Should I buy an amd athlon 64 3000+ or an intel penium DUAL CORE 2.66 ghz? Bus speed?

[solarwind]

I want to get a good cpu under 300 dollars.

Currently I am trying to decide between:

AMD athlon 64 3000+ with 2000mhz bus speed (single core) priced at around $130

Intel Pentium D (dual core) 2.66 ghz with 533 mhz bus speed priced at around $150

I THINK that I would like a dual core cpu and Intel's Pentium D is a really good price for a dual core cpu. But AMD has a much higher performance than Intel (from what I know) and I don't know If the Single core cheaper amd can outperform the DUAL CORE Intel. Also, the Intel has a much slower bus speed. I don't know if AMD has a higher performance gain with a 2000 mhz bus speed, even though it is single core.

Please help me out here, which one should I get (both these prices are from www.tigerdirect.com)

Thanks a lot!

 

[Dr Studly]

neither will play the newest games well... except the pentium D will be able to play some of them such as Quake 4, COD2, and Oblibion, and it will be able to play future multi-threaded games... which is what the Pentium D has over the Athlon 3000+... and the 3000+ doesn't have anything over the PD... (except for single threaded games, but as i said, it won't be able to play the latest games well n e way...)

 

[Motoxrdude]

neither will play the newest games well... except the pentium D will be able to play some of them such as Quake 4, COD2, and Oblibion, and it will be able to play future multi-threaded games...

Lol dude, it will play the newest games just fine. But then again, depends on the game. Lots of calculations in a game, then yes, those processors will, but most games will run just fine. To tell you the truth though, i think you should go for the intel, just because of the dual core.

 

[Filip]

Well I have no problems playing F.E.A.R. on maximum settings with AA 2X, AF 16X without soft shadows, I never get below 30 fps, avarage ~60, max ~170

Athlon 64 3000+ can handle every game if you have a good GPU that is.

 

[solarwind]

Firstly, Thanks all for your responses! Also, the Intel board I'm planning to get can support ddr2 ram. Will that yield a noticably greater performance in terms of frames per second in a game?

 

[EliteEmerz]

it should..hell its DDR2...your best bet, wait for AM2 processors to come out so AMD uses DDR2, then get an AMD system, itll blow intel out of the water

 

[solarwind]

Thanks for your response! First question... What is "AM2"? Second question... Will the AM2 processors be expensive? I really don't want to spend more than 200 for a processor.

 

[Filip]

Thanks for your response! First question... What is "AM2"? Second question... Will the AM2 processors be expensive? I really don't want to spend more than 200 for a processor.

AM2 in a new socket that AMD is releasing on 6/6/06, you can wait for it to come out and then the prices of socket 939 CPU's will drop.

 

[solarwind]

Yeah. I like AMD MUCH BETTER than Intel. But I would also like a dual core cpu and don't want to spend a lot of money.

 

[Filip]

Yeah. I like AMD MUCH BETTER than Intel. But I would also like a dual core cpu and don't want to spend a lot of money.

Well, when AM2 comes out, the prices will drop, so maybe you will be able to buy it then.

You can find a X2 3800+ for around $300, you said that's your budget.

 

[Motoxrdude]

AM2 in a new socket that AMD is releasing on <b>6/6/06<b>, you can wait for it to come out and then the prices of socket 939 CPU's will drop.

Unlucky realease date

 

[solarwind]

Well, I'm willing to spend around $200, not $300 for my cpu.

 

[mrbagrat]

If you wait until AM2 the prices will drop a little, and you will probably have enough $ saved up for a X2 3800+.

 

[SpeedDevil817]

yea ur best bet is to wait...

 

[DarkJokerX]

Well, when AM2 comes out, the prices will drop, so maybe you will be able to buy it then.

YOu can find a X2 3800+ for around $300, you said that's your budget.

Sounds the best to me

 

[34erd]

AM2 in a new socket that AMD is releasing on 6/6/06, you can wait for it to come out and then the prices of socket 939 CPU's will drop.

I think the AM2 launch date was moved up to may 23rd.

 

[apj101]

Athlon 64 3000+ can handle every game if you have a good GPU that is.

And the first gold star of the day goes too filip-matijevic

Well, when AM2 comes out, the prices will drop,

they will but not a hige deal

Look the most important factor here is the gpu, both those chips will do fine in games so long as there is a good solid gpu at the heart of the system.