Computer advice...

[bakbek]

Hi all…

I'm having trouble deciding which way to go… I need a new motherboard and I'll take a new cpu along with it (the current mobo is dead!!! the system was P-4 2.4Ghz 533Mhz on Matrox mobo with 1gig RAM GForce MX-440... i'll keep the memory chips for now)

The options are

AMD Athlon XP 2800 on an ABIT NF7-S mobo and GForce FX 5200 128mb DVI TV (this option comes with TITAN copper fan on the cpu... but i don't how good this is) – for 328$

Or

Intel P-4 3.0Ghz 1MB Presscot on an Intel Rocklake 865 Chipset and GForce FX 5200 128mb DVI TV – for 450$

I really don't know a thing about the AMD… I've had only Intel for many years, so the important question is how does this Athlon standup, or what is it's equal in the Intel CPU line?

I know now that I want a better graphics card, I have the 5200 on my second box (P-4 2.8Ghz no HT with 768mb RAM Gigabyte mobo) and things work slow on the viewport with many 3d softwares. How high should my aim be if my budget is around 500$ total for this upgrade.

MY MAIN DILEMA IS AMD vs INTEL… please help me with this one.

Many thanks
Bakbek.

[plastic_]

well the intel version wil be quite faster, especially for max/vray.

[ihavenofish]

those 2 systems would likely be around the same over all speed (each one being faster to render in one or another scene)

so its really a toss up. (theres a thread in the general section from someone who kindly benchmarked his farm) if youd like to see some numbers.

based on the price alone, if i were limited in budget, i'd get the AMD setup, and ditch the geforce 5200 for at least a 5600/5700 card (or ATI equivelant) you will notice it FAR more than any small cpu speed increase.

good luck