which CPU budget $200

[rhx852]

I'm trying to figure out what CPU to get with a budget of $200 or less
It looks like the pentium IV 3.0 but there are many to choose from, which core? which is the faster.
And how about AMD from 2600 to 3000 they all seem to be 2 ghz, boy that's confusing.
then the MB whew!
Any advice

thanks

 

[AristoV300]

If you are going Intel, for that budget I would say go 3.0C. Northwood core is much better at that speed then the Prescott.

 

[Sonic587]

Can you help us out by providing us with info on what this comp will be used for?

 

[rhx852]

I'm replacing/upgrading a soho box Soyo mb 2400+ 512 2700 mem windows xp pro
NO gaming
some graphics
web dev
programming
surfing

trying to figure out if I need it, or just add another 512 to what i have

I think that sums it up

 

[Hajime]

Eh. If it's for web dev/programming, just up the ram.

Untill you have 2gb, it's just not enough. (Speaking from personal experience....)

Programming-specific, a faster hd would also help a great deal. (I was surprised at the difference a Raptor made in large project compile times....)

 

[gamekid]

for the amd's being 2ghz, the speed of amd's are are based on performance and not just pure ghz, so a amd 3000+ @ 2ghz is the same thing as a P4 3.0ghz, amd's have more turns per cycle (or cycles per turn,im not an expert) and pentiums are just based on pure ghz

 

[ts3433]

Instructions per clock is what gamekid is referring to. With AMD the performance at the same GHz level will vary between architectures (like K7 AXP to K8 A64) too, so keep that in mind.
But your processor really wouldn't seem to be the bottleneck in this case. If it really is too slow for you right now, just up the RAM, as Hajime suggested. (I really wouldn't know if 2GB is necessary for this kind of stuff, but it does seem a bit overkill, however. Another 512 should be fine, I'd think.)

 

[Adn4n]

You can even get a 2800+ Athlon 64, which is faster than a 3200+ XP for significantly less than $200. For workstation performance I'd suggest the Soltek Nforce 3 board for socket 754, or just go to socket 939, which is 17% faster in workstation performance.

 

[Arcanedeath]

I'd suggest a 90nm 3000+ w/ a socket 939 board based on the Nforce 3 250GB/Ultra chipset or wait for Nforce4 if you don't need it right away, it looks like it will have the best performance for the applications you listed and if you get an Nforce 4 board it should be more future proof that just about any other platform. the 90nm 3000+ can be had for under $200 and was around $178 the last I checked.

 

[Mrvile]

If you don't game I suggest sticking with a 3 gig P4 for about 170 - 180, since Intels are usually better for multitasking with hyperthreading. For MB's just get an nForce3 board, but if you don't game the MB really doesn't make too much of a difference.

 

[stevty2889]

Mrvile..why are you recomending an chipset for AMD, and an Intel Proccessor?? Anyway, a 3gig P4 and a motherboard with the 865 chipset(I prefer ASUS) would be a nice upgrade for you. An A64 2800+ would also be nice, so it's pretty much up to your preferance.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: AristoV300
If you are going Intel, for that budget I would say go 3.0C. Northwood core is much better at that speed then the Prescott.

Depends on the app, I have a 3.0ghz prescott and Northwood, the prescott runs windows faster and doom 3 faster, but the northwood runs everything else faster

 

[uOpt]

So what do you have a performance problem with.

Examples: if you need to speed up compilation of C++ programs (or other compiled language), get an AMD64 chip. That particularly applies to Linux.

If you need a faster VCR (video compression), get one of the new Celerons.

Don't waste money on RAM unless you know you have RAM shortage.

 

[uOpt]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer

Originally posted by: AristoV300
If you are going Intel, for that budget I would say go 3.0C. Northwood core is much better at that speed then the Prescott.

Depends on the app, I have a 3.0ghz prescott and Northwood, the prescott runs windows faster and doom 3 faster, but the northwood runs everything else faster

Did you collect some numbers that you could post?