What to buy for my new system...

[Jason86Z28]

I'm still debating going with AMD or Intel.

If I go with AMD its going to be an AMD 2600+ or an AMD Barton 2500+ with an Asus A7N8X mobo.

What's the performance difference between the 2600+ & Barton 2500+?

If I were to go Intel, what would be equivalent, as far as chip performance and mobo goes? What kind of difference in price are we talking about?

Do the 2600+ or Barton 2500+ actually perform like a 2.6GHz P4? Does the 400MHz Intel bus make the Pentiums that much faster than the 333MHz AMD's?

 

[DX2Player]

Id go with an Intel since your aiming at the mid to upper end and AMD looses its price performance advantage there, but dont get a 400Mhz FSB one like the 2.6 get the 533Mhz (either 2.53 or 2.66). I would recomend either the Intel 850E or SiS 655 chipsets. Good motherboards with those chipset include Asus P4T533-C (Intel 850E), Asus P4T533* (Intel i850E), Gigabyte GA-8SQ800 (SiS 655), Asus P4SDX Deluxe (SiS 655). All about equal in speed (just about fastest things avalible). If you want the cheapest but still fast the stripped down GA-8SQ800 is about $110. But rest is really up to you, read around to make ultimate choice but hope this helps lead you in the right direction.


*Indicates best used by the slightly more adventerous since its uses the less widly used 32bit RDRAM (RIMM4200) vs the traditional 16bit PC1066, although is bit faster than 16bit. Its what I use

Edit: Oh and welcome to Anandtech

Oh and you inquiry about price differences, Newegg.com is an exelent place to buy parts online from heres a few links to different chip prices

Intel P4 2.66GHz = $230.50 Here
Intel P4 2.53GHz = $188.50 Here

AMD ATHLON XP 2600 = $246.00 Here