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Switching from Intel for first time to AMD will I be impressed? (1 Viewer)

KyleS

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As my post states I will be upgrading for the first time to an AMD due to recommendations and price point. I am actually a little worried since this is the first time I will be relying on an AMD for my home computer. I have used them at work but never at home. I own a computer company and have always recommended Intel but the price point of the AMD chips has really been great so hopefully I will not be dissapointed.

Current system is:
Intel 850 chipset
P4 1.7ghz
256mb PC800mhz RDRAM
Elsa Gladiac Gforce2GTS

Upgrading today to:
ASUS A7V333R (raid)
AMD Athlon XP2200+
512MB DDR2700 (333mhz)
Elsa Gladiac Gforce2GTS
Heatsink & Fan CoolerMaster HHC-001

Who else out there has made the change over and can give me input on the good and bad points between the 2 processors? What about overclocking what can I take this XP2200+ to and still have it stable?

KyleS
 

John_Berger

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I have had ZERO compatibility issues. Currently, three out of my five PCs (including my main system, which I use VERY heavily, and my video capture/render/DVD-writer PC)are AMD Athlon-based.
No problems whatsoever. In fact, there have been studies done all over the Internet that with certain recent models, the AMDs are actually faster than their equivalent-MHz Intel counterpart.
Just be warned that the whole Intel-AMD issue is one that ends up polarizing some people. The pro-Intel crowd are such almost entirely out of product loyalty, which is not indicative of its capabilities obviously, and the pro-AMD crowd often ends up being more of an anti-Intel crowd. So, don't be surprised if this thread gets polarized.
I can only tell you that I went to AMD because of price, because of the studies and comparisons that say that AMD can be faster under certain circumstances, and because of past experience. I will not say that I'll never buy Intel, but at this stage I have absolutely zero reasons to move away from AMD. I'm very, very pleased with them.
 

NickSo

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Nick So
Yeah i went AMD as well coz of the price factor... I was trying to build a cheap, yet pretty fast PC, and for just above $600CAD ($400USD), i got a pretty decent computer. Much cheaper than if i went with Intel:
ECS K7S5A
AMD Athlon (Tbird) 1.33GHz
Maxtor 40gig 7,200RPM HD
256MB 2100 DDR Ram
VisionTek Geforce2 GTS
Coolermaster Fan/Heatsink
I think you'll be pleasently surprised.. :)
 

Kelley_B

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Not sure you will see a big performance increase in everyday stuff. If you upgraded that videocard to a GeFORCE4 Ti4200 along with the Athlon you'd see a really nice performance increase in games.

BTW - to allow for future Athlon CPU upgrades I'd get a KT400 based board not a KT333 based one.

BTW Part 2 - I'd also wait and get the 2400+ as it uses the new Tbred"B" core with is faster and has a lot of overhead.
 

AllanN

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Mar 15, 2002
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You will be kicking yourself for purchasing the over priced POS that you have been previously purchasing.
 

KyleS

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Actually I think that I am going to get a Gforce4 Ti4400 128mb AGP card to replace my aging GForce2GTS.(I cant justify the price difference to get the Ti4600) :)
KyleS
 

Mike Veroukis

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Michael
KyleS,

The system you outlined looks really good. The only thing that raised my eyebrow was the GeForce2. The GeForce2 is a good card (I own one) but if you're gonna go top end everything-else, why hold back with the gfx card? Go ATI 8500 or GeForce4. Stay away from the 4MX.

I have a AthlonXP 1600+ on a A7V266. It's a very fast and reliable system. Can't go wrong with ASUS. I think You'll be happy with it. I recommend AMD chips to everyone. They're just as reliable and just as fast as Intel but cheaper. Just make sure you get a reliable CPU fan.

- Mike
 

Andre F

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Dec 9, 2000
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I had an AMD a while ago and had zero problems with it. Of course it was a Compaq and other things went wrong but the chip was fine. Enjoy the new rig...
 

Max Leung

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Sep 6, 2000
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I got an AMD because I didn't have a choice if I wanted an nForce motherboard. I LOVE the nForce chipset. The latest unreleased 1.12 nForce drivers I installed now have center-speaker support for 3D games!
The nForce only supports the AMD processor, because of legal/licensing issues with Intel. Otherwise, the native hardware Dolby Digital 5.1 support built into the nForce is the same as the Xbox.
Gaming is just incredible on my box, hooked into my HT system. :)
 

Mark Hsieh

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Aug 16, 2002
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AMD's are great for their price:performance ratio, however, you will need a little more cooling since AMD really packs them transistors into their cores, generating more heat. Although that is of no concern as long as you are using some sort of active cooling on the chip. You'll be surprised how little of difference you'll see between an AMD and Intel, although Intel does have a better FPU unit.
I've built myself and my friends nothing but AMD unless they have the a specific request for an Intel.
 

Gary King

Second Unit
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Apr 13, 1999
Messages
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I'd wait a little while, since all hardware companies are just about to have their fall refresh products on shelves (which means price cuts on older technology, and lots of new shiny things), and get

AMD Athlon 2700+ (I think that's the new top-of-the-line)
nForce 2 motherboard
512MB DDR400
NV30

nForce systems sound great on home theater systems... I can't decide if Medal of Honor: Allied Assault or Halo is a better 5.1 (and sub) demo.

Intel does have a better FPU unit.
Actually, floating point is where AMD reigns supreme. The Athlon's only serious deficiency is its L2 cache bandwidth (which hurts it on most video and audio codecs). Hammer should completely fix that, but it won't be available for a little while.
 

Danny R

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May 23, 2000
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although Intel does have a better FPU unit.

Sorry to differ. This was true prior to 2000, but hasn't been the case with the Pentium III or 4 vs the Thunderbird/Athlons.
 

Brian E

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Intel did have better fpu back in the days of P2 vs K6-2, but not now. I've been an AMD fan for a long time. I think Intel makes good stuff, I just don't see the cost to performance ratio a chip that's more expensive should have.
 

Bruce Hedtke

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Jul 11, 1999
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I love my AMD. It's been a rock. Very dependable and with no compatibility problems at all. Price, for me, wasn't a big factor, but I did like a chip that would prove workable and fast, which describes AMD perfectly.

Bruce
 

MikeyWeitz

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Feb 10, 2002
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Unless you are doling out $500 + on the P4 2.53 Mhz chip, not only will AMD be MUCH MUCH vheaper, but they will smoke the P4 mhz to mhz ANY day of the week. Their is no comparison. For a cVERY good, cheap cooling fan, go with the GC68 from svcompucycle.com
You can not beat it for the price.
BTW the whole AMD runs too hot, blah blah blah is crap!
 

Brian Harnish

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Dec 15, 2000
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My current computer (which I built myself), is my first AMD athlon processor -- the Athlon XP 1800+. I love it! It's been so stable and trouble-free. Performance wise it outclasses Intel's pentium processor in almost every way. In fact, my latest record for uptime on my Win98 AMD Athlon XP 1800+ Box is 7 days, 8 hours.
You will NOT regret switching to an AMD Athlon processor! :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup:
 

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