Which of these setups is best?

[Blinkme323]

Hi guys, I can get one of these two systems from work, and am wondering which one I should get. They are both identical except for the proccessor. They have Asus A7M266 motherboards and 2x256 pc3200. The motherboard cost like $200 2.5 years ago. The video card is a 9700 pro. The one has an Athlon 1700 and the other has an Athlon 1800. The 1800 shows up as a duron or sometimes a thoruoughbred and its multiplier is locked. I am not sure about the details on the 1700, but it actually felt faster to me. I think the multiplier might be unlocked too. They both get pretty hot, up to 140 F on load, using the stock coolers. Which one would you take. I also know they are amazing overclockers. They should do well with that ram. I wonder how high the bus on the mobo can go, it is rated for 266 only. Would you spend a few bucks on a better cooler/mobo. Any help.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

free..? or $ ..?

 

[airfoil]

Get the Athlon based rig, skip the Duron.

Use CPU-Z to identify the CPUs, and choose the faster of the two.

On the other hand, since both have identical configurations other than the CPU, you could take either and buy a faster Athlon XP CPU - will make for a nice upgrade.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: airfoil
Get the Athlon based rig, skip the Duron.

Use CPU-Z to identify the CPUs, and choose the faster of the two.

On the other hand, since both have identical configurations other than the CPU, you could take either and buy a faster Athlon XP CPU - will make for a nice upgrade.

both chips are Athlons just the a7m266 has issues with id'ing

 

[Blinkme323]

Yeah, they are both Athlons. Yes, I am getting this for free. Should I upgrade the mobo or will mine let me hit a pretty high bus.