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Which combo is the best?

J

jinxjinx

n00b
Joined
Aug 18, 2004
Messages
21
I want to run doom III at 1024x786 HQ
And this thing will have to last through college!

OPTION THE FIRST:
AMD Athlon XP 2700+, 333MHz FSB, 256K Cache Processor – OEM $99.25

ABIT "NF7-S2" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket A CPU –RETAIL $69.18

Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "A400 TDH" -RETAIL $283.00

TOTAL: $451.43

OPTION THE SECOND:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - OEM $167.25

ABIT "KV8 Pro" K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard for AMD Athlon64 CPU –RETAIL $101.00

POWERCOLOR RADEON 9800 PRO EZ Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "R98-PC3F" -BULK -OEM $159.00

TOTAL: $427.25


lets keep the price under $460
any advice welcome!
thanks
 
Hmmm...I would say option 2, except get rid of that EZ version 9800 pro, as it sucks major ass, and get the regular version http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-127-127&depa=0 (you can probably flash this to a 9800XT)...that would only put you at $465...only $14 more than your option 1 and would be a damn nice rig AND give you more upgrade-ability in the future.

I know you wanted to stay under $460...but $5 here is making a WORLD of difference on the video card.
 
^---yeah, what he said.

Find the extra $5 under your couch.. or wander around your town searching for pennies on the street.

If all else fails, I'll send you $5 in exchange for something like your soul or something :p
 
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK -OEM $193.00


the sapphire is $1 cheeper. :)

im kinda suprised you guys are going for the radeon.
i would have thought that option A would get better frames and be easyer to upgrade because the video card would last longer.
 
You might want to ask a mod to move this...you might get more posts if it was in it's proper place (General Hardware)...instead of tucked inside the ATi video card forum.

As to your comments, it's just my opinion, but I always go with the better mobo/cpu combo...video cards are easy to change...mobo/cpu's are not...so I usually go with the setup that gives me upgrade options in the future. IMO, the AthlonXP setup is a dead end.
 
Chalk up another tally for Option 2.

a64 3000+ > axp 2700+

The 9800pro is a must though, if you don't do that upgrade I would go with Option 1. The 9800 EZ versions is probably about as bad a 9600XT or so. I hate these 9800pros with 128bit memory! Sneaky companies shouldn't be allowed to downgrade the configurations ATI had intended.
 
The reason why option B is being chosen is because option A would be a cpu limited setup. In other words, option B will get more out of whatever card you get. Of course, you still need a half-way decent card to see that. ^_^

Still, even as much as the ez sucks, go with option b even if you absolutely can't get a 9800 pro for some reason. In the near future you'll not regret the difference.

EDIT: Oh, but, if you did want to go with option A, get the Athlon mobile 2600+ instead. You can, without even putting forth an effort, get it way over 2700+ speeds. Most can get them up to 2.6GHz or so on air cooling, and some even 2.7GHz. Same price, but, better chip in the end. Lol, just don't be surprised when the system reports "unknown cpu type" the moment you set it to anything over 1GHz or so. This is common with most chipsets and, unless they've gotten around to upgrading such a minor annoyance, definitely is true with all the nForce2 based boards. I think nothing goes by that string anyway. Everything still seems to know I have an Athlon XP+ even though windows itself even says "Unknown CPU Typ" (no, that's not a typo.)

Oh, and I noted you said you wanted to keep the price under $460. Switching out that "EZ" card for a Pro shouldn't quite push you over that limit if you get a cheap one. Plus you'll have a decent card then. I'll also go ahead and suggest what I am to everyone else looking for a video card in that price range and recommend you wait a couple of months if you can afford to. nVidia is releasing several new cards which will be actually worth bothering with in that range. The 6800LE is a crippled 6800, which has great promise, and the 6600 series will be kind of the same thing. 6600GT should cost just about the same as the 6800LE. We still aren't entirely sure whether the GT or the LE is better overall, though I'm starting to think the LE might be better since the core at least isn't crippled on it. The 6800LE is already officially out, but will be OEM only, so you'll have to keep an eye out on newegg and places like that to find any. The 6600GT is supposed to be out early next month in PCI-e, and the AGP version the next month after that (which is stupid since all they do is stick that HSI bridge on there, so there's no reason they couldn't release at or near the same time.) I believe the 6800LE will be the better card with some OCing to help it out a bit.
 
option 1 n o/c it. even without o/c u'll get better 3d performance thanks to video card.
 
well pretty much dont "upgrade" to an athlon XP unless you can help it. they have reached the end of their usefullness as a mid-highend processor. the amd 64 will be more upgradeable as the only thing oyu will have in Socket A in the future is Sempron..the duron replacement. but atleast with the AMD64 they will keep pushing out new procs for the same chipset. the graphics card, well i dont know what you have now. but i wouldnt get anything slower than 9800P. i think maybe purchase the core system and then save the 156.00 for a couple months and buy a 6800GT. the new proc should light a fire under whatever card you have now.


but in the end yes, option 2. an graphics card, is just display the processor and mobo is everything.


EDIT: yes waht Nazo said in his edit, do that! 2600+mobile can easily attain 2300 internal mhz with very low relative temps, thats equalivalent to a 3500+, and 2719mhz is roughly a P-rating of 43-4500+. not bad for a 100 dollar chip. all these p ratings are based on Barton core.
 
Athlon XP+ Mobile 2600+ WILL go over 2.3GHz. However, don't forget the law of diminishing returns. An overclocked Barton can do some sweet stuff, but, I'll bet that the real 3200+ does better than a 2600+ oced to 3200+ speeds. Not that the 2600+ can't kick some serious rear end. Like I said before, you can count on getting it up to 2.5GHz without a doubt, and most probably more. Oh, and I really don't think that the PR rating is based on the Barton core with Athlon 64s. I'm pretty sure that they take another step up offering higher numbers for the same clock frequencies. BTW, let's not forget, those things run about as cool as a mobile barton.

I still say a less CPU limited system is better in the long run even with a worse (but still good!) video card like the 9800 Pro or in the very near future, one of those other two that nVidia is releasing in the $200 range. Preferably though, go with the 6800LE or 6600GT as those will be capable of a good deal more probably. Those won't cost $150 though, I meant they will be the same price as a 9800 Pro, which is $200 more or less. Still, the extra cost might not go over 460 I think. Even if it did it would be something like 10 more. Not too bad, and definitely worth it. Even if you can't wait, it's worth that extra bit to get the 9800 Pro versus the EZ version. The pro is capable of a lot more with no limitations thrown in there to weaken it. That combined with a good system would have a better longterm result. Especially since you won't have to upgrade your system much in the near future. Only the video card would be something you would even want to be bothered with. A good A64 will last a little while before it gets truly outdated enough to bother to change. Wait long enough for the Radeon 9800 Pro to be TRULY outdated and the things that are better than it will be a lot cheaper anyway. Right now it can get good quality out of Far Cry and Doom 3 anyway, and, from what I hear, Half-Life 2 will have even lower video requirements to get decent quality apparently (at least, so some are saying.) For the next year or so, a lot of games that try to push things are probably going to be using these engines I'll bet.
 
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