Stability of Processors

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I'm looking at buying a new computer. I'm trying to decide between a P4(1.8) and an Athlon XP (~1700). I have heard that the Athlon XP is not as stable of a platform/environment as the P4. Is this true? I'm a very heavy user of Photoshop and office applications. I don't really do any gaming. What's the best way to go?
Thanks
 
if you can wait a little while the t-bred athlon will be coming out which will run cooller than an athlon xp if you building the computer now i would go with the p4 but make sure it is a 1.8a i beleive which is the processor with the northwood core
 
both are equally stable if you buy a quality mobo, parts and power supply, both setups can be unstable if any of the above aren't up to scratch,
As a platform, in general, they are both stable, the P4(1.8<b>A</b>) is probably a tad slower than the 1700+ for what you want, but it can be overclocked (small possible stability risk) to run MUCH faster than the 1700+

(bb || !bb) - Shakespeare
 
the P4 platform is much more stable than anything AMD will ever put out.

go with the P4 if you want less headaches.

"<b>AMD/VIA!</b>...you are <i>still</i> the weakest link, good bye!"
 
Don't listen to AMDMeltdown if you want less headaches

Both "platforms" are just fine. There are millions of each out there running just great. There will always be isolated problems, but get good quality components and you'll have no problems with Intel or AMD.

Mmmm... <font color=red>Red Hot</font color=red>
 
yeah both amd and intel are stable as long as u get good components...especially ram, my intel constantly loked up till i got new ram and all the problems went away...stay away from generic crap
 
Melty, do you have a life, or do you just lurk here 24/7 waiting for a chance to pounce on AMD?

"There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks."
 
Like most stereotypes, the Athlon platform being less stable than the Intel offerings is part fiction and part fact. Though the Athlon CPU itself is perfectly stable, it is an undisputed fact that Athlon *chipsets* have a worse track record of stability whereas most Intel chipsets over the last few years have been rock solid.

Whichever CPU you choose, for your sanity's sake I recommend staying away from VIA. Unless you don't mind a significant chance that you'll need to install new chipset drivers every couple months to fix PCI timing issues etc.

If you do the proper research and get the right components (no VIA!), you'll end up with a stable system either way. But no one except an AMD zealot can argue with the fact that an Athlon system takes more care in putting together than the P4 does. Don't worry about the speed, both are plenty fast (don't use PC133 memory with the P4).

Ritesh
 
You put the athlon in, and turn it on, it does not require any more skill to run or setup, thats fud.


Especially if you dont use via, you litterally turn it on and install windows and thats it, no driver no nothing.

Now if by more work you mean research to find a good mobo, ill grant you that.



To the origional poster, why are you comparing a 1700-+ to a 1.8ghz p4, for the price of the 1.8ghz p4 you can get (ripped from pricewatch)

athlon xp 2000+=173
p4 1.8a=182


Without overclocking the 2000+ will seriously out perform the 1.8a for less money, give it a good motherboard and you are set.

:wink: The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark :wink:
 
But no one except an AMD zealot can argue with the fact that an Athlon system takes more care in putting together than the P4 does.
Click to expand...

What's the difference?

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>
 
Thanks to all who have replied. I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to hardware. I'm actually looking at buying a bundle. The choices I have are:

Choice 1: ($1109CDN/$693USD)
Intel P4 1.8GHz (with Northwood chip)
256 Mb (333Mhz)DDR RAM
P4 400Mhz ATX MB
40Gb 7200RPM ATA HD
1.44 Mb Floppy Drive
GEFORCE 2Mx 200 32 Mb AGP VC
24x10x40 CDRW
10/100 Ethernet on board
16 bit 3D sound on board
ATX Mini-Mid 350W Tower
Win Keyboard
2 button wheel mouse
120W Power speakers

