Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (
More info?)
On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 06:23:06 -0700, Ken K wrote:
> Well, you raise an interesting point. Frankly, I have not investigated
> using Athlon chips since I looked at them a couple of years ago and I
> saw that they ran so hot that one needed to purchase a mini-air
> conditioner in order to keep them to a reasonable temperature. I would
> not mind investigating the issue further (I have no objection to getting
> more for my money); I assume that I must learn a bit more about memory
> combinations, etc. with them. I have no desire to overclock and I
> thought that Athlon chips were popular most amongst people who wanted to
> push their systems to the limits of failure.
>
The heat issue, while overstated, was more with the Tbird line of cpu's.
There's been several new cores since then and it's not an issue. An $8
cooler will cool any of the AND cpu's, even overclocked. the reason they
were popular two fold. First, they were a lot cheaper than comparable
Intel cpu's and they would also overclock very well for even more value.
> So plese begin my education: what is the main difference between the
> Athlon and Intel cpu's; it is mainly the price/value ratio?
Price vs. performance.
> Which Athlon cpu's represent the best bang for the buck presently?
Not overclocking, that's hard to say, but in general, any of the ones
under $80.
> Do I have to look at memory requirements any differently?
PC3200 will work with any of them. Some will work with PC2100.
> Which chipsets are the present darlings? which motherboards?
>
Any of the newer chipsets should be fine, Nvidia being the favorite among
overclockers because of the PCI/AGP lock. It all depends on what you want.
Personally, I like SIS, and that's all I have now. Thye're cheap and close
to the top on perfomance. The K7S8XE+ would be a good choice with SIS.
First you need to determine how much money you want to spend. Then see
what you can get for it. If moneys not an issue, then I could suggest the
best around and you'd be happy, while maybe spending twice as much as you
needed to.
--
Abit KT7-Raid (KT133) Tbred B core CPU @2400MHz (24x100FSB)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.htm