what cpu?

[memories2002]

im upgrading my p3-450mhz...and i cant decide between the following:
Pentium4 1.6a
Pentium4 1.9
AthlonXP 1800
i plan to go for an asus motherboard that supports ddr 333 so that i can use 333ddr whrn it becomes available. i do not plan to overclock much, will only oc when games absolutely demand it, coz my gaming is 800x600! all this will be paired with [mostly] a gf4 ti4200 128mb gainward. what cpu should i go for ? if i wont upgrade for the next 3 years, will the p4 be a better choice for the sse2 support even though the xp1800 currently outperforms the 2.0ghz p4 ?
i need some opinions on this, i have to finalise within a couple of days!
thanks a lot!

 

[Banditbanger]

OK, first things first:

1. As far as the CPU goes, if you don't plan to upgrade for 3 years, buy Intel since AMD's overclock poorly (maybe 1.6A and overclock right away).
2. What do you mean when DDR 333 becomes available (I have it in my system)?
3. I don't quite get the combination of Geforce4 4200 (I have the same card from Gainward) and 800x600 gaming???? (is it the monitor or you just like to have your card's power go to waste?)
4. I have an Asus P4B533-V and it's a great board. Go for it if the price permits.

 

[spanky]

if u do not overclock, then the xp is the way to go. if u plan on overclocking... the 1.6a is the way to go.

 

[paralazarguer]

Get the 1.6a. If you run the front side bus at 133 at the default voltage it will run at 2.13Ghz ROCK SOLID. No reboot in three weeks. If you get the ASUS P4S533 board for cheap you can get a cheap stick of DDR333. I got the cheapest stick I can find and it runs fine in that board at DDR400.

 

[snow patrol]

What the guy with the numbers said

With any luck you'll get 2.4Ghz + with a decent 1.6a. Plus you'll save money which you can put elsewhere.

 

[memories2002]

okay...heres whats available to me.
i can get the ASUS p4s333FXL [sis645 chipset] at a decent price but ddr 333 is v.v. expensive [if found] in india. yet. so ill go for the 266 at the moment. and im thinking....what if i go for the p4s533 but put a 1.6a now, and put in a 2.26 when it becomes cheaper ?
and abt the ti4200, i have a 15" samsung samtron but im going for that card coz it will last me another 2-3 years. im importing the card, not purchasing it from my city bombay [also known as mumbai]. currently here geforce3s cost well over 400$ US !!
what do you think abt the p4s333 and p4s533 asus boards?
how about gigabyte or dfi or msi boards ? which one will be the best ?

 

[paralazarguer]

why get a 2.26 later when you can get a 1.6 now and run it on the 533 bus for 2.1?

 

[Blain]

If you are not going to upgrade for another 3 YEARS, go for a 2.4GHz PIV, at least.
Then just try and imagine what a 2.4GHz PIV will be selling for over in the "For Sale/Trade" forum, three years down the road.

Besides, what games or apps. need a CPU over 1.6GHz anyway?

BTW, Remember what affect "Supply & Demamd" has on prices.

 

[rancherlee]

XP1600+ (agoia stepping)
Asus K7N 266C Nforce board (no matter WHAT fsb you set it too the PCI/AGP STAYS at 33/66mhz)
PC2700 ram (DDR333)

get it running at stock speed (1.4gig) then start cranking up the FSB!
Everyone with this setup is hitting 167fsb/167mem (334DDR) with stock or a slight .05-.1volt bump core voltage.
you end up with a XP2134+ @ 1747mhz with a perfect 33/66 pci/agp bus
Plenty fast to hang with a 1.6a@2.4

 

[jdurg]

I've got my 1.8A running at 2.52 GHz. Even more amazing is the fact that my chip was packaged on January 14th, 2002. So even the early chips can overclock like crazy. I haven't had an overclocking reboot ever. (My only crashes have been because of poor nVidia drivers not getting along with WindowsXP.)

Also, there is some software out there that will even eat up a 2.0 GHz computer. Any 3D rendering software will eat up CPU cycles, and emulators will do the same. If you use emulators a lot, then you'll know what I mean by emulators taking up a lot of CPU power.

 

[memories2002]

um how is an asus p4s333 ? its kinda cheap here..
sis 645 chipset, i dont know any other p4 ddr333 chipsets..but it doesnt support 533mhz fsb right...?
hows the board overall ?

 

[Banditbanger]

Originally posted by: Blain
If you are not going to upgrade for another 3 YEARS, go for a 2.4GHz PIV, at least.
Then just try and imagine what a 2.4GHz PIV will be selling for over in the "For Sale/Trade" forum, three years down the road.

Besides, what games or apps. need a CPU over 1.6GHz anyway?

BTW, Remember what affect "Supply & Demamd" has on prices.

Well, as far as games go, Grand Prix 4 is one of them. As for apps, from Photoshop to DivX encoding, 3d rendering etc. all need as much CPU as possible......

 

[Blain]

Since you're gonna need some serious CPU power, you better go with the Pentium IV 2.53GHz. Northwood (IF you're only planning on a single CPU MB). That should help you get by with your video editing until the 2.8GHz comes out.
Also make sure you get at least 1GB of good quality memory.

 

[memories2002]

hell-oh ?
anyone know anything this guy called 'budget' ?
im in a country where gf4ti4600s cost US$600. and and athlonxp1800 costs $150 US.
i have the following options:
p4 1.6a/1.8a + asus p4s333 [sis chipset, no other ddr333 chipset available,
available brands:asus,msi,gigabyte,dfi]
OR
athlonxp1800 + asus a7v333 [ouch my pocket hurts..US$200 almost, just the motherboard!] or a cheap asus a7s333 [SiS] which is half the price of a kt333 board, so cheap!

thats it.
now, what do i go for.
i will venture into overclocking my cpu not before 6 months, coz i wont need that power anyway, and will not upgrade [for the Nth time!] for another 3 or so years.

(other components: gf4ti4200 128mb, creative inspire 4.1 4400, creative sb live!, 256mb DDR.)


i have never been so confused!

 

[jaybee]

Go for the PIV. The Socket A platform is just about finished. Assuming Barton will work in your board, there is a Barton 2800 on an unofficial roadmap, which would be about a 50% increase over the 1800+ you mention. A 2.8GHz PIV is right around the corner, and I expect .09µ PIVs will be compatible with current boards. Anyway, no one can predict the future, but it looks like the Socket 478 solution will be much more upgradeable.

jaybee

 

[memories2002]

yeah but the 1.6a is kicked around by the xp1800 !!

 

[jaybee]

Originally posted by: memories2002
yeah but the 1.6a is kicked around by the xp1800 !!

Set your bus to 133MHz. From what I hear, that is almost a sure bet with the PIV. A 1.6A running at 2.13/133 will handily beat the 1800+.

jaybee

 

[nemo160]

he doesn't plan on overclocking, so the xp 1800 is a perfectly good choice
as for socket a being dead soon, he doesn't plan to upgrade for three years, so this is a moot point, i don't forsee intel sticking with socket 478 for 3 more years
xp 1800, gf4 ti 4200 and 256-512 mb ram will bea nice solid setup