Athlon XP

[SneakyStuff]

How does an Athlon XP 2800+ Based on the Barton core stack up when compared to a Pentium 4 2.4 GHz B? The use for the processor would be gaming, and holding out until PCI-E and BTX become more mature, and mainstream.

 

[nitromullet]

http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1718

anandtech.com has reviews too, it's not just a forum... 🙂

 

[Markfw]

stock speed, no OC ? Its will beat the 2.4c in games by a fair margin. If you want to have something a little more future-proof(2 years) an Athlon64 3000+ might be a better choice though.

 

[SneakyStuff]

My only concern about an Athlon 64 would be windows, and costs, could I just use the OEM WinXP that came w/ my Dell for an Athlon 64?

EDIT: OK let me explain a little more about my situation here, I could slap in a 2.4 - 2.53 GHz P4 into my current system for about $160 (A Dell) or spend $370 to get an Athlon XP, an Antec SLK3700AMB case, a new mobo w/ SATA, and pc3200 RAM. I'm just considering all this because prices are REALLY cheap now, and I feel that I could be doing more with my current video card.

 

[Markfw]

Any copy of XP should be fine. The memory may be a hair more, depending on what you were going to get for the other system. My take ? Athe Aopen AK86-L ($95) Athlon64 3000+ ($224) and Buffalo PC3200 ($111) and then whatever for drives......

Edit and $55 more for the case, making about $485. The extra $115 is all it takes to move the next platform up.(and a lot of speed difference. That 3000+ will equal or beat a 3.4c in gaming.)

 

[SneakyStuff]

Well, when you put it like that, it makes sense, i'll look into that, I hear the A64s are really good for gaming. Do you think they'll be making socket 754 mobos later on with PCI-E so I can still use the processor?

 

[Markfw]

Well, its all rumor and conjecture until they come out, but I read that socket 939 will also support socket 754 chips (that would be a new one), but if not, you are good for at least 2 years anyway.

 

[SneakyStuff]

yea, but i mean do you think that when PCI-E comes out, they'll be making mobos for socket 754 still? So I could just swap mobos, and get a shiny new PCI-E graphics card?

EDIT: ok, I did a little tinkering, and I pieced together a complete AMD 64 rig for just shy of $600, with everything but the graphics card, and optical drives. (Which I have) That sound about right? It sure looks cool!

 

[Markfw]

It will probably be a socket 939, so yes, but that is still conjecture.

 

[SneakyStuff]

OK, so as it stands, I have a MS Word doc saved of a decent A64 configuration, I'll just wait to hear more about PCI-E and Socket 754. Thanks for your input, from what i've read, I think the extra $100 for an Athlon 64 would far outweigh the cost / effectiveness ratio of an Athlon XP or a P4 upgrade.

EDIT: Almost forgot! 😀:beer:

 

[Rukkian]

It is very unlikely you will see a 754 motherboard with PCI-e, as they will not be making socket 754 much longer, it is being replaced with 939, however, any of the new technologies will be really expensive for a year of 2 from now and probably wont bring about much advantage in that time frame either.

 

[magratton]

How about save some money, buy a mobile amd 2600xp and overclock it to speeds that will make the 64 seem not so impressive anymore.

 

[RussianSensation]

There is no point of spending 2x more on an amd setup in your case so just slap the 2.4-2.53 and invest the rest into a better videocard. Truly if your videocard is not of 9700Pro Caliber at the least, you should be investing most of your money in there and not worry whether you have a 2.4 or 2800+ because that is not where the performance is but in the GPU.

Edit: try to sell the 5700ultra and get an even faster card.

 

[mechBgon]

If you do want to get a new system, pick up a fresh OEM copy of WinXP Pro and then you can sell off the Dell complete with its Windows license and a nice fresh install. That should recoup some of your upgrade expense.

Bigger picture: when nForce3 250/250Gb arrive, there will be somewhat of a buyers' market for used Socket754 boards.

 

[SneakyStuff]

System is going to my parents, my mom is going to need to work at home this summer, so she's agreed to give me a nominal amount of moola so I can build a new system. I paid $950 for my system originally, monitor and all, so she's gonna pay me about $500 for it. It's all a matter of time.