Choice 2 ($1299CDN/$811USD):
Intel P4 2GHz (with Northwood chip)
256 Mb (333Mhz)DDR RAM
P4 400Mhz ATX MB
40Gb 7200RPM ATA HD
1.44 Mb Floppy Drive
GEFORCE 2Mx 400 64 Mb VC w/TV out
32x10x40 CDRW
16x DVD
10/100 Ethernet on board
16 bit 3D sound
ATX Mini-Mid 350W Tower
Win Keyboard
2 button wheel mouse
120W Power speakers

Choice 3 ($779CDN/$486USD):
AMD Athlon XP 1.7+ CPU
256 DDR RAM
266 MHx ATX MB
20 GB ATA 100 HD
1.44 Mb Floppy Drive
GEFORCE 2Mx 200 32 Mb AGP VC
40x CD ROM
10/100 Ethernet on board
16 bit 3D sound on board
ATX Mini-Mid 300W Tower
Win Keyboard
2 button wheel mouse
120W Power speakers

I believe the Athlon system uses the SAS chipset, rather than VIA. Is that better? I imagine that some of these components are generic. Most of them are upgradable...What do ya think?



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by magni on 04/22/02 02:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
Generic=Bad. Don't use a a generic powersupply or memory. A generic floppy drive is fine though.

The Sis 735 chipset is good for the Athlon.

A 20 GB hard drive? Are you sure that's enough? I have more multimedia than that. If you'll be using photoshop I don't see how it's possible for that to be enough.

Try and only get a 350W or above powersupply. That videocard isn't that great either.

You might want to post what brands these components are.

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>
 
Melty, do you have a life, or do you just lurk here 24/7 waiting for a chance to pounce on AMD?
Click to expand...
sure do! been very busy lately and I'm sorry I don't have more time to terrorize you mongrels!

"<b>AMD/VIA!</b>...you are <i>still</i> the weakest link, good bye!"
 
I get the feeling that these are pre-built boxes, in which case magni might have a tough time finding out the specific component vendors. They're also all pretty low-cost. So it might not be feasable to alter the specifications any.

<pre>Join PETT.(People for Equal Treatment of Trolls)
Trolls:Keeping bridges clean 'n safe.</pre><p>
 
I mainly meant the care taken in choosing a good chipset and mobo, but a couple more are:

HSF installation force (potential physical damage to Athlon core if not observed)
proper HSF contact with core (potential thermal failure of Athlon if not observed)
quality PSU (Athlons seem more sensitive than P4s to power issues)

Ritesh
 
HSF installation force (potential physical damage to Athlon core if not observed)
proper HSF contact with core (potential thermal failure of Athlon if not observed)
Click to expand...
and what, you would reccomend playing catch with the p4?
no mater what chip you buy just be careful with it. as for the "power issues" just get something decent, start adding drives/fans/etc. sometimes things get ugly. i'd make my reccomendation on the ram though...never get cheap ram. you will regret it.

no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end, when we all disintegrate, it'll all happen again.
 
You need to find out the brand and model of the motherboards in those three systems. From this we can deduce the chipset and make further recommendations. For example, the P4 system is showing 333 MHz DDR, which probably means it's using the new SiS chipset. Personally, for best results on a P4 I would go with an Intel chipset, like the 845 for DDR.

Ritesh
 
I was referring to stability, not performance. Even so, "sucks" is too strong a word for relative performance since the 845D is easily fast enough to be in the same ballpark with the non-Intel DDR chipsets. You wouldn't notice a difference on today's applications anyway, any chipset is fast enough except for the original 845. Who cares about a few frames per second here and there when you can count on getting rock solid stability when matching an Intel processor with an Intel chipset?

BTW, I like your new sig. :)

Ritesh
 
hi,
i suggest you buy Pentium4 1.8GHz (socket 478 not 423),its more faster and stable than amd processors.Dont forgot that if you buy athlon it can burn(http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q3/010917/index.html (system crash)).
I have been tested Pentium4 1.8 it works cool!! you can play at once with you PC two mpeg4 films and listen to music.
I suggest buy Pentium4 1.8 or if you can 2.0GHz.
Bye
Ask if something is not clear to you i will answer....
 
He's not buying an Athlon Thunderbird in September of 2001.

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>
 
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