Stability, what is better to have?

[MarkR]

For stability, what would be better?

Athlon system or
P4 system

Mark

[Grimm]

Doesn't matter.

Stability problems will come from a cheap motherboard or cheap ram. Both CPU manufacturers make quality products. Both occationaly have quality hickups. Right now both seem to be stable.
For the most stability, use a proven CPU. A P3 or a Thunderbird that has been around for a while. Spend the extra on the motherboard. And get some Crucial ram (today while the shipping is free). With an Athlon, make sure you have an approved power supply.
Anyone who says it matters which (AMD/Intel) is blinded by branding. Marketing departments spend tens or hundreds of millions(if not billions) of dollars to influence people in these decisions, so it's to be expected.

[MarkR]

I don't mean to get people fighting over this question. It is I am building my new system now. I have everything except the Motherboard, CPU and RAM. I don't want to make a wrong choice. I know I don't want a VIA chipset. I have had to many in the past to get another one. I am working on a K7V and 1Ghz Classic Athlon right now. I can't say it is the most stable thing but it is quick.

I bought a Gainward Powerpack !!! (Geforce 3 pretty red oohh ahhh) for this new system and now that I have it, I want to get this thing together. I just read at HardOCP that the Abit P4 mobo is, well... how can you say this nicely... not to desirable. I've read pretty good things on the P4T from Asus though. The big thing is I don't like Intel as a company, I think they haven't made smart choices in the resent past. I also don't like the P4 changing pin outs very soon (I change mobos 2 to 1 CPU).

Hell if I need to I will get the Tyan Thunder K7 if that thing is perfectly stable. I just didn't want to wait for a 1.5 Ghz Athlon MP. I don't really want to just go up from 1.0 to 1.2 even though they are much faster. See this is where I need help. If need be I will wait for the KG7 to come out but I don't want to wait longer than that. So please give me feed back if you own a P4 and love it or if you have an Athlon and love it (DDR only).

Thanks
Mark

[Grimm]

Don't wait for the new components. You will have to wait for them to prove themselves stable before you buy them. After all you are after stability first! By the time you can be sure they are good, new boards will be about to be released. They will look even tastier than the ones you are waiting for now.
The waiting game sux. Only cosider currently released boards that have a reputation for stability now.

[MarkR]

Originally posted by evilcyclops
Doesn't matter.

Stability problems will come from a cheap motherboard or cheap ram. Both CPU manufacturers make quality products. Both occationaly have quality hickups. Right now both seem to be stable.
For the most stability, use a proven CPU. A P3 or a Thunderbird that has been around for a while. Spend the extra on the motherboard. And get some Crucial ram (today while the shipping is free). With an Athlon, make sure you have an approved power supply.
Anyone who says it matters which (AMD/Intel) is blinded by branding. Marketing departments spend tens or hundreds of millions(if not billions) of dollars to influence people in these decisions, so it's to be expected.

Yeah I not it isn't the CPU it self as much as the motherboard and ram. That is my big thing. It seems ever since the BX chipset the quality and stability has been tossed aside. I never worried about my P3 500 and Abit BX6 crashing... it just didn't happen (really I can't remember a time that it did). I was hoping that the AMD 760 chipset would be like that. I need to know someone that uses it in real world use. I am using a P4 1.3 Gateway at work with XP RC1 and I hasn't crashed or locked up on me. I had a Athlon 1.1 Gateway with a KT133 chipset and that had its ups and downs. It had a hard time booting. Once I got it up though it would stay up. So this is why I am having a hard time. The P4 1.3 doesn't seem nearly as fast though.

Thanks
Mark

[Jeffbx]

If stability is your main concern, buy a Dell. Don't build one yourself. One advantage that a pre-built has every time is the stability of it's components working together.

Of course, then you can forget about overclocking & the thrill of doing it yourself...