What are the "bang for the buck" high powered Athlon and P4 board/processor combos right now?

[FPSguy]

I want to build a new rig for surfing and some gaming. Among other things I would like to be able to play Far Cry on it, so that should tell you something about how fast it needs to be. I do not need to do any video editing or number crunching on the machine -- just light duty stuff and occasionally some heavy duty gaming. I already have a case, an Antec 300W power supply (yes, I know that's a little weak), 2 x 256MB HyperX 400MHz DDR RAM, Radeon 9500 soft modded to 9700, 60GB EIDE hard drive, etc. Mainly what I need is a motherboard and processor. I am happy to overclock the system if that's the best option (and IMO usually it is). Mainly I want the most speed I can get and I would like if possible not to spend more than about $300 (though that limit is not hard and fast). Who wants to save me some research and cite some articles or even just your opinion as to what is the sweet spot for nice speed at a good price today? I don't much care whether it's an Athlon or a P4. I don't want to mod the board or chip to get a good overclock though, unless it's really easy to do.

 

[smahoney]

For the $300 range, since you already have the memory:

Intel:
P4 2.8E, Abit AI7 and a good cooler - 250MHz FSB easy - 3.5GHz.
AMD:
AMD 64+ 3000 and a good board will be a bit more than 300 but I wouldn't recommend anything less. Some like the mobile barton 2400+ which overclocks well, but I don't think it would be faster than a 3.5GHz P4....

Either way, any of those combos will be held back by your video card for Fay Cry.

 

[tr1kstanc3]

i would recommend an AMD system for gaming. athlon 64 3000+ retail chip is about $210 and a nice motherboard such as the MSI k8n platinum for $150 or the chaintech vnf3-250 for $90.

i have an athlon 64 3000+ chip with the msi motherboard and i've overclocked close to 2.5ghz on air cooling. my ram is what is holding me back. this is at stock voltages and i idle at 37c. far cry runs way faster on this system compared to the mobile xp @ 2.5ghz i had in my machine prior. good luck.

 

[NewBlackDak]

I'm gonna throw in some pennies.
Mobile Barton ~$90
NF7-S ~$85
OC it like a banshee

Sell your video card, and add the leftover, and buy yourself a 9800Pro for $200~$230.
If you really intend to game this would be your best bet.

 

[kulki]

tr1kstanc3 did you buy a laptop processor?

 

[FPSguy]

Originally posted by: smahoney
For the $300 range, since you already have the memory:

Intel:
P4 2.8E, Abit AI7 and a good cooler - 250MHz FSB easy - 3.5GHz.
AMD:
AMD 64+ 3000 and a good board will be a bit more than 300 but I wouldn't recommend anything less. Some like the mobile barton 2400+ which overclocks well, but I don't think it would be faster than a 3.5GHz P4....

Either way, any of those combos will be held back by your video card for Fay Cry.

Thanks. Is an AI7 better than an IC-7 (the non-G version) or a P4P800 for a P4 2.8E?

Also, which do people think would be faster for gaming: a P4 2.8E @ 3.5GHz or an Athlon 3000+ @ 2.4Ghz (or thereabouts)?

Recommendations for heatsinks (including stock) also now being accepted ... Zalman CNPS7000-Cu? Thermalright SLK-948(U)? Thanks!