of 512. But the perofrmance difference aint alot between the A64 3200+ and 3000+ so thats the only thing I have to decide now.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

As you've seen, the 3000+ is very close in performance to the 3200+. I'd suggest saving some bank by getting the 3000+, and investing the difference towards that full 1gb of ram, because the extra ram is going to make a bigger impact on system performance than the extra L2 cache.

 

[eastley]

If i was to get the A64 3200+ 2.2Ghz with 512kb cache there is a little bit more performance difference. And either way I go I will be getting More Ram in another 2 weeks anyway (I Hope).

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: eastley
If i was to get the A64 3200+ 2.2Ghz with 512kb cache there is a little bit more performance difference. And either way I go I will be getting More Ram in another 2 weeks anyway (I Hope).

Yes you are right, since you specify the newer 512kb cache 3200+ that would make a very nice performance difference over the 3000+ actually. My bad for not considering that you were eyeing the newer model, which is the smart way to go.

 

[eastley]

Well its down to the computer store today to see if I can get that new model. If I cant then i'll most liekly get the A64 3000+. I didnt really know there was a new model until a few days ago.

 

[RussianSensation]

Since XP3200+ is the slowest of all of those, and doesnt cost a lot less, it's discounted.

Since A64 3000+ and A64 3200+ are within 2-3% of one another at the most and gaming is largely unaffected by the 1mb cache, and considering A64 3000+ costs at least $50US less, it's my pick between those 2.

So, for gaming and office apps => A64 3000+ is my pick
For everything else P4 3.0 is my pick

Edit: if you consider 3200+ 512kb cache and 2.2ghz, its faster at gaming than the "old" A643200+ so if you are willing to spend a little more on it, sure go ahead. Also I think 1 gig of ram should be the minimum for gaming at this point in time.