Is the AMD K6-III better or the Intel Celeron, Pentium II, or III

[Nutcase]

I would really like to know which of the chips is better? I am going to be making my own computer and I dont want to spend like a million bucks on it. So which one is the best value for the money? Well how about I tell you what my system is going to be that might help you out some what.
Processor : ????
RAM : 256mb SD100
HD : 10.1 gb Westren Digital
Video Card : TNT2 16mb
Sound Card : Soundblaster LIVE!
CD ROM : 48x Creative Labs
CDRW : 4x2x24 HP 7100i
Thats about all I can think of.. what motherboard should I get? Thanks for your help...

[Nathan]

What are you using the computer for? Business or personal/gaming?

[MrEd]

I've got an Abit BH-6 Mobo, with a Celeron 400MHZ. Works good for me. I can run almost any media I want on it. I can be running spreadsheets till I'm blue in the face, then turn around and run any game I have on it.

[This message has been edited by MrEd (edited 06-10-99).]

[AuraEdge]

Hey..if u dont wanna spend like a million bucks on it, drop 128 of that ram, get a celeron 400-466, an ABIT BX6-2 Mobo, and optinally up the tnt2 from 16 to 32 ram (or to ultra if u want..i believe the vannilla TNT 2 32mb is best for price tho), and/or get a DVDrom drive instead. that last 128 ram will definitly not be worth what u pay for it, unless u have top of the line EVERYTHING, u will not see much proformance increase. Id like to recommend the K6-3, but i can see that dying and losing all support after K7 is out....Celeron will live a long happy life...so get one! PII is for nobody right now, as celeron at same clock will suffer only about 10%-15% decrease with about 50% price decrease. Celeron 433 slot1, or PIII 450 should be your best choices...whichever one u chose depending how much u wanna spend.

[800XL]

I hate to say it, as I like AMD, but the Celeron seems to pack the most bang for buck these days. Unless you use business apps exclusively, where the K6-3 does shine quite well. If you are looking for gaming performance as secondary, the AMD will pull through, but the Celeron has truly shines in gaming. The gap between a K6-3 and a Celeron in business apps is fairly small, but the gaming performance difference is a bit wider.

[Nutcase]

Well I am putting the system together my self. I know how much its going to cost total with the Celeron or with the AMD K6-III. I am going to be using it for home usage. Are you sure that there isnt going to be that big of a performance jump with the 256mb ram? If you say that the TNT2 with 32mb ram is better than sure I will go ahead and put that in but I really dont want a DVD drive yet. That system that I told up there is going to be like 999 with a 17" moniter. I can spend like 1200 or so.. What motherboard should I get with the system? Well thanks for your help. Well thanks again.

[This message has been edited by Nutcase (edited 06-10-99).]

[BBA]

If you can go a hundred more on the cpu and 128M less on the ram, a P3-450 would be the best bet ($240.) The difference in performance over a celeron is astounding!

I like the TNT2 period!

Go for the 32M card.

BBA

[CMonster]

Hello Nutcase,

I've got a house full of K6-2s and the K6-3 is just a K6-2 with 256K L2 cache onboard, only slightly faster than the K6-2.

These are very good systems and I am quite happy with them, but if I had it to do all over I would have gone with at least half of them Intel,

For compatibility and expandability Intel is the best - personally I would recommend the Celeron in a slot1 board like the Abit BX6.

I can also tell you that if you do opt for the K6-x then stay away from FIC motherboards, they are okay if you only have a few devices, but if you start filling up those ISA and PCI slots you will run into IRQ conflicts that can just drive you nuts.

[Nathan]

I hate to say it because of their attitude, but stick with Intel.

[Plaster]

I would go for the PII 400. It will run games and buisness apps equally good. Not to mention it's now under $200.

[Bleeding Edge]

Agree with AuraEdge, BBA, Nathan and Plaster on the CPU front.

[Nutcase]

I am sticking with the Intel.. What modem should I get with this system? Heres what I have now decided to get.

Processor: 466MHZ CPU W/128 L2 CACHE PPGA
Motherboard: ?????????
For the motherboard I was thinking maybe the Abit ZM6, 440 ZX Chip but will it support the processor? Do you know what kind of processor that one is? If it is the Pentium kind or whatever the other one is....
RAM: 128MB SDRAM PC100 8x64 PC 100 Mhz.
Video Card: Diamond Multimedia Viper V770 Nvidia TNT2 32MB
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live PCI (value oem)
Hard Disk: Westren Digital 10.1GB Ultra DMA eide
CD Rom: Creative Labs 48x ide Internal
CDRW: ???? not sure yet....
Is there anything missing except for a case, mouse, keyboard.
_____________________________________________


Actually I am thinking about a 433 now... its cheaper by like 50 bucks and I can overclock it...

[This message has been edited by Nutcase (edited 06-11-99).]

[This message has been edited by Nutcase (edited 06-11-99).]

[Nutcase]

This computer guy from this company that I am going to order a processor called I asked him if the PPGA is a better chip or the Socket 1. He told me that the PPGA can not be overclocked as much is this true?

[This message has been edited by Nutcase (edited 06-11-99).]

[Nathan]

Actually I'd consider the following;

1. Going to the 400

2. Increase the ram to at least 128 or 256 MB with the money saved. More ram solves a lot of problems.

3. 48X CD-rom? See if you can get a 40X or whatever, if it's cheaper. Do you have any programs that need 48X? Most programs are written for a 16X aren't they?

[Nutcase]

Umm.. Nathan I am putting in 128mb of ram. I really dont want to have to upgrade this system for a while so I think I will stick with the 433 or 466. I really want to know which I should get out of these 2 chips.

[Nutcase]

Is it worth getting the 466 or not? I am going to use the computer for home usage.... Well I would really like help soon cause I want to order the computer parts soon!

[skywalker[TSG]]

look for the best price/speed ratio

if the 466is 50$ more than the 433 then get the 433 and get something else for those 50$ sutch as a nice game or something

[Nathan]

Ooppss, sorry. I thought I read 64 MB somewhere here.

It really depends on what you want. If you want to get that 433 or 466, then do it. I agree with Skywalker. I personally don't think it's worth $50.00 for the 466. But that's up to you.

What's the price difference between a 400 and a 466? Is there really a big speed advantage? That really depends on what you want and how much you really want to spend. If you get a 400 or a 433, I don't think you are going to upgrade that chip and not the motherboard. I might be wrong here on this because I don't know you. But that's what I'm getting from what your saying.

I don't think you'll be hurt by getting the 433. I think most everyone will agree it's a matter of what you want, whether you buy top of the line, and what you expect.

Let us know what happens.

[AuraEdge]

Try and get a slot 1 cel 433...its the last in line for slot 1 non p3's and probably will be easier to install than a PPGA + slocket. (not by much..but hey who cares). As a rule of thumb, I never recommend the top proc speed of any family of card (P3 550, PII 450, or in this case, Celeron 466)
becuase they are outrageously overpriced most of the time.

[Nutcase]

I decided on a 433. I am going to order it in a couple of mins heres what I have decided on....
Processor: Intel boxed celeron 433mhz cpu w/ 128k in ppga package

Motherboard: ZM6, 440 ZX Chip, Retail Box, No CPU Accepts Socket 370 Celeron PPGA, 3 DIMM, 1 AGP 5PCI 2ISA ATX

Video Card: Diamond Multimedia Viper V770 Nvidia TNT2 32MB AGP (oem) Viper V770 32MB AGP

Ram: 2 sticks of 64MB SDRAM PC100 8x64 PC 100 Mhz for a total of 128mb

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live PCI (value oem)

Hard Disk: Wetren Digital 10.1GB Ultra DMA eide Data Transfer Max. 310200 10.2GB 66.6MB/Sec. 9.5ms 512k

CD Rom: Creative Labs 48x ide Internal

CDRW: Mitsumi 4802TE 8x Read 4x Write 2x Rewrite CD-RW, Complete Kit, 2MB Buffer, EIDE/Atapi Interface Replaced the 4801TE, Kit Includes Hotburn Software, IDE&Audio Cable/CDR Media

Speakers: Generic: Boka 3-Piece Speaker System Multi-Purpose, 4" Power Subwoofer w/ 2 3" Satellite speakers, 500W PMPO

Ok so tell me if thats a good system or not?
Thank all of you for helping me out...
:-)

[ANTONIO E GUERRA]

I think you have a nice system.

[MrEd]

Edit--nevermind.

[This message has been edited by MrEd (edited 06-12-99).]

[nk4]

While 128 mb ram is definately satisfactory, ram is cheap enough to justify another 128.
I suggest you get 256 if you dont want to upgrade anymore for quite a while. Otherwise get 128now and another 128 in 3 or 4 months when its even cheaper. The more ram you have, the less the swap file is used which is a good thing for both applications and games.

[AuraEdge]

Even if u spend 80 bucks on the extra 128 ram, that little increase (and it is little) could bar u from 8 weekends of pizza n soda for u and ur friends!
(i know what your all thinkin "WOW WHERED HE PULL THAT OUT FROM" but its the truth)
in all seriousness tho, unless your a major grafical artist, it doesnt really justifty having 256 ram.

[socalgal]

I think you have a nice system there too. I tend to agree with AuraEdge on the 128mg RAM, besides you can always buy it if you decide later if you need/want it.

[Nutcase]

Well I guess you can know where I am. I am in Cape Cod. Oh well Thanks for helping me again! I will put in another 128mb ram sooner or later. I kind of ran on the upper limit of by Budget. I also placed the order yesterday so the parts will be arriving in like a week or so. Well Thanks again!

:-)

[CMonster]

Yep, that does sound like a great system - please let me know where you live and when you will be out of town http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif