Athlon not compatible?

[John]

I was reading thru my Quake2 clan message board and found this reply to a previous message about "Athlon or Pentium III?" from a respected fragger.

Don't get me wrong...Athlon's are great CPUs. I am just a cautious buyer because I like my computers to last for 3 years or so. Intel offers the guarantee that they will remain compatible. Athlon doesn't.

I immediately slapped him with a fresh trout !

 

[dvch]

Only ONE??

 

[Prodigy^]

well......there has been more than one incidents where AMD users have had incompatibility issues....Intel is like 3dfx - they founded the industry they practice in, therefore it's natural that their products are the most compatible (it shows more with 3dfx)

 

[Quickfingerz]

Intel has compatibilities as well. The incompatibilities were not due to the Athlon processor itself but mainly the AMD 751 chipset. Those issues are long gone. Anyone that tells you that Athlons have incompatibilities are listening to old news. That's like saying that 3dfx owns the graphics industry. We all know they don't.

 

[MadRat]

Not only are they compatible, but they run faster than P!!!'s in Quake2. Coppermine or not, the Athlon is faster due to Quake2's lack of SSE technology.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

in 3 years, trying to find a new motherboard to run you 600 Mhz coppermine!

 

[Tulkas]

John What Q2 Clan if yu dont mind me asking?.... I still play everyday so i was just wondering.

 

[John]

I just get a kick out of some people replies when it comes to AMD. Granted I don't own any any AMD products, but I build them on a daily basis.

Sad thing is.....didn't Intel promise the Pentium Pro users an affordable and easy upgrade path?

Tulkas, I am a part of clan [T2K] which means Time2Kill http://www.clant2k.com. It's a Texas based Q2 / Q3 Lithium / Instagib clan. We have a few Q2 servers in Dallas and Houston http://www.clant2k.com/servers/server_list.htm and a few private Q3 servers that are off the Dallas Anarchy port.

I only play Q2 instagib (rail only) but it's considered the Lithium MOD. My handle is Suicidal! http://www.theclq.com/asp/find.asp?pid=1235898, but since I joined [T2K] a few weeks ago I simply added the clan tag in front of it [T2K]Suicidal! http://www.theclq.com/asp/find.asp?pid=17007574

Q3 instagib (railgun only) is exciting, but I am still addicted to the fast-paced game of Q2 instagib....nothing like killing 2 or 3 people with one railgun shot !

 

[Charles]

I don't know why there are still people that cannot admit how powerful AMD Athlon is...

Face the reality!!!

 

[LeisuresuitLarry]

Charles...you are so right...the Athlon is FAR superior to the Pee 3 in any way....the ONLY problem today is mediocre chipset's .....man we need a solid DDR chipset !

Who's INTEL ???

-*LARRY*-

 

[Deeko]

Technically, while the Athlon core is faster than the PIII's, the cache in the coppermine is still faster than the cache in the Tbird. The cache in the PIII has a 256 bit path to the CPU, while the Tbird's is still 64. But the Athlon CPU itself, especially the FPU, is much better.

 

[LeisuresuitLarry]

Exactly....and why haven't Intel upgraded the Pentium FPU ???

Man....just say Pee 2 and i'll laugh for hours....what a scam...but does anyone remember ???

-*LARRY*-

 

[MadRat]

The cache in the PIII has a 256 bit path to the CPU, while the Tbird's is still 64. But the Athlon CPU itself, especially the FPU, is much better.

But the Thunderbird uses DDR through that 64-bit path and it can be potentially accessed more times (due to higher associativity in its design) in the same clock cycle. Really not much difference except for a minor latency difference.

 

[Quickfingerz]

If the Athlon didn't have to use the x86 emlator. The Athlon would be a much faster chip. The Athlon is more technologically advanced than you think. When you look at the future specs of even the P4, you'll see that the FPU still isn't as strong as the Athlon. That kinda bothers me. I use AMD computers but i usually build P3 CPU's. I like the underdog. They will move up.

 

[Crystal Bay]

"Very Interesting ,......but not stupid"


Arte Johnson- Rowan & Martins Laugh In...............OT...........

 

[area51]

Personally I think Athlon's are crap. Its true the processor is faster, but P3's do have a higher compatibility rate. I can jack in a P3 into an old ABIT BH6 and it'll run just as well as on a brand new BX board, and you have to think BX's still are in use, and are kicking ass memory bandwidth wise, especially at 133mhz. My Athlon is crap. The AMD 750 chipset got a mind of its own. What took them so long to admit that that AGP2X isn't all that well on their AMD 750 chipset, and covered it up. Also what took them so long to enable memory bypass, when it should've shipped originally with it fixed on. Its true the KX133 is an excellent chipset, but guess what AMD shafted them over by having the Thunderbird being nearly totaly incompatible. Not even slockets! You have to go buy a whole new motherboard or tolerate an AMD750! Great company huh? Personally this whole company worship crap is BS, but from my experiences AMD is crap. My friend had a K6-2 that burnt out within 4 month or so of use, my first Athlon fried pretty much within a week of use, and I got an exchange. Despite what people say, AMD is just another crap company. P3's are slower, but hey when I can take a P3 600, or even a $100 celeron II 533a, and take it to 800 mhz that ain't bad, and an 83mhz AGP2x FSB allows for quite a lot of performance.

 

[JJ650]

Intel is crap. BWAHAHAHAH

Chill man. If you fried an Athlon within the first week you got it, I would hate to ask what exactly you were doing with it.
BX is good because it went thru so many revisions.

Also, superbypass didn't ship with the motherboards originally because superbypass didn't work with the earlier 750 chipset revisions or steppings. Only later did it start to be included in the bios.

AMD motherboards are starting to look better and better. Wait for the 760 chipset and I'm sure it'll all be screaming. As far as compatibility...the socket A boards will take either, the Duron, Tbird and Mustang (when it comes out). All in good time.

Sorry that your Athlon is crap but mine rocks.

 

[MadRat]

Check area51's IP... sounds like a revival of GuTB!

 

[kyoshozx]

Everyone forgets that P3 is based on an old design that dates back to the Pentium Pro. The core has been updated with new features to but it's basically the same core. Sure the P3 isn't as fast or technologically advance but it's alot older than the athlon and it still gives good performance.

Quickfingerz is right about the P4's FPU not being as strong as the Athlon. Intel is trying to get developers to use sse2 instead. How important this will come into play? well just look at quake3 both utilize sse and 3dnow, but p3 outperforms Athlon even though Athlon has a far superior fpu.

Cpu's are getting so complicated that there isn't a Straight forward answer in which cpu is faster than the other. We can see this as in SOME benchmarks p3 outperforms the Athlon, even though Athlon is a superior design.

Reasons why I stayed away from AMD is, first I already have an investment in an Intel motherboard and chipset, would be alot easier for me to upgrade the cpu. Second AMD's lack of SMP support.