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I have been out of it for years, haven't built a new system.

I'm looking at building a new system and I cannot figure out what I want or even what I should want.

I am going to be leaving everything stock, for some reason overclocking doesn't seem to be the route I want to take in the future. So that aspect is neglible.

I loathe the prospect of l2 caches less than 1mb, I would prefer a 2mb l2 cache. However, I am aware that most AMDs have a 512kb l2 cache and I have had no experience with AMDs whatsoever... so yeah.

Definitely PCI-E, but video card... well I went Nvidia for my TNT & TNT2 & Geforce & Geforce 2 & Geforce 3. But I've been using an ATI mobility 9200 for the longest time since then and I kinda like ATI now, but I don't know how either perform comparably.

So yeah, help me figure out what I need to buy in terms of which processor & video card.

I'm going to be doing RAID-0 w/ 2x 37gb Raptors and probably 2x 1gb Corsairs for the ram. I'll be happy with onboard audio on whichever mobo supports the chip & features I end up getting, so yeah. Help me choose a vid card & processor.

-Adam

I believe (and I could very well be mistaken here - so someone please correct me if I'm wrong)... that Pentium is better for gaming than AMD because Pentium dedicated 50% to its processing power to math and 50% to logic, while AMD is 40% math and 60% logic. Although, again I'm not exactly sure.

As for nVidia and ATI... I've used both. The only issue that *I* have with ATI is that the nVidia cards are easier to configure in Linux (because their drivers are open source, while ATI drivers are not).

However, I'd go with a Pentium / ATI combo.

I've used an AMD nVidia combo, and am currently using a Pentium ATI combo... I'm happier with the P/ATI. I did have to do some work to get the 3d accel to work in Linux, but other than that - everything is perfect.

I also believe that AMDs run hotter than Pentiums.

AMD Athlon 64 and an ATI X800 PCIx.

The overall difference between AMD and Intell is small when it comes to benchmarks.

Overall, gaming tests tend to favor the AMD while other tests tend to favor the Intells. If your looking for 64bit processing, AMD is the way to go.

As far as video. Right now

High End State of the art - ATI > nVidia (ATI x800 XL vs Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT)
Mid Range - nVidia > ATI (ATI Radeon X700 XT vs Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT)
Low end - nVidia = ATI (ATI Radeon X300 SE vs Nvidia GeForce 6200)

NVIDIA = ATI.

Buy whichever you prefer.

AMD completely owns Pentium right now, though.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6814102506

Sapphire ATI X850pro 256 PCIx

520 core clock
1080 memory

Not too pricey at $349.

Or go for the equivalent Nvidia...whatever floats your boat.

As far as processor goes, just go for whatever you want to spend on it. I prefer AMD solely on benchmarks alone.

Price : Performance ratio is better on every AMD I've read about. If money is no object just get a high end Pentium EE.

AMD/Nividia = awesome combo

AMD runs much hotter than an intel

less fans = less noise

with for me means intel for the win

my P4 runs at 24 C, at stock cooling. that's barely warmer than room temperature

for video cards, unless you're buying a $500 card, go with nVidia. the 6600gt is the best performing midrange card by quite a bit imo

AMD cpu's do run hot... no doubt about it. However, they don't run as nearly as hot as an ATi gpu that's been running for only 10 minutes.

I can withstand the fan noise. It actually makes for a pleasant white-noise background to me.

As far as Nvidia gpu's are concerned... I got my BFG Tech 6800 GT 256mb OC'd card for $357+tax. The card has flawless performance. BF1942 plays with smooth, fluid motion... no more choppiness. EQ2 is fun to play with this card also.

BRBN PC SHT|SN25P nFORCE4 XPC RT - Retail
Item #: N82E16856101468 $380.00 $380.00
1 VGA SAPHRE X850 PRO 256M 100108-RD% - OEM
Item #: N82E16814102498 $349.00 $349.00
1 CPU AMD 64 |3000+ ATHLON 939P 90 RT - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103501 $147.00 $147.00
2 HD 74GB|WD 10,000RPM 8MB WD740GD % - OEM
Item #: N82E16822144160 $183.00 $366.00
1 CORSAIR 2G(2X1G) Twinx2048-3200c2 R - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145574 $291.00 $291.00

AMD 3200 64Bit running on a MSI K8T Neo with Dual DDR 1Gig Ram

now I am staying with the x800 Radeon AGP since Ill be damned if I am buying a pci-e right after I bought that card.

I should have my system put together by this coming weekend as well as having my old monitor's power supply repaired(Phillips 201b, still retails for $400+... chose to do that rather than buy an LCD simply because I can crank the resolution UP).

I am going to put Win2k Pro on it for now, depending on driver compatibility. Might end up getting a copy of XP 64 before long. I am also going to create a partition for Linux, but that isn't a huge priority for me to be quite honest.

I'll have some benchmark tests done and posted in a week. Hopefully this system will last me for a few years, might upgrade the processor before long however... go with a higher end Athlon 64 w/ a 1mb L2 cache.

-Adam

XP Pro > Win2k

Gidan wrote:The overall difference between AMD and Intell is small when it comes to benchmarks.

Overall, gaming tests tend to favor the AMD while other tests tend to favor the Intells. If your looking for 64bit processing, AMD is the way to go.

As far as video. Right now

High End State of the art - ATI > nVidia (ATI x800 XL vs Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT)
Mid Range - nVidia > ATI (ATI Radeon X700 XT vs Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT)
Low end - nVidia = ATI (ATI Radeon X300 SE vs Nvidia GeForce 6200)

word

The highest end AMD 64bit chips are completely destroying shit on the benchmarks. Intel doesn't even compare.

ATI and Nvidia aren't really that much different... it's usually game-dependant. Read the forums for whatever game you play and find which card works the best. Like... I think Doom3 favored Nvidia cards, while HL2 preferred ATI. I think .

ATI and Nvidia aren't really that much different... it's usually game-dependant. Read the forums for whatever game you play and find which card works the best. Like... I think Doom3 favored Nvidia cards, while HL2 preferred ATI. I think .




Very true, check out http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2299

Notice that, on the second page, it shows the gaming statistics in FPS (Frames per second), this is what ultimately made me choose the X800XL for my new comp, instead of the 6800GT. (I play Counterstrike a lot, known as Half Life 2, in the test)

Interface Transfer Rate
AGP 1x 264MBps
AGP 2x 528MBps
AGP 4x 1056MBps
AGP 8x 2112MBps

PCIe x1 500MBps
PCIe x16 8000MBps - i do not think this is implemented yet

My new card is PCI-E x16, same with the motherboard... but I am uncertain whether or not the drivers actually support it.

-Adam

All cool people like AMD and ATI.