P4 vs athlon xp

[Shuten]

I am planning on buying one of the two and was wondering
what people thought was the best for the money. Also with
what board should i pair them up.

I've been looking at two option
1. xp 1700 with a shuttle via266a chipset
2 p4 1600 or 1700 with the sis645 chipset

Any ideas would be apprciated and keep in mind that I would
like to keep this as cheap as possible.

Thanks

 

[MeTaLrOcKeR]

<< I am planning on buying one of the two and was wondering
what people thought was the best for the money. Also with
what board should i pair them up.

I've been looking at two option
1. xp 1700 with a shuttle via266a chipset
2 p4 1600 or 1700 with the sis645 chipset

Any ideas would be apprciated and keep in mind that I would
like to keep this as cheap as possible.

Thanks >>




Well, you want to keep this as cheap as possible than you shoudlnt be considerign the P4 at all........
Personally I'd have to recomend the AMD Athlon XP 1600+ as it's a 1.4GHz chip, AND its the best valeu for your money........
Get that, with the Thermalright SK6 HSF and it will be VERY decently cooled.........
and the Abit KR7a Motherboard w/ 256MB of pc2100 DDR C2 DDR RAM....

In Canadian Dollars that will run you about $655.....

In equally setup P4 will run you about $745.

Thats a P4 1.6GHz CPU w/ HSF
ASUS P4T-E Motherbaord
256MB of RDRAM (2x128 Sticks of PC800)

You figure out whats best for you, and considerign the AMD Athlon XP 1600+ will SIGNIFICANTLY outperform that P4 in all jsut about ALL Benchmarks.....you think whats best worth it, and later on if your in the mood, you can OC your XP1600+ to like 1900+ or possibly 2000+.......

Good Luck.....

 

[rwalterk]

For the money, the Athlon is the better buy hands down. I am a firm believer in Intel's quality (especially chipsets), but dollar-for-dollar the Athlon is just a better buy at this point.

For motherboards, I guess the Via 266a is the hot chipset now but many people like the SiS 735 (cheaper), and I hear the AMD 761 (a little cheaper) is very stable and just a hair below the 266a performance-wise.

 

[sandorski]

Had to read your post twice. Athlon 1700 vs P4 1600, easy choice, Athlon(at first I thought it was P4 1700 vs Athlon 1600, even then the choice is simple, Athlon).

 

[Shuten]

I dont see much of a price difference between the xp1600 and the p4 478 when you consider
using the the sis645 board so as to avoid the rdram and just use cheaper ddr ram. I dont know
if this is a plausible solution but just wondering what people thought because i'm going tro start
buying stuff this coming weekend.. Is the P4 with ddr worth the proce of the P4 or should i just
stick with the athlon xp 1600 or 1700?

Any ideas on a $600 system without worrying about software would be appreciated as well


Thanks all..

 

[jcmkk]

The Athlon XP 1600 is comparable with the P4 1.8GHz or 1.9GHz. That and the fact that you get a better deal with the AMD based system should make your decision easy.

 

[Anubis]

I recoment the Athalon cause its hands down better then the P4. i recently go myself a Athalon Xp1700+ with Epox 8KHA+ mobo case ram and power sourse for less then 400$. your not gonna find any p4 system for that anywhere

 

[rip22]

Hands down, the AthlonXp has the best price/performance ratio right now, however i'm looking forward for Northwood and benches (going to assemble one with Northwood later)

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Welcome to Anandtech Shuten.

Both systems will be fast so in the end it comes down to what you're comfortable with and what your abilities are. If keeping a budget is the priority, you'll be able to get more for you buck going the AMD route, but the P4 with DDR looks excellent especially with the SiS board sporting DDR333 support. Here's what I would get for the budget minded/P4 minded. I'll use $600 in both cases and you can see how far the money goes...

--Budget--

Athlon XP 1600+............................$130
VANTEC CCK6035D copper HS.......$21
Shuttle AK31 Rev. 3.......................$80
256MB Crucial PC2100...................$61
---------------------------------------------
Total: $292




--Intel Route--

Intel P4 1700 478 Pin Retail.....$204
ECS SiS645 P4 DDR board........$88
256MB Crucial PC2100.............$61
---------------------------------------------
Total: $353




In both these cases I've used a "budget" board that will be both inexpensive and stable. As you can see, the prices are close, but may make the difference between a GF 2 Ti and a GF 3 Ti200, or a 350watt PS and a 431watt PS. Generally, the Athlon 1600+ will outperform the P4 1700Ghz by up to 10% or so, but this will depend on application, and may or may not be noticeable. The heatsink I chose for the XP is loud (Delta fan) and a cheaper $12 one can be used if you don't plan to overclock much. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Oh yeah, here's a review of the DDR based Intel chipset.

And another.

 

[Jerboy]

I think Athlon gives you more performance for dollar than Intel. Speaking of benchmarks anyway.

If this is your first time and you aren't too confident with it, I'd difinitely go with Intel, because it is far less fragile.


--Budget--

According to my survey, for 15% of AnandTecher's,

Athlon XP 1600+ to be totalled due to installation mistakes............................$130
Another XP1600+ to replace the above $130
VANTEC CCK6035D copper HS.......$21
Shuttle AK31 Rev. 3.......................$80
256MB Crucial PC2100...................$61
---------------------------------------------
Total: $292+$130




--Intel Route--

Intel P4 1700 478 Pin Retail.....$204(You PROBABLY will not break P4. It is very resistant to chipping and it will not burn out even if you operate without heatsink or improperly installed)

ECS SiS645 P4 DDR board........$88
256MB Crucial PC2100.............$61
---------------------------------------------
Total: $353

 

[Rahminator]

<< I think Athlon gives you more performance for dollar than Intel. Speaking of benchmarks anyway.

If this is your first time and you aren't too confident with it, I'd difinitely go with Intel, because it is far less fragile.


--Budget--

According to my survey, for 15% of AnandTecher's,

Athlon XP 1600+ to be totalled due to installation mistakes............................$130
Another XP1600+ to replace the above $130
VANTEC CCK6035D copper HS.......$21
Shuttle AK31 Rev. 3.......................$80
256MB Crucial PC2100...................$61
---------------------------------------------
Total: $292+$130




--Intel Route--

Intel P4 1700 478 Pin Retail.....$204(You PROBABLY will not break P4. It is very resistant to chipping and it will not burn out even if you operate without heatsink or improperly installed)

ECS SiS645 P4 DDR board........$88
256MB Crucial PC2100.............$61
---------------------------------------------
Total: $353 >>



Only if you're dumb enough to even touch the hsf while attaching it. It's pretty much impossible to break an athlon if you lay it down right and use a flat head screwdriver to apply all the force on the clip.