1.2 Ghz Athlon. Is it Worth It?

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
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Hey All,

I'm almost done buying my other system components. The last will be CPU/Memory/MB. The reason was that I wanted to give plenty of time for the PC2100 DDR memory to come out and for motherboards to support it. You can order some memory from Micron I think already but I don't know if they're shipping. And of course the 1.2 Ghz CPU. I was waiting on the Asus A7M66 but I haven't seen those for sale yet.

Then I read some things that said the new DDR memory wasn't giving the performance boost people were expecting so it may not be worth the wait.

My Question is this: If I decide NOT to wait for all that and go with PC133 (Or higher if I find any) and a 1.2 Ghz Athlon is it worth it? I see most motherboards non DDR are not using the full power of the 1.2 ghz. In fact, they don't list that they support higher than 1.1 Ghz. So if I don't wait for a DDR solution am I better off just purchasing a 1.1 ghz?
 

DJ_Donut

Member
Jan 18, 2000
129
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heh, 1.2Ghz is total junk. If you want ultimate performance you need the following.

Pentium 4 1.4GHz
256MB PC800 RDRAM
Intel 850 Motherboad


 

Quickfingerz

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2000
3,176
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0
P4 1.4 Ghz is total junk.

1.2 Ghz AMD is cheaper and has less bugs.

Although the P4's would start to get good at around the 2 ghz range.
 

Bignate603

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
13,897
1
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Depends what you want it for. I personally prefer AMD but the P4 will do slightly better in games. For business AMD will spank the P4.
 

formulav8

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2000
7,004
522
126
The P4 is way overpriced and way underpowered. They are at 1.5ghz and still can't beat a P3 at 1ghz.
 

dcdomain

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2000
5,158
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Well, as of now, the P4 is total junk. I heard that software really won't be able to take advantage of the new shortcuts provided by the processor for a while longer. And when they finally do, Intel will already have P4's out using the .13 micron process. Way overpriced and you don't really get to use the power you get anyway.

I still haven't been able to see many DDR boards on sale... and the 1.2 ghz was a b1tch to find in the middle of December, it's probably more widely available now.

Overall, I don't think DDR is proven yet. Why spend the extra bucks on something that looks good on paper? I too was going to go the DDR route, but couldn't wait and SDRAM was damn cheap!!!
 

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
265
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Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies. I'm not interested in getting another Intel based computer. I currently have three on my LAN right now. My new machine will be an AMD so I would appreciate replies concerning the AMD processor. With the current motherboards available will getting a 1.2 ghz be a waste? Would getting 1.1 be a better buy with current motherboards?

I'm trying to keep an eye on prices but if the DDR RAM is going to be almost double the price of non-DDR then I will go with a non DDR solution.

My Non-DDR solution would be

PC133 (Or better)
Asus A7V Motherboard
Athlon 1.2 ghz?

and if I go with a DDR solution I was thinking of getting the Asus A7M66 motherboard. But it's starting to look like DDR isn't worth it right now and won't be for a while so I'm falling back on my non-DDR solution. However, will that motherboard make good use of the 1.2 ghz? In other words, What advantage would there be to putting the 1.2 ghz into the A7V instead of the 1.0 or 1.1 ghz?

I know people have said Abit boards are awesome and I'm sure they are but I've had bad luck with them. I've never had a problem with my Asus boards so unless there's another board that is much better than the A7V I'll stick with it.

I'm not interested in on-board SCSI or RAID because I already have a controller. Currently the parts that I've already bought are

ViewSonic GS815 21" monitor
Alaska Cool Case (Fully loaded. 11 fans and painted)
Toshiba 48x CDROM
Adaptec Ultra160 SCSI RAID controller
SoundBlaster Live X-Gamer 5.1
Desktop Theater 5.1 DTT2500 (Dolby Digital built in)
Microsoft Internet Keyboard
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer

Now, the next few things I'll be purchasing are:

Belkin Smart UPS 1400 VA
Geforce2 Ultra (Not sure which brand but with prices coming down....)
3 Seagate Cheetah X15 Drives
2 IBM Deskstar Ultra 100 IDE drives (Just for pure storage purposes)

This leaves the CPU/MB and Memory the last components for my base system to get up and running. So I need some advice on that combo.

Later I'm getting a Plextor 12X and one of those 4.7 gig DVD-RAM drives. Yum. I already have the Plextor 8x and 2.6 gig DVD-RAM but those will stay in my current machine and my new machine will be the latest. I don't plan to upgrade ANY time soon. Will have to recover financially from all this anyway. Probably take me a year.
 

jpprod

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,373
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What is this myth that P4 is a better gaming CPU? This absolutely holds true for only one title: Quake III, which doesn't need the CPU power anyway.

Some benches done on REAL games

Especially Realmyst and Falcon4 are examples of really CPU-intensive games. And in these Athlon paired with DDR slaps P4 around.

Athlon 1.2GHz is certainly worth it, it's a bargain for the power you're getting. I advice to get PC150 SDRAM and a VIA KT133A motherboard if the wait for AMD-760 DDR boards seems too long.
 

glp1del

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
292
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0
If you are going to oc the cpu I would get 800-900MHz T-bird and oc it to 1.1-1.2GHz. The 1.2 T-bird is pretty much at its speed limit due to heating concerns. So to stretch that dollar I would get the slower processor and oc it. As far as the mobo goes many people seem to love the new one from MSI. I think its the KT7 pro2a or something like that.

Well that my opinion

Glp1
 

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
265
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0
Thanks. I too have heard much about the MSI so I may look into that as well. I don't overclock so from what you guys have said I'll probably get a 1.1 Ghz for now and PC150 SDRAM. I'll do some more research. It'll be a little while until I have all the parts I need. Taking out a loan against my 401K and I don't wanna use the entire thing on my computer but the longer I wait the less money I need since I buy one or two things each paycheck.

I wanted to buy the hard drives all together though but 3 cheetahs are hella expensive. I've seen them for like $450 so if anyone knows a better price for the X15 let me know.
 

fir3wir3

Banned
Oct 15, 2000
2,594
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...

neither the p4 1.4 or the tbird 1.2 is "junk"

Only an ignorant person would say so



 

erub

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2000
5,481
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if your not going to overclock there is no reason to get pc150. The memory will run at only pc133 unless you overclock the FSB.
 

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
265
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Ahh erub,

Didn't know that. So then if I don't wait for DDR stuff I'll be best off getting:

PC133
Athlon 1.1 ghz
Asus A7V

I took a look at that MSI board but for my needs I think Asus is probably better for me.
 

Goatboy

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
350
0
0
If you wait a bit, you'll be able to get a Via KT-133A board and then an official 133 Thunderbird so you can take full advantage of the DDR FSB 266 mhz. That would be the best alternative to actually getting a DDR RAM solution, almost as fast and cheaper and probably more stable since DDR RAM mobo's are going to be first generation.
 

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
265
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0
Hey Goatboy,

Tell me more about these. Do you have any links where I can check things out. I'm not a hardware guy. I'm a programmer who dabbles in hardware so be gentle :)
 

jpprod

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,373
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1.2GHz Tbird with KT133A mobo and PC150 SDRAM might give best speed out of non-DDR systems because one could pump up the FSB and memory speeds over 133MHz. A 1.2GHz Tbird might take up to 150MHz FSB on the right motherboard - 1350MHz with 150MHz (300MHz effective) FSB and memory doesn't sound too shabby compared even to DDR :)
 

HellRaven

Senior member
Feb 5, 2000
659
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jpprod,

as he just said - he will NOT be overclocking so there is no reason to get pc150 for him. However, for us overclockers what you said is dead on. I would stay away from DDR for a little while until prices drop and boards become more widely available.

fir3wir3,



<< neither the p4 1.4 or the tbird 1.2 is &quot;junk&quot;

Only an ignorant person would say so
>>



True enough, I wouldn't classify the P4 as &quot;junk&quot; but I wouldn't say it is far from it at this point.

1. It costs 1.5x - 2x as much as 1ghz model of the P3 and 3x as much as a 1ghz Athlon Tbird.

2. It has been proven to be intentionally crippled by Intel so they could release it quickly to gain a clockspeed advantage(read this - quite long but I read the article and agreed)

3. Its processor package is already obsolete. You can't pop in a .13 micron P4 that will be released later this year into the current boards.

4. It uses Rambus
 

Quickfingerz

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2000
3,176
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The P4 at a lower clock speed doesn't show it's potential. Because of it's long pipeline, You'll need high clock speeds of let's say 3ghz for p4 to completely dominate.
 

