AMD @ 1.8Ghz

Here's my point. The 1.6A Northwood costs $138. It comes with a heatsink and fan (from Intel) that is EXTREMELY easy to attach (clips on+flip two retention arms, can't harm the die, and even if you somehow fuck it up [impossible], no harm will come to the cpu from overheating or anything like that). You can get a motherboard like mine (SiS645dx based) for $85, takes DDR and performs wonderfully [near the very top of the pack for DDR P4 mobos]. That's $223.

I'm sure you can get an equivalent motherboard for an AthlonXP for the same $85. You'll need an Alpha PAL8045 or something similar which will run you about $35 with a fan (which you have to screw onto the motherboard, plus you can crack the die if you're not somewhat careful, and if you leave any gap whatsoever between the die and the sink, your CPU will fry virtually instantly at power-on). That leaves $103 for the CPU, which will buy you an 1800+ OEM.

On Overclockers.com, out of 202 entries, the average overclock for a 1800+ is 1743mhz. Out of 200 entries for the 1.6A, the average overclock is 2411mhz. Also if you look in their database, many WATERCOOLED 1800+'s won't reach 1800mhz, while many ~2.4ghz 1.6As are running the retail/stock heatsink and fan!

Most tests will show you a P4 *Northwood* 2.4ghz (533mhz fsb, if your 1.6A hits 2.4 you'll be running a faster fsb speed) beating the new 2200+ Thoroughbred AthlonXP, which runs at 1800mhz (my roommate's 1800+ doesn't overclock anywhere near 1800mhz).

With the 1.6A for the same money you get roughly the same performance (often better) but with far less hassle and more peace of mind in terms of safety from physical damage to the die or overheating or anything like that.

Right now, the 1.6A is BY FAR the best value *IF* you are willing to overclock (which requires changing some settings in the BIOS.. no third party hs/(noisy)fan needed, no worries about overheating, etc.). The only exception is if the stuff you do uses the x87 fpu all the time, which the P4 sucks very horribly at. Games run great on the P4 as do most applications, and even some high-end stuff is starting to add SSE2 code (like Lightwave, for which the P4 is now extremely speedy) for P4s so they don't have to trip over shitty stack-based fp code.

Very un-impressive.

11.5x 166 = 1916 (true)mhz though, so the .13 micron 1800+ (apparently to be released also?) will be an ok overclock for 100$, beating the true 2200+ and coming in around the 2300+ mark.

but we have to wait for the cpu, and the ram, AND the board to do it.

think i'll stick with the duron thanks.

as long as amd can stay within 10% of the speed of intel's top performer, then they are doing just fine. when the hammer comes out, intel is going to be in trouble. i think they are ramping up the p4 way too fast to try to win back market share. i dont think 3ghz is even possible without a die shrink to .09u ... that wont happen till at LEAST q2 2k3.. most likely longer than that. they are forcing amd to accelerate hammer.. and that may be a big mistake for intel... only time will tell i guess.

Ho hum... I say that under $200 has my vote... I,and probably most of the hobbyists and enthusiasts, would agree that its too much to justify a 300-500 dollar expense on a cpu alone. At least in these times. I myself however, will be waiting till I see some 2.5-3ghz parts before I upgrade (or if doom3 comes out :P.

It amazes me how such a good review site such as Anandtech are running the Unreal 2003 benchmark in 1024x768 in 32 bit color. What the hell are they benchmarking? The video card or the sub-system? Clowns...

If I didn't know any better I'd say they don't want the AMD setup to look bad against the Intel setup. I'd still like to know the gap between them at the lowest settings.

I don't play FPS games with a monitor on a resolution that can't handle a minimum of 120 hz refresh. So 1024x768 for me is out of the question. Until I can find a cost effective monitor that can handle it. I'm such you Quake junkies know what I'm talking about :)

Do these run on KT266A mobos? Or do they need a BIOS update...

So shackstore.com explain how the "official" prices are always more than what consumers [and retailers such as yourself] pay?
http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2002q2/athlonxp-2200/index.x?pg=9

Always been curious about this. Obviously the vendors pay much much less to get their profit, but why do they even list those prices if neither consumers nor retailers nor System integrators ever pay that high of a price?

I was hoping AMD would switch to a 166/333 MHz FSB. The Athlon needs the extra memory bandwidth.

Think I'll hold out for a Barton Althon part, preferably running at 2.4Ghz or better. The Barton will have 512L2 Cache, otherwise it's the same chip as T-bred. Would contemplate waiting for the Clawhammer, but as MarksmanX pointed out it'll be awhile before 64bit apps make a solid appearance. And as an emerging technology, they're apt to be pretty damned proud of them price-wise when they first come out the gate.

Won't specualte on how long we'll have to wait for the creation of solid mainboards for (claw)Hammer. Anyone heard anything about them?

Linked from the <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/02q2/020610/index.html">Tom's Hardware review</a>, I noticed this url:
http://www12.tomshardware.com/images/THG_CPU_Cooling.zip

That's some funny stuff right there.

On a related note, I thought AMD was going to address their heat problems 'soon'?

Here's my attitude...I buy whatever gets me the most bang for the buck. THe fact that in the top of the line Intel might have an advantage doesn't mean jackshit to me. Until I can't run either brands newest processors in my mobo, I'll probably go for AMD...once I have to upgrade my mobo it could go either way. I was the same way with my Abit BH6...I went with Intel until there was no more upgrade room on my mobo and then I bought AMD because I could get more performance for the price with them.

adsfdafdsfdsa

Bathe it and bring it to me!

I'm not even looking at processors until Clawhammer comes out. After getting a chance to evaluate that, then I will be pack in the market for a new processor.

is this cooler than previous xp chips?

Too late, I already ordered a 1600+!

Bah, wouldn't have paid for it anywya.

Ok, I'll go ahead and summarize this entire thread:

"AMD r0x0rs, Intels sux0rz"
"Intel ownz j00, AMD sux"

the end

Cost effective is my 160 dollar 1.8a p4 northwood cpu overclocked to 2.69 stable with stock HSF. Benchmark against me on that AMD. Then again i have an XP 1900 sitting right next to it.

I thought this chip was going to be revolutionary in overclocking!

Do AMD chips still get over heated easily?

Sorry Ive had my head under a rock or something...

an Athlon XP 2200 doesnt mean an althon cpu running at 2.2Ghz? I always thought it was just the number of mhz in the PC - or is it just like a marketing name?

Of course this review hits today. I JUST ordered a 2100 last night. :)

Hrm...

Do these chips work with current mobos?

Without even trying :)