should I buy a duron or an athalon?

[uz2b_smart]

should I buy a duron or athalon cpu for my system?
it is a socket 'A' MB. with FSB of 100mhz or 133 mhz
depending upon which jumper you set it to. Im thinking
that I could go up to a 900 mhz athalon and keep the FSB
jumper at 100. I have pc133 ram. I dont have any DDR ram
and if I get one of those 1.2 ghz processors I guess I would
not be able to use my pc133 ram with it. Basically, I just want
a pretty stable system.. SO, what would you guys reccommend.


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why does this &#@! always happen to me??

[sea69]

most definitely, go with the Athlon.

keep it @ 100, (this effectively gives you a 200FSB)

because of the athlons smaller (but faster) L2 cache.



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sea1_69@hotmail.com

homepage (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/3.html)


;)~

[ranchdog]

As sea has stated the Athlon(T-Bird) is the real-deal. If your choice is to leave the 100/133 jumper set at 100... Look for a CPU that is listed as 200fsb. 950MHz and below are such. 1Gig, 1.1Gig, 1.2Gig CPU's are also made in the 200fsb flavor. The jumper set at 100 will effectively be increased to 200 when it reaches the processor. I saw the price for a 1Gig Athlon was $83 bucks at PriceWatch. Now that's a deal. Also, the 1.2Gig will work with your PC133 RAM. Which Mboard are we talking about here? Curious.

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[This message has been edited by ranchdog (edited 08-06-2001).]

[uz2b_smart]

I have a 1stMotherboard AZ31 with via vt8363 chip, this is the one that requires jumper setting for 100 or 133 fsb.
I also have an amptron K7VAVZA with a via vt 8363 chip. this one does not have any jumper.
both boards say the will support athlon 200mhz fsb.
I am leaning to purchase the 1gz athlon cpu "C" which can use the 266 fsb but will this CPU work with these boards??


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why does this &#@! always happen to me??

[andreadebiase]

Another things you might want to consider is you case. Be sure is well ventilated and with two fans so that you can dissipate the heat produced by an Athlon. If you have a desktop case or just one fan buy another fan or change case........OR go for a Duron, an Athlon might overheat the system resulting in an overall speed decrease (I think electrons move slower at higher temperatures) not to mention a system damage as the worst case scenario.


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#!@$*%.....just format the damn C:

[sea69]

as andrea points out the cooling is of extreme importance with an Athlon (T-Bird) processor.

so get one, and make sure to get proper cooling/fans.

there (IMO) is a BIG difference between that and the duron.

the Athlon gives you the advantage of using the smaller (faster) L2 cache- which uses both cycles of your disk. full speed ahead..lol


this is the 100 x 2 FSB advantage.


for very little more than you pay for a duron, you can get the T-Bird.

I would go for the gig Athlon and keep the memory you have, not worry right now about ddr, unless you have allot of $$ to spend.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif


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sea1_69@hotmail.com

homepage (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/3.html)




[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 08-10-2001).]

[ranchdog]

The 266fsb chip will work with your AZ31. The 100/133 jumper will need to be set at 133. Then you'll have to go into BIOS (CMOS) and set your RAM at 1+33. So that your memory hums at 133MHz. Luck.

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[iisbob]

definatly go Athlon, don't cripple your system unecessarily. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Set the Frontside bus to 266 ( 133*2 ) to take advantage of the processing speed offered by the newest athlons; and as ranchdog suggested set your memory to H+33 to get the full benefit from the standard PC133 SDRAM modules.

The worst thing you can do to this sytem is to have inadequate cooling, make sure you use a good fan/heatsink combo ( i lean towards the Global win fan series myself ) but do not skimp when it comes to cooling, or you'll find yourself with one very expensive doorstop!!
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

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iisbob
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

[uz2b_smart]

ok, I get it. Go with the athalon processor. "C" the 266 mhz fsb and set my az31 jumper for 133, then set up the ram for 133. I guess the final question is whether there is much of a difference between the 1.0 ghz and 1.2 or better athalon. #1 we play a lot of 3d games. #2 I use adobe premeire for video processing(which renders slowly on my older k-6 500). I am hoping for a nice increase in speed for both types of applications. I have a S3 savage 2000 64mb video card I can use, but if another card would match the processor better, I would be willing to go out and get it.
thanks


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why does this &#@! always happen to me??

[Rick]

If you intend to do Video work with this new system.
Get the fastest CPU you can afford !!
And lots of Ram

You may not see the differences in a 1.ghz and 1.2 ghz in games.
But In Video editor you will see the difference

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To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !