PIII 850/BX6r2 or AMD Thunderbird 1Ghz/KT133A board

[alkemyst]

I am trying to figure the most bang for the buck. I can put a PIII 850 on my current board, slot 1 or use a SlotKey, or get the AMD chip and a new motherboard.

Many have said I wouldn't notice a real world difference between the 850 pentium (esp if I can overclock it a bit) vs the Thunderbird 1GHz.

Let me know your opinions.

Chris

 

[gcliv]

If money is remotely an issue grab the P3, if not grab the Athlon. There really won't be that huge of a difference.

 

[shiggy]

Just for your info, i was in that same situtation and i went with the SlotKET and a PIII 800e cCO stepping. Seemed cheaper for me. I have that runnin at 1066MHz with FSB at 133.3 and voltage at 2.25. Really stable!!!

 

[limsandy]

What CPU are you using now ?
Upgrading to 1 GHz Athlon is recommended but then it depends on what system you are using now. If you are using P3-600, then it's not worth the upgrade. If you are using slower system like Celeron 400, then consider getting a 1 GHz Athlon.

 

[nortexoid]

if the 850 is considerably cheaper than the 1ghz athlon + mobo combo then get the p3...
the performance difference won't be that noticeable (if at all) between the two set ups...

 

[Ulysses]

I'm running a P3 850 @ 1000 on a BX board with 256 MB of CL 2 RAM and I'm perfectly happy. On paper the Athtlon is a bit faster, but it is probably not noticeable. Personally, I'd recommend you just upgrade the CPU (with a slocket) and later (say, at next X-mas) upgrade the whole system. Be sure you have enough RAM for what you do now, if you want to spend some money. I certainly noticed a difference from going from 550 MHz P3 to 1000, but the RAM is more important in many apps. Also, a good HDD or RAID is important, again depending on what you do with the PC.

 

[Daaavo]

If it was up to me, I'd go with the 850.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The 850's approx. $200, while a T-Bird 1ghz would be $200 also, plus the mobo for at least $130. The difference between an 850 and a 1ghz is not too much, so considering money, and all the other factors, I would get the 850.

 

[alkemyst]

What settings do you run to get 1Ghz out of the 850? I heard Slot 1 have a better change to oc than the FGPGA's.

One other plus about staying with the current motherboard...I don't have to reinstall all my software.

Thanks

Chris

 

[alkemyst]

The money is not so much the issue...it is the time to do the job. I am looking at $150 more for the new motherboard, athlon setup, but about a whole day at least of wiping the system and reinstalling all my hardware and software (and hoping for no conflicts).

I worry about things not oc'ing as with the BX6r2 you don't get the PCI divisors you do with the post-BX chipsets.

I have the following hardware:
Monster Sound MX300
Tekram 390F SCSI
ASUS TNT V3400-TV
Linksys LNE100TX 10/100 Ethernet (running my DSL)

I believe my drive's will handle the increased speed (Plextor UltraPlex wide, Imation 8/20, Imation SuperDisc LS120, and WD Expert 18GB.

Thanks

 

[bacillus]

<< I have that runnin at 1066MHz with FSB at 133.3 and voltage at 2.25. Really stable!!! >>


shiggy, don't think that cpu is going to last long with that voltage!:Q
what cooling are you using?