2.6, 2.8, 3.0,,,???which one

  • Thread starter Thread starter jim a
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J

jim a

Does it really make a big difference between a 2.6or a 3.0 ghtz processor
for general computing or playing games such as Half-Life? There is a
considerable price difference and am not sure of what I absolutely have to
install. I will probably go with one of the asus motherboards, with 800fsb,
one gig ddr 400 memory, but not sure if I will go the sata drive/raid setup
route. This computer will basically be used only for game playing and basic
internet computing. What would you do... thanks for any help. I am looking
at the intel processor, is there a better comparison between athlon
processors...

I am using a Dell computer with the 1.8 ghtz, not sure of the bus speed, and
the games play pretty good, but want to build for the future.

Jim
 
jim a said:
Does it really make a big difference between a 2.6or a 3.0 ghtz processor
for general computing or playing games such as Half-Life? There is a
considerable price difference and am not sure of what I absolutely have to
install. I will probably go with one of the asus motherboards, with 800fsb,
one gig ddr 400 memory, but not sure if I will go the sata drive/raid setup
route. This computer will basically be used only for game playing and basic
internet computing. What would you do... thanks for any help. I am looking
at the intel processor, is there a better comparison between athlon
processors...

I am using a Dell computer with the 1.8 ghtz, not sure of the bus speed, and
the games play pretty good, but want to build for the future.

Jim
Click to expand...

I recently replaced an AMD1200 with an XP2200+

and though the newer machine was faster...it did not seem to be an "earth
shattering" upgrade

so i'm sure the difference between a 2.6ghz cpu and a 3.0 would not really
justify the considerable

extra expense.
 
jim said:
Does it really make a big difference between a 2.6or a 3.0 ghtz processor
for general computing or playing games such as Half-Life? There is a
considerable price difference and am not sure of what I absolutely have to
install. I will probably go with one of the asus motherboards, with 800fsb,
one gig ddr 400 memory, but not sure if I will go the sata drive/raid setup
route. This computer will basically be used only for game playing and basic
internet computing. What would you do... thanks for any help. I am looking
at the intel processor, is there a better comparison between athlon
processors...

I am using a Dell computer with the 1.8 ghtz, not sure of the bus speed, and
the games play pretty good, but want to build for the future.

Jim
Click to expand...

IMHO, as long as your CPU is over 2 GHz, you should be looking for a
graphics card upgrade rather than a CPU upgrade. Take the money you
would have spent on that extra 400mhz and buy a better video card.
 
never buy the latest and greatest. buy a little bit behind, spend half as
much and get virtually the same performance.

get the 2.6 and overclock it to 3.0 - 3.2ghz.
 
Does it really make a big difference between a 2.6or a 3.0 ghtz processor
for general computing or playing games such as Half-Life? There is a
considerable price difference and am not sure of what I absolutely have to
install. I will probably go with one of the asus motherboards, with 800fsb,
one gig ddr 400 memory, but not sure if I will go the sata drive/raid setup
route. This computer will basically be used only for game playing and basic
internet computing. What would you do... thanks for any help. I am looking
at the intel processor, is there a better comparison between athlon
processors...

I am using a Dell computer with the 1.8 ghtz, not sure of the bus speed, and
the games play pretty good, but want to build for the future.
Click to expand...

It usually takes doubling the speed to make much differance to many users
unless you are an expert gammer or are doing alot of vidio processing.
Spend the money on a beter vidio card and faster hard drive system.
 
Does it really make a big difference between a 2.6or a 3.0 ghtz processor
for general computing or playing games such as Half-Life? There is a
considerable price difference and am not sure of what I absolutely have to
install. I will probably go with one of the asus motherboards, with 800fsb,
one gig ddr 400 memory, but not sure if I will go the sata drive/raid setup
route. This computer will basically be used only for game playing and basic
internet computing. What would you do... thanks for any help. I am looking
at the intel processor, is there a better comparison between athlon
processors...

I am using a Dell computer with the 1.8 ghtz, not sure of the bus speed, and
the games play pretty good, but want to build for the future.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't make a big difference.
If you're considering Intel, the sweet spot is 2.6P4C and 2.8P4C. In
remarkably many benchmarks I've seen, the 2.8 is all the way up there
with the 3.2GHz. It appears the 3.2, in some cases, can't make full
use of it's clock, relative to the 2.8P4C. The 3.2 costs twice as
much.
Games are quite tolerant of a good deal less cpu performance, than top
end. A friends XP1800+, sofar, runs every game he throws at it, in
comfort. He has a good videocard. This is where you should spend the
extra money. But again, stay away from topend. Videocards become
obsolete faster than cpus. So there could be a halfway video upgrade,
along in your cpus lifespan.

As for AMD, the sweet spot has, IMO, been the XP2500+ ($85) for a long
time. The 2600+ and 2800+ might be interesting too, but I loose
interest in the XPs after the 2500+. The reason is that the A64 line
starts at around $200, with the 64_3000+ (and that 3000+ rating is
more like 3400+ in old XP rating).

ancra
 
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