AMD Atholns, any issues ?

[Skitzo]

Hi,

I'll try and keep this simple, for a while I have been preparing to get some upgrades to my PC (well near enough build a new one), for the majority of the time I was planning on getting a Pentium III. Someone I know has just got a new AMD T-Bird system (800Mhz I think) and he says that it is very very speedy, now being a hardcore Intel fan I sort of dismissed it, but after looking at some reviews and benchmarks it seems that the AMD is just as good (if not better) than a Pentium III of the same speed, but the main advantage to me is the lower price.

Now the one I would plan to get would be the 1Ghz Socket A, now I need to know first if there are any isses (performance/compatability) with the AMD chips themselves. Secondly, what motherboard would be a good choice... I have been told the A-Bit KT7 is good (at the moment I would get the KT7-Raid one) as it has all the featuers I want, plus being able to hold quite a lot of hardware. I have heard though, that there are some issues with certain graphics cards and VIA chipsets (I am planning on either getting a Geforce II GTS 64Mb or a ATI Radeon VIVO 64Mb), is this ture, if so what cards would be affected or what fixes are avaliable ?

Finally I've got 256Mb of PC-100 RAM, now I am sure I would need to buy some new stuff to get full performance (I have been told this too) so would there be any problems running a 256Mb PC-133 DIMM in it ? (seriously doubtful, but still it's safter to check first ;) ).

Any help/comments/information/advics will be much apreciated,

Cheers,

Skitzo.

[Rigo]

first off the tbirds are faster than a p3 of equivalent speed but the main advantage is how much cheaper they are.

The best board to run a tbird on atm is Abit KT7-RAID as you say.

I know of no problems with gfx cards and this mobo but of course you do get the occasional one. I would make sure you have a 300W PSU if you're planning on putting in a lot of stuff.

I would recommend the Geforce 2 GTS over the radeon and maybe, if you have the money, a geforce 2 Ultra which will be out soon.

Your current RAM will work but it is only PC100 and PC133 would definately improve your memory bandwidth. I'd go for some from here http://www.crucial.com/uk

[Tommy2Thumbs]

Try http://www.AMDZone.com forums for info on mobos and the like and http://www.rage3d.com forums for good advice on Radeon cards.

Tommy2Thumbs :fett:

[hurricane hicken]

Personally, I would wait about 6 weeks,as newer boards are being manufactured about now, which include support for DDR memory. DDR will be available at virtually the same price as SDRAM, but with twice the bandwidth. So if you decide to replace the PC100 as you say you will, you'll get a big boost.

Any boost will be seen more on the higher speed Athlons as they run at a bigger multiple of the system bus, which will tend to be starved of data. Durons will also benefit a lot, as they are short of cache, which is there to cover the lack of memory speed compared to the CPU.

[Biggus]

Also, there will be more price cuts next month too :)

[Skitzo]

Cheers for all the help, much appreciated :) . I will hold on a few more weeks before I decide (for the price cuts and to see how this DDR thing comes along.

Looks like I'll be getting an Athlon though ;)

[Fragchild]

The current DDR prices are for the slower PC1600(100 DDR), the memory to get would be the PC2100(133 DDR) but that is around $200 for 64MB.

[Skitzo]

That seems pretty expensive, considering I could get a 133Mhz 256Mb DIMM for around £200, so it has a long way to fall before I consider it then :)

[Rigo]

Originally posted by Fragchild
The current DDR prices are for the slower PC1600(100 DDR), the memory to get would be the PC2100(133 DDR) but that is around $200 for 64MB.

sorry to disagree m8 but crucial are selling 64Mb of PC2100 DDR RAM for $90! http://www.crucial.com/uk

[Fragchild]

So they are, its been some time since I checked. When they first came out they were $200.
All we need now is the mobo's to put them in. :E

[Rigo]

yep, that's what i'm waiting for now. Come Abit, i have some money and i really want to give it to you, but..........:)

[Skitzo]

Well maybe that DDR is affordable after all, just have to wait for the motherboard avaliability, and then they may be pretty expensive :{ .

Any ideas on when they will be out ?

[Fragchild]

October or November most likely, I would think they will be a little pricey though as Athlon mobos are already expensive, and these will be brand new and with some new features.
:monster:

[Rigo]

that could be the reason the RAM is so cheap so that the price of it and the mobo will even out to an acceptable level.

[Fragchild]

That may be, but VIA and Intel are making mobo's for the P3 that also use DDR SDRAM.
The reason that it is cheap is that the production lines in the factories haven't had to be altered too much to accomodate it as it still uses the basic technology unlike RDRAM.

[hurricane hicken]

What Frag says about the small differences between SDRAM and DDR is right. The actual chips on the stick are similar, but it's the way they talk to the chipset that's different, and that's where SDRAM is limited on speed, making sure that all 64 bits arrive at the same time. The actual silicon can work at much faster speed, which is why RDRAM can work at 800MHz, but only transfers 16 bits at a time. At least, that how it was explained to me.

I've also seen the spec of an IWILL M/B and that looks like it will be pricey, as it comes with a raid controller, and it should be launched at the beginning of October.

[Rigo]

http://www.anandtech.com have a preview of an AMD760 board and it looks pretty cool. Abit are supposed to be producing the KG7 and KG7-RAID by december, a board based on AMD760 chipset. ALi are supposed to be one of the first DDR chipsets to become available.

I beleive VIA are just making chipsets for intel now and not AMD, well DDR boards at least.

[Fragchild]

Yes thats true, most likely because Intel didn't sue them for patent infringment like they did to AMD, so they could get DDR mobo's out quickly.
:monster:

[hurricane hicken]

Another reason Via will bring out the DDR chipset for Intel first is that Intel, because of their contract with Rambus, are unable to produce DDR chipsets. As Rambus memory is still priced way above DDR prices, Intel sytems will be even less cost efficient. SO when they sued VIA, they only wanted them to stop making the Athlon chipsets, because Intel actually want Via to make DDR chipsets.

The idea is to knobble Athlon sales due to lack of chipsets, increase sales of Intels CPUs as DDR will be cheaper than Rambus, if anyone wants a low end system they can use an Intel chipset.

So Intels great plan is, if we can't beat 'em, sue 'em.