Best for Gaming- Pentium or AMD?

[eSDee]

Let's hear it fellas. What do you think is better, Pentium or AMD? I was in a PC shop the other day and the dude was a like "P4 is AMD's biotch when it comes to gaming".

What do you all think?

[sbp]

"P4 is AMD's biotch when it comes to gaming". That used to be true but no longer. Intel has revved up the P4 speeds and added cache which has enabled it to surpass AMD. Even the release of the new Athlon XP 2200+ Thoroughbred cpu last week didn't enable AMD to regain the performance crown. That said the AMD cpus still provide a better bang for the buck in general.

[jmalm]

hrm... I don't think that's quite accurate. From all the reviews and benchmarks i've seen on various sites (hardocp.com, anandtech.com, tomshardware.com) the Athlon XP chips out perform the P4's in their megahertz/gigahertz class. I have a dual 1.4 Athlon MP system, which I love dearly, and built for roughly $500 (mobo, 2 processors, 768MB of crucial ram). Truthfully I'm huge counter-strike nerd. I go to LANs, etc. 90% of the time when im on my computer im playing counter-strike or GTAIII. With the crappy half-life engine, i get a SOLID 100fps at 1280x768 (game cant run higher than 100) even in high action scenes with multiple animations, and this is all off a GEforce2 Ultra 64MB.

My reccomedation: AMD definitely.

[sleepminded]

me and one of my buddies tested it out...we took a p4 1.8gHz and my athalon XP 1800+ and put in the same exact hardware othe than the processors and motherboards...my AMD beat the p4 in benchmarks...lost the thing tho >.<

my decision=AMD!!! =)

[sbp]

The fastest Intel Pentium 4's will outperform the fastest AMD Athlon XP cpu's. Here are several links to AMD Athlon XP 2200+ Thoroughbred Reviews with Pentium 4's being compared to {some of the Athlon XP 2200+ reviews out there compared XP 2200+ to other Athlon XP's and won't be linked to}.

Gaming results: AMD Athlon XP 2200+ Thoroughbred Review http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/cpu/article.php/3261_1363691__6
http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1635&p=12

As everyone can see the P4 is definitely not the AMD biotch when it comes to games.

Then there is the matter of non-gaming results which speak for themselves. After all PC's are not just used for gaming: http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/02q2/020610/thoroughbred-16.html
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[url]http://tech-report.com/reviews/2002q2/athlonxp-2200/index.x?pg=6 (http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/CCAM/amd_axp_2200(3).shtml)

Most reviews expressed disapointment with the Athlon XP 2200+ in that it didn't overclock that well and didn't run that much cooler than the Palomino core AthlonXP 2100+. Also that the 266 MHZ system bus is holding the XP line back.

In my view AMD is in a holding pattern with regards to the AthlonXP's. That is to say AMD is staving off Intel until they {AMD} can launch the Hammer. You can see this by AMD concentrating much more on the Hammer which is its next big thing. Perhaps the Barton {.13 micron Athlon XP with 512 KB L2} AthlonXP line will shake things up again and allow AMD to regain the performance crown but I doubt it.

That said, as stated before, AMD cpus are better on the price-performance scale than most P4's.

[Jihforce]

good post sbp. learned a lot.
yeah i have to agree that makes AMDs preferable my most people is its price.
Over the last 4 years have owned 3 pentium and 2 amds.
Its kind of weird i but I keep asking myself why i keep getting amds. It certainly isn't because of performance, but its price.

[eSDee]

So basically SBP you are saying AMD is better than Pentium? :P

Just kidding. I learned alot as well. Thanks for your replies everyone!

[ApltnHkyMutt]

this is a tough call. i have both an intel and an amd and i think there both great for gammin.. i think its more of the speed of the chip and you graphics card!

[xsiled2]

id still say that the p4 is a better "deal" the 1.6A is still around $140 with decent ram and good cooling you can hit 2.6+ pretty easy.

of course the p4's and amd procs have their own strengths but 512K of cache doesnt hurt :D

[Bires]

Originally posted by xsiled2
the 1.6A is still around $140 with decent ram and good cooling you can hit 2.6+ pretty easy.

EASY!?!!?

What kind of easy cooling/mobo gives you that kind of overclock? :eek:

[xsiled2]

thermal take valcano 7+ or the dragon 478. with a sis 645 or 645dx mobo.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by Bires


EASY!?!!?

What kind of easy cooling/mobo gives you that kind of overclock? :eek:

Yeah, people have been getting 1.6A's up to 2.3GHz+ easily with air cooling.

I have to agree with sbp too... PER clock cycle, the AMD's are faster by far, but the P4's are able to obtain MUCH higher frequencies... this has negated any performance advantage held by AMD.

[xsiled2]

Ladogaboy have you used a p4 northwood?

[Showtime]

My 1.6a has gone past 2.35 ghz. I can run it all day at 2.3 w/ my fan on medium(volcano7+). My voltage is maxed at 1.6, I need more to get it to oc higher.
I've read of 2.8+ghz out of the northwood chip. Ive seen people stuck at 2.1ghz, it all depends on chip and set up.
If you want to try to oc a 1.6 you need to get the northwood version.
Its also called the 1.6a. The better overclockers are packaged after 03/2002. The earlier ones don't go as high. Since P4's run cool, stock cooling is good to 2.5+ghz and it has a quiet fan.
The mobo is very important. Not only the type but each particular board performs differently with each chip. I've gone thru a couple of boards before I found the MSI 645ultra 333. It's good for oc's to around 2.4ghz. To oc it higher there are some tricks(wire wrap).
The current oc champ is the ASUS P4B533 board. Its very stable and has really nice bios for ocing.
Memory is the final piece. Look for good 2700+ DDR(bang for buck) or grab a Rambus mem/board(ultimate performance). Ram is very important to the p4 and good ram allows for better performance/clock.
Current system:
P4 1.6a @2.3+ghz
MSI ultra645 333 support
Corsair XMS2700c2@350+mhz
I'm tweaking/modding my case, so before it all goes back I'm going to wirewrap the cpu and try for 2.5. If that doesnt work I think I'm going to pick up the ASUS board and try it out.
your mileage will vary,
-jel:halo:
ps: Chosenfool has a nice 1.6a rig that is also very stable at 2.3ghz.
This is the best ocing chip available($120 at frys).

[xsiled2]

cf's is at 2.38ghz solid btw, also people that are stuck at 2.1ghz must not know what they are doing, they might also be using sd-ram, god knows why...

as fer you jel, you gotta mod out ur chip to get the volate up, im using the same mobo with cheap ram and ive hit 2.5 and stayed there solid for a few days. :)

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by xsiled2
Ladogaboy have you used a p4 northwood?

Used as in used? Or used as in owned? Or used as in tweaked?

Yes; no; and no repectively. But it will probably be the chip I use in my next system unless I wait until the Bartons come out (which I might just do), and they turn out to be a better in price/performance.

Why do you ask?

[xsiled2]

just wondering,

clock per clock the northys stand up very well to the amd chips vs. the old wil. cores (that sucked).

[Speedfreak]

Heh... I still have 3 Celeron 300a chips all running @ 450. 50% overclock. :D The first overclock king, and still damn good if you look at it as a percentage. Though, I would not be using it if I did not have the Geforce 2 in there, plus it is DUAL 300a @ 450 in XP.


Though for a real system, I am waiting for the Hammers. That will be for my new system. I am going all out. Going to get the GeForce 5 (I know that is not what it is called) if it is out by then, and at least a SCSI 15,000 RPM Boot drive (not going ALL scsi, too damn expensive compared to sheer storage).

Anyways, I will be getting everything new except a monitor, pretty much.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by xsiled2
clock per clock the northys stand up very well to the amd chips vs. the old wil. cores (that sucked).

You sure about that, xsiled? Remember, the XPs are yet to break the 2GHz mark, and they hold their own against the Northwoods, even up to 2GHz and beyond.

[xsiled2]

ok not clock to clock but the 2200+ really is equal to a 2200ghz p4 and so on. so they really do equal out.

my north 1.6 holds it own against a 2.5+ p4 what is faster then a 2200+

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by xsiled2
my north 1.6 holds it own against a 2.5+ p4 what is faster then a 2200+

Do you have your 1.6A OC'ed at all?

[xsiled2]

yea, once i get a new hdd ill pump it up, ill post my results. :D

[Ladogaboy]

Nice, xsiled... hehe, it'd be cool to see you, cf, and jj go head to head with your systems! :P



Originally posted by DarkFury
Honestly, my PIII 800 still plays all my games just fine... and to me that's all that matters. :hihi:

Yeah, I feel the same way. My Duron @800 still does everything I ask of it, but I like to do some video editing/encoding as a hobby. And that entails having as much juice in the CPU as possible...

[Bires]

Originally posted by DarkFury
Honestly, my PIII 800 still plays all my games just fine... and to me that's all that matters. :hihi:

That ^^would be^^ all the mattered...if it were not for the genetic defect that demands that I have up-to-date equipment. If I'm going to play games, I have to play them with the best visuals and sound.

...

Which is why today I ordered a P4, DDR memory and mobo, and PS to add to my GeForce4.

:drool: (I cant wait to get home to play it) :drool: