AMD or Intel chip for new computer?

[tgzo]

I'm planning to build my first computer, which I plan to play all the latest games with but also keep the price under 1500 CDN dollars.
I guess I will be looking at AMD XP chips instead of Intel P4, is it true that AMD chips outperforms P4 in game performance at a cheaper price?
Is there any downsides to AMD XP chips compared to P4? Also I'm looking at buying AMD XP 1800+, what motherboard goes best with it?

thanks for your reply!

 

[bigshooter]

You may want to look into the Athlon XP 1600 or 1700. They give you more bang for your buck. It will probably take one or two more speed increases before 1800 becomes the bang for you buck chip. Also the Epox 8KHA+ seems to be the board favorite. I just bought one for $98 US from Newegg. If you aren't going to build right away, wait for teh NForce 815 chipset to come out. It's the NForce without the integrated video. It should be a good board.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Since only the top Northwoods can beat the Athlon XP 2000+, I'd say your highend choice would still be the XP. Generally speaking, the Northwoods will run you twice the price of the XP's for about 15-20% more performance.

 

[Dewey]

Why not price up an Intel system and an AMD system and start there? Then you could check which would be faster or better for you. You could also post the two systems so we could all learn about your decision and which indeed turned out to be faster or better for you.

 

[tgzo]

I'm wondering in what areas does AMD XP chips outperform P4s in and vice versa?

 

[NFS4]

<< I'm wondering in what areas does AMD XP chips outperform P4s in and vice versa? >>


I think it would be better for you to do research on your own before posing this question. Read some reviews on both processors. That being said, Price/Performance wise, the AthlonXP is the only way to go.

 

[AGodspeed]

I'm wondering in what areas does AMD XP chips outperform P4s in and vice versa?

AMD and Intel's top offerings (Athlon XP 2000+ and Intel P4 2.2GHz) are equal in performance to each other. The difference in any realistic situation (like games, office apps, video editing, DVD, etc.) is like 1-2%. In games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Serious Sam, and Unreal Tournament, the Athlon almost always beats the P4, but it's no more than 5% usually. In games like Quake 3 the Pentium 4 beats out the Athlon usually, but again, the difference is around 5% as well, and even less at a much more realistic resolution such as 1024x768.

But since the 2000+ is nearly half the price of the 2.2GHz P4, go with the 2000+ (or go with an AXP that's a few hundred MHz less, since you're on a budget).

 

[SiLEighTy]

i would vote for a AMD chip. I mean its cheaper and you can add money else where. Like more ram, faster burner, etc...

Hope your computer turns out awesome at the end.

 

[John]

Guy under the Bridge, please stand up and comment?

 

[microAmp]

<< I'm planning to build my first computer, which I plan to play all the latest games with but also keep the price under 1500 CDN dollars.
I guess I will be looking at AMD XP chips instead of Intel P4, is it true that AMD chips outperforms P4 in game performance at a cheaper price?
Is there any downsides to AMD XP chips compared to P4? Also I'm looking at buying AMD XP 1800+, what motherboard goes best with it?

thanks for your reply! >>



I say AMD......AnandTech CPU comparison. This is the starting of benchmarks comparision.

 

[VBboy]

You definitely to read some extensive benchmarks. TomsHardware.com, AmdMb.com, Anandtech.com (whoa), Tech-Report.com - all have benchmarks. Come back when you're finished

You may want to look for a company to build you a PC if you don't want to mess with the hardware. My first PC was assembled by another company, my second PC was a barebones thing, and the third one I built myself.

 

[grifterspawn]

AMD! Price/Performance = good

 

[formulav8]

Neither AMD or Intel is the performance king. Both of them wins to many of the benchmarks to crown either of them. Definitely AMD is the Price/Performance king.

 

[thraxes]

Bang for Buck is absolutely a given with AMD CPUs!
Highly recommended by anybody here and the only CPU that I have used building systems for customers since the Thunderbird series launched.

Check some of the reviews at hardware sites on the web and then go to an on-line retailer (In the US it seems New-Egg is the way to go, here in Germany I recommend Alternate or Avitos) and put a system together. Or give a budget, an outline what you want / don't want and post that here in the forum, there is always somebody willing to configure a system for you.

 

[ToBeMe]

<< AMD or Intel chip for new computer? >>


Definately....................I personally wouldn't go for a Cyrix/Via so AMD or Intel would be a good choice!

 

[BD231]

For gaming get the XP, theres no reason to burn the extra cash if thats all your doing.

 

[Halogen]

www.tomshardware.com

this is where i always go for articles about things because they are pretty reliable and it's easy to find articles by searching for them with keywords (no offense to you anandtech guys but tom's seems more technical than this place)

 

[aircooled]

Either AMD or Intel will work just fine.. You probably wont notice the difference in anything you do.. You will notice the difference in your wallet. AMD will definatly be less dollars.
Regardless, for $1500 you should be able to build either.

 

[sirfergy]

Also consider how long you plan on keeping the computer. A P4 will probably be better in the long run considering more and more applications will have support for it.

 

[WilsonTung]

If you want to overclock, a Northwood P4 would be good. The 2.0A costs only a bit more than the XP2000+ if you have cash to burn on the high end.

Northwood + Asus P4B266 should make a very fast machine.

 

[Degenerate]

If you want to play the latest games and all that.. I consider you spend more moeny on the graphics card as it will be the most important factor determining the speed at which your game runs at.

 

[cleverhandle]

<< If you want to play the latest games and all that.. I consider you spend more moeny on the graphics card as it will be the most important factor determining the speed at which your game runs at. >>



Just wanted to second this important comment so it doesn't get lost amongst the other stuff in the thread. Games really don't need all the power of the super-high-end chips - the video card is much more important. All the better reason to save money with an AMD, of course.

 

[Ausm]

AMD all the way


Ausm

 

[ku]

AMD chips are faster than Intel chips at MOST benchmarks. However, take into consideration that Intel chipsets do have higher clocks than AMD's. This however, is not a bad thing because it does better at benchmarks. AMD is also a lot cheaper.

With your budget, you can build a fairly decent system. Does that price include monitor?

 

[Sagumeht]

If you're in Canada, you might want to try NCIX.com

AMD ATHLON XP 1600+ 1.4GHZ 256K FSB266 OEM
GLOBAL WIN CAK38 COPPER HEATSINK FAN FOR SOCKET 462/370/7/A
SOLTEK SL-75DRV4 PURPLE RAY KT266A SOCKET A ATA133 AGP 5PCI W/ SND
MICRON PC2100 256MB DDR 266MHZ CAS2.5 OEM
MAXTOR D740X-6L 40GB 7200RPM 2MB 8.5MS ATA133 INT IDE
MSI MS-8822 GeForce3 64MB 3.8NS DDR W/ VIDEO IN /TV OUT RETAIL BOX
ANTEC SX830 20IN ATX PERFORMANCE TOWER 3/5.25 5/3.5 2/FAN 300W
CREATIVE SOUNDBLASTER LIVE! DE 5.1 OEM
1 Year Parts & 3 Years Labour Limited Warranty On System Components


$1500 CDN, tax + shipping included.