Need help deciding which Fry's combo to buy - Intel or AMD

[colossus]

Fry's is going to have this combo on sale for Monday (Labor Day) only. I haven't bought Intel stuff since my P3-700 days so I have no idea how good of a deal this is. The combo price is $5 less than the price of the retail CPU at Newegg.

ECS P4M800PRO-M @ Newegg for reference
Pentium D 915 CPU @ Newegg for reference


I need to buy a new Mobo/CPU combo that supports DDR2 and preferably has onboard video. Would I be better off getting the above combo or the AMD combo for the same price:
ECS C51GM-M @ Newegg for reference
AMD AM2 3800+ @ Newegg for reference

The Intel combo is dual core, but the AMD combo will probably run cooler. I like overclocking, but I think both of these boards don't even support basic OC. Anybody have experience with either board? Machine will be used for basic workstation tasks. Since both combos are $129 I don't know which to get.

 

[Conky]

If it's only gonna be used as a work station who cares? Get whatever is cheapest.

 

[colossus]

Originally posted by: Beachboy
If it's only gonna be used as a work station who cares? Get whatever is cheapest.

Well, I should clarify. Mostly workstation tasks, but it will be stressed at times and I would like the most bang for the buck. It will be running Windows XP 32 bit. I'm not sure how smart XP is at delineating multicore usage for non-multicore apps (ie load balancing). The system will never play a single game, but will have sometimes 5-10 apps running at once plus the overhead of Antivirus/Firewall running in the background.

 

[Furen]

I would go dual-core but that motherboard sucks badly. Multitasking benefits greatly from dual-core but be sure to get 2GB of RAM if possible, since swapping gives a huge performance hit.

 

[colossus]

Originally posted by: Furen
I would go dual-core but that motherboard sucks badly. Multitasking benefits greatly from dual-core but be sure to get 2GB of RAM if possible, since swapping gives a huge performance hit.

That's what I'm thinking. The Intel CPU costs about $20 more retail and probably would result in a "faster" feeling computer as one program should not bog down another. My only gripe is the Intel ECS combo mobo seems like crap as you say.

The AMD combo seems to have a better Mobo.

 

[Markfw]

the X2 by a longshot. Way faster.

Edit. I see its not an X2. I would just get an X2 3800 and that motherboard. Should be ~210 or less.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
the X2 by a longshot. Way faster.

Edit. I see its not an X2. I would just get an X2 3800 and that motherboard. Should be ~210 or less.

I agree. That 3800+ will dominate that Pentium D.

 

[colossus]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
the X2 by a longshot. Way faster.

Edit. I see its not an X2. I would just get an X2 3800 and that motherboard. Should be ~210 or less.

I'm trying to keep the system on a budget, or I would just get a ridiculous dual-core Opti setup

The single core 3800+ and Mobo is $129. To go dual core Fry's is asking $169 and the extra $44 (after tax) needs to be spent on memory

I think I made up my mind on the AMD setup since nVidia seems to have they're stuff in check for the most part. Never been a fan of Via chipset (the Intel combo).