picking a CPU

diroga

diroga

New Member
ok so do i go 64bit or stick to an athlon? i'm on a 500-700 bugget. i want dual channel ram. do athlon's support dual channel? here are to examples or CPU's i found

64bit cheapest one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

athlonXP a suggestion from a friend
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103394

how do i pickout the good athlons; Barton,Thoroughbred and Mobile?
if an athlon CPU is going cost me $100 should i just pay $50 more and get a 64bit cpu?
 
Definatly go 64, if not dont go XP, it sucks, Intel would be a better choice than XP. Dual Channel Ram is just having 2 ram chips, the processor dosent matter, that depends on the motherboard, and most motherboards have 4 ram slots (altho my brother got one with 6, which is nice making it more channels).

if an athlon CPU is going cost me $100 should i just pay $50 more and get a 64bit cpu?
Click to expand...
yes
 
if an athlon CPU is going cost me $100 should i just pay $50 more and get a 64bit cpu?
Click to expand...
it more than just that, although 64bit will be more future proof but not for afew years yet. Moreover the k8's on die-memory controller is a big plus point for the 64.

how do i pickout the good athlons; Barton,Thoroughbred and Mobile?
Click to expand...
The barton core gained a good reputation for there overclockability, and if you were to build a system around this old k7 then overclocking would be a great idea.
http://www.computerforum.com/showthread.php?t=16346
 
Last edited:
i think some of the semprons on skt A can use dual channel - just at 50% bandwidth, non of the s757 sempron support dual channel

pci-e is a feature of the motherboard and cpu independent.
 
hey im new here, i guess i can start my membership by adding to this post.

no there arent any socket A mobos with pcie. i dunno what all the athlon xp bashing is about.... i have a xp2400+ @ 2.2ghz and its a gem.
 
ilovefishsticks said:
Dual Channel Ram is just having 2 ram chips, the processor dosent matter, that depends on the motherboard.
Click to expand...

Not true. For example it would be impossiable to make a skt 754 motherboard with dual channel. This is because the memory controller is on the cpu and the memory controller is only single channel. Therefore you are wrong when you say the processor does not matter.

Some skt A support dual channel most does not.(in the case of skt A it does depend on the motherboard)
no skt 754 support dual channel
all skt 939 support dual channel

Dual channel gives you very little benfit so I would not worry about it. Buying a athlon xp in this day of age is like buying technolgy that already outdated. Amd is no longer making athlon xp.

The only AMD options I would consider is skt 754 or skt 939. WHich one depends on what you can afford.
 
0n3 said:
i dunno what all the athlon xp bashing is about.... i have a xp2400+ @ 2.2ghz and its a gem.
Click to expand...

I don't think there's any bashing going on, just ideas for future upgradability and performance. Generally speaking, you will get better performance from a Athlon 64.
 
ilovefishsticks said:
Dual Channel Ram is just having 2 ram chips, the processor dosent matter, that depends on the motherboard
Click to expand...

nope :P dual channel, is an impoved way in communication between the 2 ram sticks.
the improvement in speed to the mobo is about 33% and the improved speed between the sticks is 97% (at least it was nearly a 100% improvement)
and, as far as i know,. dual channel is just as fast as ddr2 ram.
 
Archangel said:
nope :P dual channel, is an impoved way in communication between the 2 ram sticks.
the improvement in speed to the mobo is about 33% and the improved speed between the sticks is 97% (at least it was nearly a 100% improvement)
and, as far as i know,. dual channel is just as fast as ddr2 ram.
Click to expand...

Dual channel will give you at most a 10% improvement in performance. You really cant compare it to DDR2 especially since you could run DDR2 in dual channel also.
 
the improvement in speed to the mobo is about 33% and the improved speed between the sticks is 97% (at least it was nearly a 100% improvement)
and, as far as i know,.
Click to expand...
Those numbers are extremely high, any links to back them up


dual channel is just as fast as ddr2 ram.
Click to expand...
Think you may have mislearned this:)
Also define fast?
 
i know 64bit cpu is good but i dont want to spend the $150 to get one, that why i was looking the semprons and athlons. the socket 939 semprons arent out yet are they?
 
alright so get 64bit then? or go wiht old out dated CPU's that are being discontinued. could i run half life 2 on an athlon?
 
an athlon xp 3000 or 3200 would run half life 2 with midrange to high graphics depending on your video card... I couldn't tell you about an xp model lower than that though...

my suggestion is go 64 if you think you will be doing a lot of gaming or if you are concerned about upgradeability...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top