# Motjerboard + CPU Combo Choices



## sharon (Dec 27, 2004)

Hi,

I need an expert advice on the choices for a mobo and cpu. I am a novic in computers and still do not understand Intel being fastest and AMD being high performance (isn't faster better performance????)....that was my delimma after reading a lot about these two processors.

I am interested in building my own (After a bad experience of not being able to upgrade a previous one, it was OEM). 

I am not sure what I am looking at so here is the place I am buying everything. So, I need help on which one I should go for (AMD/ Intel with their mobo). Here is the link *www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=14 or should I look for a motherboard and a CPU separately (in that case, i will need to know which ones I should go for at the same site).

If it isn't much to ask, would someone help me  gather what I will need from this site to get a top notch computer (Processor, mobo, cooling, RAM, Graphics and soundcard). With your information I will feel much safer and start assembling everything.

Thank you all. 

A link again to where I plan to make all purchases from:


*www.tigerdirect.ca/


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## grinning_devil (Dec 27, 2004)

sharon said:
			
		

> would someone help me  gather what I will need from this site to get a top notch computer (Processor, mobo, cooling, RAM, Graphics and soundcard)



 :roll: ..top notch PC???...depends on how fat ur wallet is actually!!
whats ur budget mate?


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## sharon (Dec 27, 2004)

Actually right now I am in a "go or no go" stage, so anyone can tell me should I or shpuldn't I. I plan to assemble piece by piece (to avoid spending money uselessly). So provision for future upgrade is of utmost importance.

Right now I can't spare much, but plan to buy a really good mobo and processor and buy the others later (wishlist). 

I can spend around "$400" for one of them or both. I already got the HD in my xbox, but have to take them out. I plan to buy the memory and graphics cards over the next few months.

Overall I am planning to spend around *$1500-$2000 *on the whole PC *not including the cost of the monitor*.

The rates should be quoted from *tigerdirect.ca


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## icecoolz (Dec 27, 2004)

Sharon, 

At this particulat stage future proofing is a myth. Simply because there are too many technology changes out there in the market at the moment. 

64 bit processors, DDR2 RAMS, PCI-E, SLI's and Intel's latest dual CPU core in a single chip. Also I think funkykmonkey mentioned something else about the PCI-E coming up with new standards. So again the industry is set for a huge change at the moment. Also look at the applications which are available in the market to take advantage of the features which are available such as 64 bit computing or PCI-E features they are almost negligible.  And it will take another 2 years before these things become a norm. 

If you are lookin for future proof then its very very difficult at this stage.


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## sharon (Dec 29, 2004)

I am not able to choose between AMD 64 and Pentium 4 for a Desktop.

Please can someone suggest me which one and some pro's to go with it. I do not know as I use Athlon XP for a laptop and have no experiences with the higher end CPUs.

As far as I know this processor (Athlon XP, 1.3Ghz) for my laptop isn't too good. The laptop heats so much, I could probably burn my thighs keeping it on my lap. I saw in some reviews that AMD 64 installs Windows XP in 10 minutes (too good to be true). Is it the same for the high end Pentium 4?

I will go for AMD 64 if it is true, someone from here please tell me what the AMD 64 is like. I am asking here inspite of reading the reviews coz I trust this  site a lot.

Happy New Year to All.


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## pimpom (Dec 29, 2004)

sharon said:
			
		

> I am not able to choose between AMD 64 and Pentium 4 for a Desktop.
> 
> As far as I know this processor (Athlon XP, 1.3Ghz) for my laptop isn't too good. The laptop heats so much, I could probably burn my thighs keeping it on my lap.


Early Athlons tended to heat up more than P4's but that's no longer a big issue. Intel is the one with heat problems now. I try to keep an objective attitude when comparing brands, but most people will agree that right now AMD has the upper hand, though that could change in the future.



> I saw in some reviews that AMD 64 installs Windows XP in 10 minutes (too good to be true). Is it the same for the high end Pentium 4?


Installation times depend also on other factors such as the amount and speed of RAM, HDD, CD-ROM drive, etc. Though I have not timed my installations accurately, WinXP Pro installs on an Athlon XP 2000+ with 256MB RAM in roughly 15 minutes, and in a little less time on higher systems. So a round figure of 10 mins for an A64 with, say 512MB won't be far wrong. The same is probably true for a high-end Intel machine.

One timing result that took me by surprise was when I made Ghost backups of other people's systems. With Athlon XP systems, a C: drive with 1GB used usually takes about 5 mins, but two P4 systems I backed up this month took about 20 mins each. I defragged the whole HDD and tried again, but the results were the same. They were done in DOS mode so there was no Windows involved. A 10GB dual-boot (Win98SE/WinXP with lots of apps) C: drive (3.4GB used) took about 10 mins for an Athlon XP system while the P4 machines took nearly 35 mins. 

