best bang for the buck?

[iceblue]

the dilemma i face...
1.8 or 2GHz pentium4 (400MHz fsb, 512 cache)? i kno the 1.8 would easily oc to 2 but would the price difference make it worth getting? btw, i recently found a complete 2ghz dell selling for only 400 so it kinda feels like im gettin ripped off buying parts for a custom pc. should i wait till the holidays roll around and get it after the 3GHz p4's are released?

plus.. concerning motherboards-
what would be the 2nd best from asus for pentium4? i dont have much to spend (around 400)...:t

[BipolarBill]

It's always best to get the most CPU that you can (unless a faster one doesn't overclock as well - like the old 300A Celeron vs. the 400A).

The Asus P4B533 is a great board, but keep in mind that the new 3.0 Prescott CPU w/Hyperthreading will be using a new chipset.

[AllGamer]

Sorry but the best Bang for the buck is any AMD Duron or XP CPU :t

[BipolarBill]

Very true. ;)

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Wait for the Xp2700 / Xp 2800 ;)

--Jakk:t

[iceblue]

i got reports of athlon systems sounding like jumbo jets so i thought it would be well worth it to get a pentium 4 that was easily overclockable and quiet too with only stock cooling..

Originally posted by AllGamer
Sorry but the best Bang for the buck is any AMD Duron or XP CPU

[BipolarBill]

Jumbo jet is a gross exaggeration! They sound more like Harriers. :D

Funny - I just got done upgrading a P3 1000 to a Celeron 1.4A. The core temp on the Celeron is 57C. :eek: Yet the "blow hole" on the Lian-Li isn't pumping out near as much heat as it was. I figure it's because the integral heat spreader on the Celeron is retaining some heat and the HSF isn't dissipating near as much as before.

It just goes to show you that there's more to this thermal thing than "meets the eye".

[Giblet Plus!]

If you want "bang for the buck" make a nice xp1600 ddr system and run it at 1733 mhz on a kt333 board. (166 fsb) Instant xp2100. :)

Amd cooling doesn't have to be loud. A thermalright Ax-7 copper and aluminum cooler coupled with a nice 80mm fan can be quite quiet while still being cool. You can get the whole HSF setup for $30. :cool:

BipolarBill: Isn't going from a p3 1000 to a celeron 1.4 more of a downgrade than an upgrade?

iceblue: That Dell system probably has intel integrated "extreme" video and sdram. You won't be too happy gaming on it. Don't just buy the fastest cpu you can. The other parts make a huge difference. :D

And you can't OC dells. If you build a p4 system, the 1.8 can get up to 2.5 easy, maybe even 3.0 if it's a C1 stepping. :) :)

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by Giblet Plus!
BipolarBill: Isn't going from a p3 1000 to a celeron 1.4 more of a downgrade than an upgrade?How do you figure? I went from a Coppermine core to Tualatin and 1.0GHz to 1.4GHz. The 100Mz bus leaves me lots of headroom - which I'm using by running it at 1.6GHz. Remember this?

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118495&highlight=beta+testers

I get much better results with the Celeron. I'm beginning to think that the Cel has become the SysOpt "whipping boy" thanks to the socket 478 ****. That's fine - send me your Celeron "A"s, people! :cool:

[iceblue]

the last thing i was really concerned about was the OCing part. they use intel boards which means stability and not OCing, but for that cheap i thought it was a fair deal.

that system- the 4550 series had pc2100 ddr and 32mb ati gfx (not integrated, i would never look at integrated video), it was decent and not as crappy as i would imagine and was cheaper then what i was planning to get... a full system vs my planned upgrade of a motherboard combo (probably cause i was lookin at the hyperthreading mobo's with all that new tech)

C1 stepping? ive probably heard about it but not in the techy fashion. 3.0ghz would probably need lots more cooling.. i mean i bet at speeds that pushy, air cooling would be out.


iceblue: That Dell system probably has intel integrated "extreme" video and sdram. You won't be too happy gaming on it. Don't just buy the fastest cpu you can. The other parts make a huge difference.

And you can't OC dells. If you build a p4 system, the 1.8 can get up to 2.5 easy, maybe even 3.0 if it's a C1 stepping.

[Giblet Plus!]

C1 is the newest intel stepping. It's used on the 2.8 (i think), and if you're lucky enough to get a 1.8 using the C1 stepping, 3.0 ghz on high end air cooling is definitely a possiblity. :)

32 mb Ati graphics? Sounds like poo. It must be a Rage 128 or something, or at best a Radeon 7500. The Rage 128 is about 3 years old. Don't get that.

That dell system would be a lot more than $400 once you get a decent monitor, hd, video card and quantity of memory. You could build a nice amd Xp system for $400.


bipolarbill - sorry i offended you with my celeron bashing comments. But why do you want a celeron? A xp1600 is cheaper and faster even when not OCed. :)

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by Giblet Plus!
But why do you want a celeron? A xp1600 is cheaper and faster even when not OCed. :) Because the Athlon won't fit in my TUSL2-C, jackie. I know - I tried. :p I already have an Athlon 1900+ in my MSI KT3 PC. HA! http://membres.lycos.fr/limagerie/smiley_devilsmile.gif

[Giblet Plus!]

