Duron 1300 versus Pentium III 500

[sleepless]

Hi, I'm new to all this so please bare with me!! I have recently bought a new pc for my eldest son mainly because our old Pentium III has had it!! I have took it in for a repair to find that the processer is no longer any good. It was a pentium III 500 and the shop has offered to change the motherboard and processer to a duron 1300 as this is the cheapest alternative. What i want to know is whether or not i am upgrading or downgrading as i have read that the duron is roughly the equivelant to the celeron (not a pentium III). Will i notice a difference and will the kids still be able to play games on it i.e old games such as populous/rollercoaster tycoon etc. Sorry about the waffling but i'm on a budget and just want to get some decent advice before spending any money on it

 

[savantu]

You'll get 2.5x performance vs. P3 500Mhz.
My advice is to buy a mobo that will support the latest K7 and DDR400 so you can easily upgrade later.

Long live Intel!

From the darkside...you know!

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get the Duron 1300 with an ABIT NF7 v2.0 and Kingston PC2700 CL2.5 DDR.

If you need integrated graphics, then buy MSI K7N2G-L

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[HardWareBoss]

To give better advice how much can you spend?

 

[bronibbear]

The Duron 1300 could actually out perform any PIII up to 1ghz and even the Tualatin Celeron 1300 which was a more advanced design and a very good Processor. These are hard to come by though as they were only in production for a short time before being axed. The Tualatin is also a dead-end upgrade meaning you you'll have to change the motherboard, RAM and CPU if you want a better system down the track. The Duron alternative however will allow you an easy upgrade path by simply changing the CPU for something like an Athlon XP 2800+ at a very cheap price!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bronibbear on 10/14/03 04:23 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Duron 1.3 GHz with nForce2 should easily ourperform P3 1.26 GHz

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[flamethrower205]

Only reason people see the Duron as an alternative to a Celeron is because they are priced less than their Athlon and Pentium 4 counterparts, respectively. A Duron is almost as good as an Athlon, just has less cache. It still retains a great FPU and couple it with DDR, you will have a processor that has more bandwith and efficiency than a P3. It will be a significant upgrade actually, enjoy!

The one and only "Monstrous BULLgarian!"

 

[phsstpok]

Is the shop planning to transfer the old memory?

If not then ask the shop about Duron 1.4 or even 1.6 (both code named Applebred). These are all priced about the same as the Duron 1.3 which is being phased out. They all have higher performance than the 1.3 running a 133 mhz bus instead of 100 Mhz and a higher clock speed. However they need 133 Mhz memory which your old PC probably wouldn't have. Not a problem if you are getting new memory anyway.

Ideally you'd get the new processor, new motherboard, <b>AND</b> new memory. DDR motherboard and memory would be best. You can get all three for less than $200 USD (depending on how much memory we are talking about and the motherboard selected).

The 1.3 is about $35 USD (streetprice) while the 1.4, 1.6 are $38 and $41, respectively.

A XP1700+ is an even better choice but the price has risen a little as it too is being phased out. I think the street price is close to $50.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>

 

[Crashman]

If the processor is shot, you can pick up a replacement for around $40 at Compgeeks without messing up the rest of the system.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
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[eden]

I would go with what Phsstpok said. In case I am repeating anything though, here is a sum-up:
I strongly would not follow Spitfire's recommendation here (or anyone who suggested high end hardware for a low-end CPU like this), (no offense) mainly because you don't look like you will need some intensive gaming and will not be upgrading any soon. A Duron 1.3 is indeed enough but I would personally settle with an XP1700+. This is because them Durons sell barely anywhere anymore, and the XP1700+ couldn't possibly cost more than 40-50$ and even this one is starting to get rarer to find. If you do locate one, go for it. There's a good 20% better performance to be gotten.

Next up, what I don't agree with Spitfire is the mobo+RAM choice. Those hardware aren't even useful for the low-end Athlon XPs!
A cheap Epox 8KHA+ with the KT266A, or an Asus A7V333, basically the cheapest priced mainboard, otherwise an nForce 2 motherboard should be a good option, but ONLY IF YOU COULD NOT LOCATE MUCH CHEAPER MAINBOARDS WITH CHEAPER CHIPSETS!

