P4 2.4 or Athlon XP2400?

[MTAX]

I'm grading my Athlon 1.2ghz. My budget alows for either a P4 2.4/Asus 845PE or an Athlon 2400 and Asus nForce2. Most important to me is compatibility and stability, next is speed, then upgradability in terms of CPU path. Which would you choose?

 

[vicvon]

Athlon, without question. The NForce2 board is supposed to be compatible with the Barton core, which is still a few months away. Make sure you get at least pc3200 ram so that you can run up around 200fsb.
The 2400+ is a bit faster than the P4 2.4ghz so you will get a faster system to begin with.



Just my opinion.

 

[CrazySaint]

Either platform will have excellent compatibility and stability. The 2.4GHz P4 and the XP 2400+ are about equal in speed, but are faster at different tasks. Check a good CPU review and see which chip is faster at things you do. 2400+ XP + nForce2 will have a longer upgrade path than the 2.4GHz P4+i845PE.

 

[PCMarine]

Exactly what viccong said. 2400+ and an nForce 2

 

[jasonsRX7]

A retail 2.4 P4 is a little cheaper than a retail Athlon 2400+ at newegg right now. Not enough of a diffence to sway your decision, but I just thought it was interesting

I just upgraded from an K7N420 (nforce1) and Athlon 2100+ to an Intel D845PEBT2 and a 2.4 P4. The main reason was that I could take out 3 fans from my system and still run (MUCH) cooler than I could with the Athlon. It is so nice to have a quiet system now, without having to spend a lot extra on water cooling. Just the stock cpu fan.

Don't get me wrong, I really really loved my nforce board and it was rock solid with the 2.0 nforce drivers. For the record though, there are a *few* NLE capture cards that the manufactures say are incompatible with the nforce, and since I do video editing that was a factor for me.

CrazySaint is right, there are some tasks that the P4 is faster in, and others where the Athlon is faster. But neither is slow.

 

[Spicedaddy]

P4

 

[Anubis]

I say the Athlon because its a lil faster and just a better chip.

BUT if you wanna OC you can push that P4 to aroudn 3.0 GHz sooo...

 

[compudog]

Your choice. Both platforms are about neck in neck in stats and price. Might get more life out of the AMD platform. My A7N8X is very stable and performance is great.

 

[bgeh]

Originally posted by: PCMarine
Exactly what viccong said. 2400+ and an nForce 2

i second that

 

[MTAX]

Do you think that the difference in speed is appreciable compared with my current Athlon 1.2 and SDR ram?

 

[jasonsRX7]

Depends on what you do. Gaming, graphics or video work, yeah you'll probably see a big difference. Office applications, web surfing, chatting, it won't make a world of difference. Just make sure you have 256mb or more in either system.

 

[MTAX]

I'll actually be doing a fair amount of video/graphics editing. I'm using simple software such as Studio 8.....but may eventually get a dvStorm. Any problems with the nforce2?

 

[jasonsRX7]

Oh ok, well you'll be happy to know that I used an ADVC-1394 without any problems on my nforce1 board. Well, other than the bug with SP1 on XP, but that's a Canopus/Microsoft problem.

You'll also be glad to ditch Studio 8, I hated it. I returned the Pinnacle Studio Deluxe because Studio 8 was so buggy and the card *only* worked with Studio.

Compatibility problems with AMD based systems used for video editing really only come into play when using VIA based motherboards, but that extends beyond just video editing. However, there is a document on Matrox's website stating that some of their boards are incompatible with Nforce boards. I used a RT2500 for a while, but never got to try it on the nforce so I can't attest to that.

Canopus themselves sell Athlon based systems that come with the DVstorm2, so I doubt you'll have any problem there. Steer clear of VIA, which should be a no brainer especially considering how affordable the nforce boards are, and you'll be fine.

If you're still debating on which processor to get, find some reviews that extensively test the encoding speeds of the P4 versus the Athlons. I'll suggest Toms as a place to start, but I know there'll be a lot of response posts about how he's biased toward Intel, so take them for what they're worth. I do see a good bit of performance increase with the realtime effects previews in Premier 6.5 with the P4 that I upgraded to, but that's somewhat to be expected considering the increase in clock speed.

