Advice on new CPU

[Gaudi]

I am looking to upgrade my ageing system and recently began the process.
So far I have got myself an Enermax EG 465AX PSU and waiting for my Coolermaster Cavalier 3 case.

I have been looking at a new CPU and now have some suggestions.

Intel Pentium 4 506 2.66Mhz CPU with EMT64
AMD Athlon 64s
AMD Bartons
AMD Semprons

Is the Intel any good? I believe it has no hyper threading which is a shame, but should be powerful enough for my needs.

Are Semprons any good as well more the 64 bit ones? They seem to be nice and cheap but I guess their floating point calculations are really bad.

Im really on a tight budget and will need to consider a new Motherboard along with RAM. I was looking at no more than £150-£200 for Cpu, Ram and MB. So ideally the CPU should be around £70 or so, although I could stretch to £90-£100 if justified.

My needs really are to play the odd games (FPS, RTS, Space/Flight sims), I've kind of benchmarked a new PC to be able to cope with Doom 3/Far Cry easily and also Age of Empires 3. In addition, I would be surfing, watching DVDs/TV, Burn CDs/DVDs occasionally after I learn how to edit some home vids.

Advice would be appreciated, and I won't be overclocking at the present time so will need to be good stock speeds.

 

[Bona Fide]

You came to the wrong place if you want to hear anything good about Intel.

Go with an Athlon 64. I would advise an A64 X2, since single-core will slowly be phasing out.

 

[DrMrLordX]

The 5xx series P4s aren't anywhere near as good as the 6xx series P4s. Do not get a 5xx P4 like the 506.

Other than that, do some forum searches and look at Anandtech's various CPU benchmarks they've done within the last year. That should give you some idea of where Intel and AMD stand in the performance race. Then look at the available platforms for the aforementioned CPUs and make your decision on your own.

If you're on a tight budget, I would recommend a Sempron 2800+(64-bit or no), but ONLY if you plan to overclock. Bartons are dated and should no longer be considered for purchase. Anything outside of the Semrpon or Celeron range will likely fall outside of your budgetary restrictions.

Semrpon 2800+ + Chaintech vnf3-250 + ??? RAM shouldn't cost you much. If you have some extra cash to spare, get the DFI board instead of the Chaintech.

 

[Jaymes]

I had always been an Intel man until I got the AMD Athlon X2 4400 64 Bit CPU.

'OH MY GOD' can this baby fly!

Ok, it's out of your budget, but my point is that AMD has surpassed Intel and from now on, they will become the dominant force. Well, I hope so anyway.

 

[Cooler]

Go with an X2 its worth it.

 

[Markbnj]

[I had always been an Intel man until I got the AMD Athlon X2 4400 64 Bit CPU.]

Me too .

 

[lifeguard1999]

Investigations into Socket 939 Athlon 64 Overclocking on the front page gives some great advice.

 

[ZL1]

If you can afford it try to get a I630 and a good mobo (Asus/Abit)
or
a 3000Venice and a good nForce3 or 4 mobo


D

 

[forumposter32]

The stuff in my sig was all on sale but it depends what you can find on sale. I can't wait for the new ATI cards though. The H64 encoding or whatever it's called again blows my mind away.

 

[Viditor]

Originally posted by: Gaudi
I am looking to upgrade my ageing system and recently began the process.
So far I have got myself an Enermax EG 465AX PSU and waiting for my Coolermaster Cavalier 3 case.

I have been looking at a new CPU and now have some suggestions.

Intel Pentium 4 506 2.66Mhz CPU with EMT64
AMD Athlon 64s
AMD Bartons
AMD Semprons

Is the Intel any good? I believe it has no hyper threading which is a shame, but should be powerful enough for my needs.

Are Semprons any good as well more the 64 bit ones? They seem to be nice and cheap but I guess their floating point calculations are really bad.

Im really on a tight budget and will need to consider a new Motherboard along with RAM. I was looking at no more than £150-£200 for Cpu, Ram and MB. So ideally the CPU should be around £70 or so, although I could stretch to £90-£100 if justified.

My needs really are to play the odd games (FPS, RTS, Space/Flight sims), I've kind of benchmarked a new PC to be able to cope with Doom 3/Far Cry easily and also Age of Empires 3. In addition, I would be surfing, watching DVDs/TV, Burn CDs/DVDs occasionally after I learn how to edit some home vids.

Advice would be appreciated, and I won't be overclocking at the present time so will need to be good stock speeds.

Even the Sempron 3100+ should be quite a bit faster (and about the same price) than the 2.66 P4 506...the 506 is a 533 MHz bus processor.
What I didn't see in your list was a video card...which one are you planning on? If you are planning on an on-board solution, wait till the new Nvidia motherboards come out at the end of this month...