For RAM however, it is garanteed you don't need PC2700+. I recommend very cheap PC2100+ RAM. I don't know if in your area/country PC2100 is still sold cheaper, but if so, get a good 512MB stick and put it in. That should cost relatively nothing compared to before, and with a cheap AMD mainboard with a more dated chipset, you should really find a great bargain with a price tag around 150$. Great upgrade IMO. Make sure your video card is not 2x AGP for later mainboards like the nForce 2 8X ones.

So I hope this advice is of any value!
You can always go back in old THG articles for reference on performance.

Cheers

--
<A HREF="http://www.lochel.com/THGC/album.html" target="_new"><font color=blue><b>This just in, over 56 no-lifers have their pics up on THGC's Photo Album! </b></font color=blue></A> :lol: <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Eden on 10/14/03 10:57 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[RRAMJET]

Duron are probably the best chip when one compares price and performance, my Duron 900 with 256mb pc2100 ram runs most games quite easily, it does fine for Ravenshield and soldiers of fortune, serious sam ect. It prob outperforms a PIII 1ghz machine. I can't wait to see how it runs Half Life 2 with my GF2 MX400, i'm excited!!!

If he doesn't die, he'll get help!!!

 

[Spitfire_x86]

There's very little price differnece between cheap PC2100 and cheap PC2700.

nForce2 IGP is not a bad choice for low end buyers. If he has something like TNT2 M64 in his current box, then integrated GeForce4 MX with dual PC2700 is going to be much faster than his current graphics card.

If he spends $50 more after an nForce2 mobo now, then later he will be upgrade to AXP 2700+ to 3000+ (by the time he will upgrade, they will be as cheap as current AXP 1700+) without changing mobo and ram and get ~2x performance boost compared to Duron 1.3 GHz

Those hardware aren't even useful for the low-end Athlon XPs!

If nForce2 is 5% faster than KT333 with AXP 3000+, then it's also 5% faster than KT333 with AXP 1700+

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[RRAMJET]

Yea i'd go a Duron Applegate on an upgradable motherboard, because like someone said you will get a good chip quite cheap in twelve to eighteen months. This is the best way to go if you want your pc to be of acceptable speed for around three years. I got my Duron 900 2 years ago for $50 and now that motherboard has a XP2400+ with the original 512mb of pc2100 ram. It should live at least another 18months. The motherboard is the most important component when looking for upgradability because once it is maxed out your basically up for a new pc minus a few peripherals that may have sentimental value.

If he doesn't die, he'll get help!!!

 

[Nights_L]

the Duron1300Mhz..is that an onboard CPU? if that's so, then DO NOT buy it, it will perform like a hell..it should be made by pcchip i believe..buy some motherboard cheap that are outdated such as ECS K7S5A Pro, or sth based on KT333/KT400, idealy, nForce2 is better, but that costs you a bit more..so..
and I agree with Eden, buy a cheap XP1700+ or sth like that

one of my friend has an "onboard" Duron750Mhz..and my old <b>Celeron</b>500Mhz kicks its ass!

 

[eden]

Keeping in mind the user (a she btw) used to have a PIII 500 and has settled well with it, I would be led to believe she does not need to upgrade often and likely each time she will switch to a new platform.

That 5% is likely nothing in her eyes, for that extra 20-30$.

Also the games she stated don't seem to require video card horsepower, instead CPU. RCT is a 2D game if I am not mistaken.
If there were some intensive 3D games, I'd steer clear of any IGP anyways and recommend something else. But we don't know exactly which games are 3D that she owns and how requiring are they.
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<A HREF="http://www.lochel.com/THGC/album.html" target="_new"><font color=blue><b>This just in, over 56 no-lifers have their pics up on THGC's Photo Album! </b></font color=blue></A> :lol: <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Eden on 10/15/03 11:13 AM.</EM></FONT></P>