What to buy

[H&h]

Now I am sooooo confused.I still don't know is Athlon better than P4 in gaming.

Athlon XP 512kb,L2,Barton,333mhz

vs.

CPU Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz 512KB Cache, 478-pin BUS 800 MHz BOX

or

CPU Intel Pentium 4 2.53 GHz 512KB Cache, 478-pin BUS 533 MHz BOX

or

CPU Intel Pentium 4 2.6 GHz 512KB Cache, 478-pin BUS 800 MHz BOX

Please help me out.Just want a processor that is best in gaming from this list.

[Darthgary]

The best CPU for gaming in the list is the 2.6 Ghz 800 FSB, on stock HSF that 2.6 will reach 2.9 to 3.0 Ghz.

If I was you I would just buy the 2.4 800 FSB and OC to 2.8. Its much cheaper to, but if your out to save money then the Barton 2500+ will do fine in games.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...116-157&DEPA=1

[WingWizard]

buy the 2.4c; average overclocks are between 3.2-3.4; i'm at 3.4 myself.

[Darthgary]

I agree, go with the 2.4C.

[blackie]

definitely choose the 2.4c. pair it with good DDR and 3ghz should be easy..

cuz it has a lower multiplier, so i believe its a better choice than the 2.6, 2.8c etc.. and its cheaper..

you'll be able to get like 1000fsb off it, and that is alll good.

But if you wanted to save money get an nForce 2 mobo with a Barton 2500+ cpu, cheap as, and pretty quick.. but cant o/c by too much.

[Darthgary]

You can OC pretty well with the barton 2500, but I can stand how people OC their bartons and say cool now its a 3200+ lol assuming it would run better then a P4 3.2 C LOL!!

If you want to save money then the Barton is the best decision, if your ackin for performance then get teh 2.4 C.

[beppodmime]

I'd stay away from the 533 MHz FSB P4's with the 800 MHz ones out now, you're going to see better overall system performance with an 800 MHz FSB system. If you're not planning on overclocking, and could use the additional money elsewhere in the system, then you're probably going to want to go with the 2500+ Barton. Grab yourself some good RAM, and a good nForce2 board and you should be set. If you have the money to spend on the system, then going with a P4 2.6C on a good quality Intel 865PE or 875P motherboard may be what you want.

This is all assuming you won't be overclocking any, or won't be doing MUCH overclocking. Either way, with a good video card you'd probably be set to game for some time to come.

[Urban_Squrill]

I personaly would go with AMD. But the new p4's are really nice(for intel's) That 800Mhz damn

[dr_roberts49]

Deja vu! I was in this exact position a little over a week ago. I went with the Intel P4 2.4C Ghz and the ABIT IS7 board with dual Corsairs for 512 MB. I expect it to arrive today. What a difference a week will make

Robert

[DanGrease]

IMO most games will run fine in a 1.5 GHZ CPU, I think that if you want great game experience the Video Card is indeed more important than the processor. Many people want the best thing and buy those extremely expensive CPU's like the Intel 3.2 one. I would say to those people:
"What a waste of Money"
Not because its bad, its an extremely powerful CPU, because almost everything today runs fine with a 1.5 GHZ CPU. I f I was in that position I would spend the bucks in a cheaper CPU and the rest left spend it on something else (Like a Nice Video Card). H&h, can I ask you a question: What Video Card do you have?
If you are really wanting to buy a CPU from that list, I agree with most here, get the P4 2.4 800MHZ. Well, these are just my opinions, I myself have a nice PIII 1.4 GHZ running like a Porche! (But compared to the P4 2.4 it runs like a beetle! ) but for what I do I dont need a better CPU, its just fine for me.

dan