A machine for my dad...

[FlipperBizkut]

He is currently running a 700Mhz Duron, so anything will shine. I was wanting to build him a really nice rig, but money is of course an issue. I have decided to go with the 754 platform, but was wondering about whether or not to go with the Athlon64 over the Sempron. I can get the 3000+ Sempron64 for about $30 less than a 2800+ A64. Do you think that the $30 is worth it to get the A64?

He doesn't do much with his computer now. About the only games he likes to play are the Myst games. He hasn't even been playing them for quite some time. He just retired, and since it is winter time and there isn't much to do outside, he has gotten a bit bored I think. That is why he started playing them again. I want to build him something that will play any game that is out (obviously not at the highest settings) though incase he decides to broaden his horizons.

Also for money reasons, I have pretty much decided on going with the nForce 6100 chipset with its integrated graphics. There is still a PCIe slot should he need to upgrade the video card later.

What do you suggest?

 

[Bona Fide]

Definitely get the Semprons. They are AMAZING chips. Great overclocking potential as well. But definitely get the Sempron.

 

[LongShotHero]

The A64 has a much larger L2 cache(512KB vs 128KB on the Sempron). I don't know if its worth the extra $30 though

 

[Bona Fide]

The A64 has a much larger L2 cache(512KB vs 128KB on the Sempron). I don't know if its worth the extra $30 though

Definitely not. Not for a light-use machine.

 

[FlipperBizkut]

I can pretty much say with 99.99% confidence that there will be NO overclocking done to this rig. Just FYI.

 

[asciibaron]

if it's not too late - go with the Chaintech VNF3 250 and the S64 2500 overclocked to 1.8 or 2.0GHz. even with 512MB of RAM, this is a fast and stable system - perfect for cruising the web, editing digicam images, and listening to mp3's, and all for about $160.00. if you need a case and DVD/RW, you can do it for around $225.00 - a heck of a bargain compared to the Duron he paid more for...

-da baron