Intel vs AMD processor and mobo

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xAbre1200

New Member
Im going to be building a PC very soon, and now is the time for me to start choosing what MOBO to get. Here are two of the MOBO's that i've been looking into.

Intel Pentium D Processor 945 & ECS P4M800Pro-M V2 Motherboardis only $149
http://www.netaffilia.com/images/2006/12/29/14499678.jpg

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 4200+ & ECS C51GM-M Motherboard
is $179
http://www.netaffilia.com/images/2006/12/29/14496532.jpg


Im shooting for a performance PC at a tight budget. Which MOBO + Package do you think gives the best Bang for Buck?

Im pretay sure the AMD x2 is better than the Intel Pentium D. But what about the motherboards? Does it seem like the one w/ the AMD is better than the mobo that comes w/ the Intel?
 
Firstly, ECS motherboards aren't exactly high quality, but the prices for those combos are good.

While it's difficult to make a meaningful comparison between two motherboards for different platforms, I would consider the one that accompanies the AMD CPU to be the better board. The nVidia chipset is a bonus, as is the PCI-E support.

What will the system be used for?
 
I myself also thought the AMD one would be better. The board will not be used for much. Im shooting at a budget PC $500 ish, so im going to be skimping a little.

Since it has the nVidia built in, thats a plus. And it also comes with the AMD Athlon 64X2 so that means it must fit w/ the MOBO. Now all I need is to find 1GB of RAM (2 512MB sticks or just 1 1GB stick), DVD drive, HD(just 100GB+), Power supply (if it doesnt already come with the case), and the case.

Since if I purchace this set, i'll already have the Processor and Mobo off the list of things to get. And I've been reading a few reviews over at newegg about this mobo. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135010
A few mixed reviews and opinions, but im preaty sure its a preaty decent mobo.

This budget computer is going to be used for basic web surfing, a little gaming (cs:s, guildwars, etc), and a little video editing. Nothing fancy. I just want a system that will last a few yrs.
 
any motherboard is fine, as long as it features everything you personally want it to... unless you're overclocking...
then you need to spend at least $120 on the motherboard. i spent $170 on mine... of course it has crossfire support and i could mod it with a sli bridge (flex asus one) and use some hacked drivers and run SLI if i wanted... and it runs huge amounts of fsb without any overvolt. my bottleneck was my ram and i plan on getting some new ram. interested in my old kit? its 2x1gb patriot ddr2-667... 4-4-4-12... runs ddr2-900 4-4-4-12 pretty easily actually, and ive hit ddr2-950 with the stuff... i just need something that goes even higher because either it or my motherboard doesnt agree with the divider i put on it... gives me a nice long beep when i do that lol.
 
Sounds good. It seems like the only obsticle im running into at the moment is where to obtain a Windows XP OS. I have a few friends who just installed the hacked OS's downloaded off bittorent when they finished building thier PC's..... but im not sure if that is really safe. Is the only option paying a couple hundred bucks for it?
 
xAbre1200 said:
Sounds good. It seems like the only obsticle im running into at the moment is where to obtain a Windows XP OS. I have a few friends who just installed the hacked OS's downloaded off bittorent when they finished building thier PC's..... but im not sure if that is really safe. Is the only option paying a couple hundred bucks for it?
Click to expand...
It's not just unsafe, it's illegal. If you look around carefully, you can find XP for $90 new.
 
Windows XP installations are limited to 3 times. According to Dell.
Around 3 months ago, i bought a dell, came with a CD and a CD-key.

When i returned it, i forgot to return it (not on purpose) and just returned the tower & LCD.

However, i called and they said i could keep the CD & CD-key and limited to 3 activations (you have to activate it one you install it.
 
Bobo said:
What? Since when is the number greater than 1 computer? Have I been totally missing something?
Click to expand...

Maybe that is just for the upgrade versions. Forget what I said :o :)

b3atofang3l said:
Windows XP installations are limited to 3 times. According to Dell.
Around 3 months ago, i bought a dell, came with a CD and a CD-key.

When i returned it, i forgot to return it (not on purpose) and just returned the tower & LCD.

However, i called and they said i could keep the CD & CD-key and limited to 3 activations (you have to activate it one you install it.
Click to expand...

After you have activated Windows three times you have to call and get another activation key.
 
Bobo said:
No, it's a lot more than three, at least in my experience, it's more like 8 or 10. Or maybe I'm just special. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You probably have the corporate edition. I know when I use the CD Key with my Acer laptop, I can only activate it one additional time before I need to call. But I have a corporate XP Home CD-Key that can be activated around 10 times before needing to call microsoft.
 
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