Now, before some pro-Intel guys start chewing me out, I don't really think the huge difference in Ghosting speeds was really an AMD vs Intel thing. More probably something like a DMA issue.

Benchmarks generally favour AMD CPUs for the majority of apps, but most of us will not notice the difference in real-life usage for the same class of CPUs. The big point in favour of AMD processors is price. Intel CPUs cost more than AMD processors of comparable overall performance. And a $300 AMD CPU will outperform a $300 P4 by a considerable margin. The price difference is less for top-of-the-line CPUs.


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## grinning_devil (Dec 30, 2004)

pimpom said:
			
		

> Though I have not timed my installations accurately, WinXP Pro installs on an Athlon XP 2000+ with 256M



  11mins approx for XP SP2 on my rig!!!
i think 1GB RAM did the trick!!


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## delhibhai1000 (Dec 30, 2004)

@grinning_devil :
And i guess these wouldnt have hurt either::

Intel P4 3.0Ghz
120GB SATA 7200rpm HDD
Geforce 6600Ultra PCI-Ex 256MB 

Lucky devil!!


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## grinning_devil (Dec 30, 2004)

hmmm...sure...icing on d cake!!!

~~lucky devil~~


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## liquid_nitrogen88 (Dec 30, 2004)

> 11mins approx for XP SP2 on my rig!!!
> i think 1GB RAM did the trick!!


10 mins n few secs on my rig!!!!!!!!!!
i think AMD64 3200+ did the trick      

Theres no doubt that AMD systems install XP faster....all the dealers i kno talks abt it....But is it a thing v r goin 2 do on a daily basis in our rig?????????


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## grinning_devil (Dec 30, 2004)

daily basis....???

na....i think my average format cycle is around every 3/4 months ... unless inbetween i screw up really bad...!!


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## liquid_nitrogen88 (Jan 2, 2005)

a few extra minutes in a few months wont hurt much....will it?
but that time factor is important in many software installations...
Right now i feel like drivin a ferrari after drivin a bullock cart for 3 years...


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## grinning_devil (Jan 4, 2005)

have installed linux ((red hat)) on my bullock cart...!!!


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## sharon (Jan 19, 2005)

I have finally decided to spend CA$ 1500 for a desktop and  CA$ 350 is reserved for a flat panel monitor.

Now I got 1150 for others (I already got mouse and keyboard).

So, how do I go about building a new system.  

Will be reporting back in a few days after some planning.


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## pimpom (Jan 19, 2005)

Sharon, you've been quiet for some time. You stated earlier that you intended to order your stuff from Tigerdirect, and maybe I should have mentioned this before - I've heard some bad things about Tigerdirect on the international circuit. 

Even the best companies will have a few complaints against them. No company has a perfect record and some of those complaints may be unfair too. But Tigerdirect appears to have a disproportionately large number of dissatisfied and even really angry former customers.


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## sharon (Jan 19, 2005)

I believe they do carry some not so good products too. I recently bought a USB HD Enclosure from there and got everything. 

I set up everything correctly and installed my 200 GB Seagate HD. Put all the files there and deleted the originals to gain space on my laptop.

The next time I boot up.....the hard drive was not there. Checked and it wasn't initialized (I did it the first time). I initialized it again and it said unallocated (I had done everything correctly, partitioned, formatted etc correctly the first time). 

Then I realized everything was GONE.....GONE SOMEWHERE. Set it up again and formatted done everything correctly. Rebooted...same problem.

After some repeats, it does not want even to be initialized. I also realized that it sometimes did not have power, the power cord does not plug in all the way.

I returned that Sabrent HD enclosure......waiting for it to reach Tigerdirect
and will contact them about refund.

If they give me my refund, then I will go about purchasing everything from there. Previously I had purchased 2 HDs and some Fans from there and the service was good. The only bad thing about it was the REBATES EXPIRE by the time the product reaches my door steps.

Thus I AM NOT ATTRACTED BY ANY MAIL IN REBATES. It once took me 5 long months to get a $50 rebate for my Netgear Router, 2 months for $20 rebate on a USB Flash drive. And Never got a $25 rebate from Fuji Film for a digital Camera.

So REBATES are No Go, I only like when they give instant discounts.


As for SABRENT I am nevery buying any product by that name....lost years worth of datas.

For the same reason I am planning to build a desktop, as I will be able to install drives more easily than on my laptop and also have more features and upgrades than laptops.


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