I knew I'd get you back to this thread!

Do you use the search feature to search for "bipolarbill" and visit threads according to when your name was mentioned?

I suppose OCing is a okay excuse for getting a celeron. :rolleyes:

[BipolarBill]

Like d00d, who cares what you think? I knew what I wanted, got it, and am quite content.

[Benssax]

Bill, is the the 1.4ghz celeron able to do 133bus. I have a Tusl2 and a p3 1000 and was thinking about getting a 1.4ghz celeron. But My hard drive corrupts after I get to about a 13% overclock speed. I might end up getting a 1.2ghz to clock it at 133bus..:t

[AlexGee]

This knee-jerk Celeron hating is silly. Of course a Tual running 1600 is better than a P3 1000.

[BipolarBill]

No - I haven't been able to POST at 133MHz. I think that the 1.2 can though - it has more headroom.

[iceblue]

i believe its a rage ultra i think.. but even that wouldnt stop me from considering it. im using a 32mb tnt2 m64 and so far it has not prevented me from running any game. that card would go in handy for the 550mhz athlon sys nearby with only 4mb matrox gfx ;) -+- gee golly whiz i already have monitor and hd too (with that deal i get a free 30gb 7200rpm hd in essence!).

Originally posted by Giblet Plus!

32 mb Ati graphics? Sounds like poo. It must be a Rage 128 or something, or at best a Radeon 7500. The Rage 128 is about 3 years old. Don't get that.

i also did consider an athlon xp system first but the total ended up to be almost 400 with only motherboard + cpu, fan, and a mere 256mb ddr.



That dell system would be a lot more than $400 once you get a decent monitor, hd, video card and quantity of memory. You could build a nice amd Xp system for $400.

bipolarbill - sorry i offended you with my celeron bashing comments. But why do you want a celeron? A xp1600 is cheaper and faster even when not OCed.

[AlexGee]

When you already have a system running on a Pentium board it sure is a cheap and easy upgrade to just slap in a new Intel chip, alternative is to buy new MOBO and new RAM to boot that Athlon. What Bill has is a super way to extend the life of that old system. BANG! for the buck

[OpK Chowdy]

the tualatin celeries are cool...just the stories of overclocking 200mhz+ on stock cooling with no trouble makes me drool.

[Giblet Plus!]

You can also do that on xp1600s, p4 1.6s, Tbird 1.0s etc

not that special

BPB - I'm not a celeron hater, I just think there's better ways to spend money.

[OpK Chowdy]

An athlon xp system is truly the best bang for your buck. 1600+ for $53.99 at newegg.com. You've got to be crazy to think you'll find a better bang to buck ratio! :t

[AlexGee]

If you are building from scratch getting an Athlon is a no-brainer.
No way to get more bang for buck than Athlon. The T Cell only makes sense if you got an Intel system already running and you don't want to buy board and RAM.

[iceblue]

hmm supercharged T cell... wouldnt that be a downgrade from my current intel® (inside) pentiumIIIE?

Originally posted by AlexGee
If you are building from scratch getting an Athlon is a no-brainer.
No way to get more bang for buck than Athlon. The T Cell only makes sense if you got an Intel system already running and you don't want to buy board and RAM.

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by Giblet Plus!
You can also do that on xp1600s, p4 1.6s, Tbird 1.0s etc

not that special

BPB - I'm not a celeron hater, I just think there's better ways to spend money. Give it up - I ain't buying a CPU and motherboard where a CPU will do. You're bordering on a nag now.

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by iceblue
hmm supercharged T cell... wouldnt that be a downgrade from my current intel® (inside) pentiumIIIE?

What's a P4E? Williamette socket 423? If so, no - the Celeron slays it. My FPU in that recent test here is 1600 on the TCel.

[iceblue]

interesting! but P4E? where? :eek:

Originally posted by BipolarBill
What's a P4E? Williamette socket 423? If so, no - the Celeron slays it. My FPU in that recent test here is 1600 on the TCel.

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by iceblue
pentiumIIIE?

I count 4 "I"s. ;)

At any rate, yes - it beats a P3E "Coppermine" for sure.

[Haut^Karl]

Not to worry BipolarBill, I got your back!

The Tual-eron *is* the Pentium3 core + Hardware Prefetch + Copper Interconnect + 1 extra Latency on cache + .13u die + 100 FSB

The Tualatin Pentium3s are 133 FSB + Better Cache Latency + Optional 512k cache.

Tualerons are definitely faster than the .18u Coppermines.

BipolarBill:

Still have my BX Abit ZM-6 with Tualeron @ 1.6GHz/512 RAM/GF2Ultra. It's a backup gaming/all purpose machine. It will never die! Can't believe I've had this board since 1998.

Tualeron mod: Here (http://www.goecities.com/_lunchbox/)

[iceblue]

so we would rather have a tualatin over a say.. pentium 4 w/ hyperthreading tech?

[$1500-P4 gamer]

Originally posted by iceblue
so we would rather have a tualatin over a say.. pentium 4 w/ hyperthreading tech?
NO!!!!! Dont go that far as to say that. Ever. Hehe. The P4 with hyperthreading has a huge mhz lead, thats not even a fair comparison. Even with P3 core being more mhz effective its simply out distanced.;)