Sorry for the long post...

 

[MTAX]

Thank you.

 

[NOX]

As long as it's not a VIA based motherboard, then either platform will do just fine for stability and compatibility. As far as the CPU?s, the difference between both is virtually nothing! I will not comment on overclocking, seeing that you are looking for stability overclocking should not be a concern.

Personally I would go Intel only because I trust them as far as stability and compatibility. However this does not suggest AMD can?t offer any of that with the current offerings. It?s just from the days of the 686B, I have never really considered using AMD, not till NF2 will I look at getting a 2nd system built off of this platform. However Intel will always be 1st when considering a new system.

 

[cmdrdredd]

P4 without a doubt. It's simply more overclockable. That alone makes it worth it. getting a 2.4 to 2.8Ghz is a simple task with even some inexpensive memory on it.

 

[allies]

I say 2400+ and an nForce2. About the overclocking, are you people forgetting that the 2400+ can very easily reach 2.25 ghz (2800+) if he gets at least PC2700? The nforce2 will be able to adjust the multiplier, and he could run at 13.5*166...

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
P4 without a doubt. It's simply more overclockable. That alone makes it worth it. getting a 2.4 to 2.8Ghz is a simple task with even some inexpensive memory on it.

While the P4s are certainly extremely overclockable (a fact I'm well aware of - check sig) saying that people are guaranteed to get their 2.4 P4 up to 2.8GHz is a bit misleading, especially if they get a B0 stepping instead of a C1 stepping.

 

[CraigRT]

I would get the 2400+

some say it's equal in speed, but no... it's alot faster.

and I find AMD every bit as "stable" as Intel... by all means.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Either would be great, but I'd go with the Athlon/nForce2 combo definitly.

 

[Sid59]

i vote AMD and NForce2

 

[Goi]

Either will be great. The nforce2 really saved the Athlons ass in terms of performance, but the P4 is still holding strong. However, if you intend to overclock, the P4 2.4B C1 steppings can be clocked beyond 3GHz. I have mine at 3.02GHz now with aircooling. Make sure your RAM is up to snuff though, especially if you wanna keep the 2.5X ratio.

 

[Bovinicus]

The 2400+ is probably going to be faster in the majority of application you use, although not much faster at all. Both chips are priced similar and perform similar. Actually, both will probably overclock pretty well too (If you pick up a Thoroughbred B core for the Athlon). Athlon motherboards are a little more tweak friendly in general. Intel's chip shouldn't run much cooler than the Athlon, but it might be a little cooler. The Intel path might be a little more upgradeable. The P4 scales very well, as most people already know. However, with Barton on the horizon, it is possible AMD will offer a good upgrade path too. This really is a tough decision. You are going to have to use some personal preference here. I would probably go with the AMD setup; this is mostly because I love tweaking and the multiplier is adjustable on Athlons in addition to the additional tweaking options offered on many AMD boards. With certain nForce2 motherboards, you don't even have to mod the chip. However, if you go P4, you will still be happy.

Note: I'm glad to see no flame wars have broken out and people are keeping open minds.

 

[PlatinumGold]

However, if you intend to overclock, the P4 2.4B C1 steppings can be clocked beyond 3GHz. I have mine at 3.02GHz now with aircooling.

again, misleading, just because you accomplished 3.02 does not mean that everyone can. there are many people that can't get beyond 2.7 ghz w/ this cpu.

 

[Goi]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

However, if you intend to overclock, the P4 2.4B C1 steppings can be clocked beyond 3GHz. I have mine at 3.02GHz now with aircooling.

again, misleading, just because you accomplished 3.02 does not mean that everyone can. there are many people that can't get beyond 2.7 ghz w/ this cpu.

Misleading only if you don't read carefully. I said CAN be clocked to 3GHz, which means there's a reasonable percentage of people taking theirs beyond 3GHz. I didn't say they ALL can be clocked beyond 3GHz. Nobody can make that guarantee.