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Who's budget CPUs are better for OCing, Intel or AMD?

B

bupkus

Diamond Member
I'm not interested in the high-end chips, but the economy or midrange.

If I'm going to set-up 6 pc's for a classroom of 6-11 year olds running educational and recreational software which pc/mobo/vid would you choose and why?
 
Judging by the age of your users and the software you're going to be running, you don't need anything fancy, but what you do need is something reliable and simple.

I'd get the MSI K7N420 Pro motherboard. It comes with GeF2MX graphics, LAN, sound, NIC, and modem. It's an all in one solution that takes no more than one driver install. It's simple, stable, and cheap ($128 at Newegg).

For the CPU, I'd go with the 1GHz Morgan Duron processor. It's fast and cheap ($40 at Newegg).
 
Is there a case you'd go with, small and cheap?
How much ram do you think will be enough? I'll probably us W98.
Also, do you think I can set this up so they all boot/run off a server?
Which OS could I use for the server?
I have W2K Pro and NT 4.0 Server as well.
Linux???
 
if you are looking for a good oc, i hear intels 1.6A (~$140-130) has reached up to 2.3ish with stock cooling. i doubt an athlon (tbird or xp) could yeild similar oc results (unless you decide to keep em stock - then athlons get most bang for the buck). dunno about durons vs p3s.
 
If the main purpose for the PC is to run educational softwares for elementary kids, why would you want to overclock in the first place??

Those educational softwares wont even need that much processing power. If I were you, I'd lean over more towards stability than speed.

Look into a budget intel mobo with a celeron or a PIII chips. They are the most trouble free setup you can get.
 
i was just looking at the thread tittle - maybe he wanted the kiddies to get the most performance in "elmo's stampede through the ABCs"(R)
 
I don't know yet which to go with, the cheaper Duron or Athlon or the more stable but slower Celeron.
I suppose the mobo will sway my direction. If I can get a mainboard for a Duron that has onboard video, sound, and LAN that's cheap AND stable I'll go with AMD.

If the Celeron can keep up with software that the owner wants then for stability sake that should be the choice.

Lets see,
I don't know what software will be used.
I don't know which cpu will be required for the software.
Don't know if the AMD chips/chipsets are stable enough.
Don't know which mobo to match up with.
But "select the most for the $ but the cheapest needed so as to get more computers".
I don't know how to boot a pc off a server or even know how to set up a server.
I think I need some help.

Hmm... this thread has taken a turn to...
Building some PCs for a school/daycare
 
If you're concerned about stability, just ask around for information on the Nforce based motherboards. I have to say that Nvidia did a great job of creating a very stable chipset on the first try!
 
You can`t beat a Duron setup for price / performance ratio

You can`t beat a Celeron for Overclocking - I`ve seen 566s clocked at 1130Mhz! and the 1200 will beat low-end P4s when thrashed to the limit.

the Question is, what are you doing?, if you want to teach the kids about PC modding, stress, heat related issues and about CPU Dies and how manufacturers use the same one but cripple it / run it slower, then the Celeron is ideal -- if you just want a cheap fast computer for them to use , get a DURON 1200, ECS K7S5a, a Ge-Force2 MX OEM sellout and dig out some PC133 RAM - great rig for games, education and STABILITY 🙂
 
"Are there any indications Nvidia will release a 2nd generation chipset this year? "

Yes, the 600 series, but then you could wait forever to upgrade as a faster CPU/MOBO/VIDEO CARD comes out every other day.

The N-Force/Duron setup seems ideal and will be every bit as stable as any crappy Celeron*.

*I am a past Celeron owner
 
I agree with Witchfinder. I got the ECS K7S5A for a child in the same age range. This board is inexpensive (around $50 at Outpost), very stable if you combine it with good parts (get an Antec case with an Antec 300 watt power supply -- I use the ones they sell at CompUSA and Best Buy), very upgradeable (you can use SDRAM now and replace it with DDR RAM later; you can use a Duron or Athlon now and upgrade to a pretty fast Athlon XP later; etc.), and comes with sound and LAN onboard. It doesn't come with video but given the low price you can buy a GEForce2 GTS (which is much better than the MX, though you may not need the power) and still save money over the NVidia-based board.

While some people will disagree with this I suggest you also call Dell and see what kind of deal they will give you on 6 Dimension 4400s with Pentium IV 1.6 GHz processors, given that the purpose is educational. Earlier this week they had a great sale going on and I compared their price after rebate to the price of building a system and the prices were very, very close after you take into account the cost of buying Windows XP and Microsoft Office or Works (and you may want Office or Works to teach the kids word processing).

And no, I don't work for Dell or anything. I used to buy their computers but now I build my own.
 
The Biostar M7VKQ for $52 @ newegg.com has everything : onboard video, sound, LAN.

These are pretty low end, for example the sound is only AC'97, the MSI would be better but this is probably the cheapest option around. Take the $52 mobo and a $51 Duron 1gig retail with included HSF and you've got the basics for only $103.
 


<< Judging by the age of your users and the software you're going to be running, you don't need anything fancy, but what you do need is something reliable and simple.

I'd get the MSI K7N420 Pro motherboard. It comes with GeF2MX graphics, LAN, sound, NIC, and modem. It's an all in one solution that takes no more than one driver install. It's simple, stable, and cheap ($128 at Newegg).

For the CPU, I'd go with the 1GHz Morgan Duron processor. It's fast and cheap ($40 at Newegg). >>



Ditto, installs a a breeze, driver upgrades are a breeze, great quality graphics and audio

~$130 mobo
~$40 CPU
~$65 256MB DDR
~$10 floppy
~$30 CD-rom
~$60 Antec case and 300W PS
~$15 cheapo mouse and keyboard
~$10 cheapo speakers
~$100 17in monitor

= $460
At this point, your better off buying a budget dell or gateway WITH the OS and some software (Food for thought)
 
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