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
265
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0
HellRaven,

Well, I may be talked into overclocking. I never have because I preferred stability but the case that I got has some pretty good cooling already so perhaps I might try my hand at it. I've heard people talking about it but I'll still have to check what it is I want to do.

For example, I'd always hear people talking about overclocking their CPUs but I hadn't heard of overclocking your FSB.

All this is why I'm getting those pieces last. The others I already know what I'll be getting for the most part. But with those three components it's still up for grabs.
 

Dee67

Golden Member
Dec 14, 2000
1,034
2
81
Stormblade:

If it helps,
I recently got the 1.2ghz t-bird.. (LOVE IT)[but am also replacing slower/non-quality components] and more..

Storage solution - I ordered the Seagate Cheetah 15k drive from Buy.com (for $426 - received it yesterday, just checked their site and they're on backorder now) anyway, I'm using that for strictly operating stuff. ALL other stuff I'll be doing on IDE drives [I (like you) was going to go multi-cheetahs but I don't feel like putting out the money for mainly storage stuff..

Memory solution: Last night ordered ram from Mushkin Rev.2 PC133 so I can run it at 2-2-2 unlike the generic ram I have now..

*I* think you're on the right path for stuff that's readily available..
 

Stormblade

Senior member
Nov 10, 2000
265
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0
Dee67,

Thanks for the reply. I've been researching and re-designing my system for a few months now. Driving me crazy (But it's fun). I'm just glad I've narrowed down my component choices so that I really only have to worry about that combo.

As for the hard drives, I have to get 3 since I want to setup a RAID-5 system (Why? Just cuz). but I'll be getting the low capacity ones. I think the ones I saw were around 18 gigs. If I see any X15s that are smaller and significantly cheaper I will go with those.

What I'll be putting on the RAID system will be Windows 2000 + all my applications and related things. That's my primary use for that so I don't need a huge amount of space. For my storage needs (Like directory to download crap to and downloadable versions of applications) I will get the biggest IBM Deskstars I can find that are cheap (45 gig is what I'm eyeing now).

I usually back that stuff up regularly to my DVD drive but my main reason for getting that drive was for storing music videos I was going to be digitizing (Hey, gotta have a hobby right?) but it ended up being my primary backup. But since it's slow access and hard drives are really cheap these days I can easily drop 4 45 gig drives in there and maybe get a tape drive to do a real full system backup or something. But that'll be later.
 

dcdomain

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2000
5,158
0
71
fir3wir3,

Guessing it was directed at me... anyway, I stand by my choice of words. Of course, it's not really junk if you take it literally =). No one would pay what they are asking for 'junk'.

I am a recent AMD convert. Why? Because Intel is coming out with inferior products. A couple of years back (actually, anytime before AMD released the Athlon, T-Bird or Duron) I would have snickered at AMD and would have gone for Intel 100%. Currently though, it is obvious they have been trying too hard to play catch up. Their products have been plagued with many problems. If I can't depend on the manufacturer to stick by their products, I'd be stupid to buy it when I obviously have another choice I could go for.

Sure AMD is a b!tch when it comes to heating and the Via drivers and what not, but I'm still glad I chose AMD for my new system. I'm getting better bang for the buck! And didn't Intel just released another recall for some P4 glitch? For my little cousin, I ordered an Intel based system (Dell) for her because overall, they are more stable, even with all the recalls. But for myself, I chose to save my money and instead deal with the problems that were a given when I bought the chip. At least I know of the problems ahead of time, rather than having Intel spring another recall on me.

For those that have the money and prefer to go with the brand name, by all means do so. I personally have seen enough... in a few years, maybe it'll be the other way around, and I'll be recommending an Intel based system.

dc:D
 

fir3wir3

Banned
Oct 15, 2000
2,594
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who cares how much it costs

lamborginis cost more than any normal person can pay...doesnt mean they're junk :)
 

Goatboy

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
350
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0
I dont really have much info, but the article below has some info about the VIA KT133A and Ive heard a bit about a few mobo that will be coming out soon that will incorporate that chipset. Check around for a mobo from your favorite company, they should be our real soon. As far as the 133-compatible Athlons, Im not sure if they're already out or will soon be (the 1.2ghz could be 100 or 133 fsb); maybe someone else knows.

Anand's KT133A article
 

formulav8

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2000
7,004
522
126
Well, the P4 is like a lamborgini with a honda engine. It looks good but performs bad. Especially being at 1.5ghz and not able to or barely able to beat a P3.