the ultimate question for gamers

beanyman · May 31, 2004, 14:06 hrs

i have this system :

amd athlon xp 2000+
gigabyte motherboard model ga-7vrx
256 ddr 2700 (running at 333 and 2.0 in the timings)
ati radeon 9200 (slow edition)
soundblaster live soundcard 4.1
52x24x52 cdrw from a-open
win98 se - mandrake linux 9.0
30 gig maxtor ata 133 hhd
altec lansing avs 300 speakers
logitech opitcal mouse
cable connection to the internet

now i am thinking of going to the intel 1.7gig cpu and removing the amd. the question is - which cpu is better being in a hard core gamer computer - the amd i have now is running at 1.674mhz -basicly - intel vs amd in at 1.7gig whis is better for gaming

Chandler · May 31, 2004, 14:14 hrs

The Athlon XP 2000+ is far superior to the Pentium 4 1.7GHz

beanyman · May 31, 2004, 14:17 hrs

well in that case - i think i will stay with my athlon xp 2000+ cpu - thanks for the fast reply

Nestor · June 01, 2004, 09:18 hrs

The only thing I would suggest is upgrading from your 2000+ to the 2500+, for a couple of reasons: The price is more than reasonable (typically $90-110) the upgrade in performance is noticeable, AMD still supports the processor (Anything from the 2200+ down they no longer offer support for, and the next one to drop from the list is the 2400+)
The 2500+ has a Barton Core, and is basically a underclocked 2800+, so overclocking is a cinch.

Of course, that's just a suggestion from me. ;)

Carskick · June 01, 2004, 09:36 hrs

I agree with Nestorath69. Since the introduction of Athlon64s, the Athlon XPs have continually gotten quite cheap. Upgrading to a Barton core processor would boost the clock speed, L2 cache size, and FSB. The 2500+ is the base version of the Barton, and as Nestorath said, many believe it is easy to overclock. If you are not into overclocking, a 2600+, 2800+, 3000+, or even a 3200+ will give you a little more performance boost for not much more dough. Either way, it's a good upgrade for your computer. Your motherboard may also support the newer processors as well. If you wanted to move to a P4, you'd definently have to buy a new motherboard. If your memory is PC2100, you'll want to upgrade to PC2700 or higher to take advantage of the faster Athlon's faster FSB. Good luck on your endevor!

Chandler · June 01, 2004, 09:44 hrs

beanyman, if you're looking for better gaming performance then a faster graphics card will give the most noticeable boost. The 9200SE is not particularly fast and I find that it is the limiting factor even on a 1GHz machine.

Carskick · June 01, 2004, 10:01 hrs

Quote from: Chandler on June 01, 2004, 09:44 hrs
beanyman, if you're looking for better gaming performance then a faster graphics card will give the most noticeable boost. The 9200SE is not particularly fast and I find that it is the limiting factor even on a 1GHz machine.

That is a very good point. Upgrading to a 9600XT or 5700Ultra would probably cost about $200, but would probably give you a much better performance boost for gaming than a newer processor. Good call Chandler!

Nestor · June 01, 2004, 10:31 hrs

I can't believe that I totally missed that... :o

If you're a *ahem* 'discount' gamer (like myself), I would recommend an Invidia product with no qualms whatsoever. They're cheap, Driver installation is a snap, and it seems to be more stable than an ATI model of the same capacity.

New Egg has them, I would also recommend zipzoomfly.

beanyman · June 01, 2004, 11:08 hrs

my ram is 2700 - i have had a gainward nivida video card -5200xt if i remmeber right and had bad luck with it (never worked right) and swiched back - i am looking at a ati 9600 all in wonder)

beanyman

Nestor · June 01, 2004, 11:28 hrs

The 5200 seems to be the bad egg of the bunch- more than a few I know have had to be RMA'd. The 9600 is quite choice. Given a decision between the 5200 and the 9600, I'd jump ship and go ATI.

Mark H · June 01, 2004, 12:13 hrs

Also, the 9800 Pro prices have dropped to a little over 200 dollars at Newegg. I look for them to drop a little more after the X800 Platinum card comes out (I think that is what it is called). The X800 is already out, but it is a premium price. I think the Radeon 9800 is the best bang for the buck right now.

Chandler · June 01, 2004, 13:11 hrs

A word of warning with the Sapphire 9800 Pro's, make sure that it's the 256-bit memory version, as they've recently started making a 128-bit version which gets sub-9600 performance levels.

They can be distinguished by:
128-bit

I-shape layout to memory chips
Floppy disk drive power connector
Black heatsink and black fan

256-bit

L-shape layout to memory chips
Molex (hard drive) power connector
Silver heatsink and black fan

iansl · June 11, 2004, 22:56 hrs

Oh...OH!

So maybe my graphics card in my signature system (9200SE 128MB) is why 3DNA was fairly unstable...or was it another reason? I think I just might upgrade my graphics card then to maybe a 128MB 5700, as I don't play 3D games at all (unless you count Age of Empires II, Impressions Games Pharoah or)...I take that back. Jane's WWII fighters is 3D, but it's low-res and the limiting factor on it is 5-second freezes when the CD drive reads...

trav · June 12, 2004, 01:23 hrs

wats up with the different colored heatsinks chandler?

Wade777 · June 20, 2004, 09:42 hrs

Quote from: beanyman on May 31, 2004, 14:06 hrs
the question is - which cpu is better being in a hard core gamer computer - the amd i have now is running at 1.674mhz -basicly - intel vs amd in at 1.7gig whis is better for gaming

^_^ you won't be doing hard core gaming with either

/agreed that you need a new vid card- tho I can't argue for ATI (sorry)

Chandler · June 21, 2004, 16:53 hrs

Quote from: Travis. on June 12, 2004, 01:23 hrs
wats up with the different colored heatsinks chandler?

Nothing, but in the case of the Reference 9800 PRO boards they should be silver; if it is black (and other criteria such as memory chip layout) then it is not built on a 9800 Pro PCB, and has the cut-down 128-bit memory interface.

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the ultimate question for gamers