Intel or Athlon ?

[SOHCAHTOA]

I have decided to upgrade the ole puter and was wondering if there is any major difference between the Intel or Athlon processors other than those which can only be spotted by computer guru's who measure things in nano seconds !!

I was thinking about upgrading to a 1.7/1.8 P4. Im using mainly word, internet and buzzing around in flight sim.

Thanks

[Evo7]

As you can guess, this is a subject that people argue about for hours. As far as I can tell the Athlons are

(a) Quicker than a P4 for a given clock speed (i.e. Athlon 1.4GHz is faster than a P4-1.4GHz)

(b) Cheaper than a P4 of equivalent performance.

Seems to me that an Athlon is the way to go if you have a choice between the two - if you're building your own machine, for example - but if you're buying and see a good deal on a P4 then I'd just go for that. I doubt that there is enough of a difference to care about unless you're a techie worried about the performance of the machine on the limit.

FWIW, I've just acquired a P4 which I'm very happy with.

[Mac the Knife]

The AMDs/Athlons run quite hot. Make sure that you have decent cooling in the case (especially if you have a 7200rpm hard-drive). Most mobos have 12v power-pins somewhere for an extra cooling fan and most cases now have a mounting at the front (or wherever) that is designed for an extra standard sized fan. The extra fan and bolts only cost a few quid. Fractionally noisier but worth it. I've fitted all my PCs with extra cooling.

Vacuum/blow through (Dust-Off canister) everything every couple of months to get rid of the dust bunnies. Switch off the PC and let everything cool down before you do this and let it get back to room temp after - the gas gets very cold.

Cheers Mac

[Superpilot]

following on from Mac: "Athlon CPU's run hot" this brings in the issue of stability (i.e. how often the CPU causes the system to hang). Do also make sure you purchase a heavy duty, powerful fan. If what you're looking for is performance then go for the Athlon but make sure you purchase an Epox or Asus motherboard (The best out there). Intel has always been more stable than AMD, IMHO.

[SOHCAHTOA]

Thanks for the imput fella's.

From what I can see, the concensus seems to be that for the same speed CPU, Athlon will be better for performance but comes with the tendancy to run hot and the possibility of system hanging. And Intel would be slightly less performance but more stable.

I have been comparing prices and it seems I can pick up a 1.9ghz P4 for the same price as a Athlon XP 1800 (1.5Ghz). Im assuming the P4 would be the best value for money ?

Also, is there any major benefit in getting a motherboard which uses RDRAM as opposed to SDRAM ?

And final question, I have purchased a tower case with a 300watt supply will this be suitable, as I have spoken with a supplier who has tried to convince me I will need a 500watt minimum.

Thanks for the advice its really appreciated.

Soc

[Superpilot]

All Pentium 4 chips now use RDRAM (slightly more expensive than it's equivalent DDR RAM). SDRAM won't work with your P4.

Your dealer is pulling a fast one. A 300W power supply will suffice unless you're planning on adding 9 SCSI 2Tb Hardrives and 4 10in fans!

You may want to take a look at this page: Asus Man (http://www.geocities.com/asususer2000/asusman.html?996104305800)
I would highly recommend his choice of motherboard.

[ 11 November 2001: Message edited by: Superpilot ]

[Evo7]

P4's can work fine with SDRAM - mine uses it. Probably depends on the chipset. i845 certainly supports it.

[Superpilot]

You are quite right Evo, I had no idea. The newer motherboards are definitely inclining towards 'only RDRAM support' though.

[SOHCAHTOA]

Thanks for the info superpilot.
I am now the proud owner of a 1.7 P4 with 512mb of sdram.

Even managed to put it all together without blowing the whole street up.

Useful experience and a ton of money saved.

Once again thanks for the help.

soc