Ok, I have a reletively low budget to buy just a tower (without monitor, keyboard, speakers etc.) I have looked at a few custom build online sites and the best I've found so far is www.vantagecomputer.co.uk However, I can't decide on what processor to go for. I am looking for a gaming PC rather than office. The highest processor's I could get are AMD 64-bit 3200+ or Intel Pentium IV 3.0 Ghz. I need to know what is best for gaming, how big the difference between the scaled down processors (sempron and celeron) and the top line ones is, and if it's really worth getting a Pentium or AMD over the others. I mean to say, what is the diffference between an Intel Celeron 3.0 Gz and an Intel Pentium IV 3.0Ghz? Tell me what you think'd be best for a gaming PC. Thanks.
For gaming you'll want an Athlon 64, the 3200+ will outperform the P4 3.0GHz, don't let the clockspeed fool you. Budget procs like the Celeron series and the Semprons will be a fair bit slower than their bigger bros as you'd expect, lower clock speeds, slower front side busses, smaller caches, etc. I'm pretty sure the Celeron series only goes up to 2.8GHz but I may be wrong, however the P4 2.8GHz will outperform the Celeron @ the same speed. The difference isn't going to be huge, but it will be noticable, plus the price of a 3.0GHz P4 is pretty low these days anyway. In my opinion you should look at anything in AMD's socket 939 range, the 3000+ being the lowest (but still pretty fast) and the FX line being out of most any of our price ranges. The 3500+ is the sweet spot really, that will outdo pretty much all of Intels procs and you'll only spend $260 for it, if you can't afford that go with the 3200+ like you had which should come to less than $200 (but make sure it's for socket 939 and your motherboard supports that). Hope this helps.
Thanx for your info, this has helped me a lot in making my decision (I'll go with AMD 64-bit 3200+) however, I need to know what difference a 754 Skt would make over a 939. I can only really afford a 754... Is it a considerable difference? Thanx in advance. Ignore all of the above, I don't know how to delete messages or else I would. This is no longer a problem.
The dual-channel memory capabilities of a S939 are one thing to consider, and that adds about 10% or so in performance. The other thing you'll want to consider is that S754 is AMD's designated value socket, meaning the highest Athlon you're likely to see is a 3400+. After that you can expect to see it be a Sempron-only. S939 will be for the Athlon's and include support for the dual core's. The S754 isn't a slouch, and the up front costs might be a bit pricier for a S939, but if you'd like to give yourself more future flexibility, that'd be a better move in the long run.
No problem dude, 754 is fine but for future upgrading you should really concider a socket 939 mobo, as AMD is don't going to be fabricating any new Athlon chip for 754, for a few dollars more you'd have what you need to support any new processor for a year or so to come. Socket 939 is getting cheaper all the time, I got myself a very reliable 'board for $80, haven't had a single problem yet. Search around, I'm sure you can find a good price. There's always Newegg.com after all.
yeah and for 9393 they are even releasing new processors that are gonna be dual core check out my other thread "Finally info on dual core athlons" and all you're gonna need is a bios flash to activate them proving to be very good in upgrading as well as the sli rendering motherboards they have, prove to make the most powerful systems so far.
just to let you know I've been on a 3.6ghz celeron system used to beta test the processor exfoliate. I'm not sure if they go higher.
