hardware advice?

[onelegout]

Hey! this isnt realy a modding question but more of a hardware question! I don't know much about hardware so I just wanted to check with people who (hopefuly!) know what theyre talking about...
With a 1.35ghz AMD athlon xp 1500+, 512mb ram, radeon 9100, I am in DESPERATE need of an upgrade. I was looking at the upgrade deals on www.komplett.co.uk and the highest AMD setup i can afford is this:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=314943&cks=PRL

But then I checked out the intel deals, and saw that the best I could afford
was this:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=314132&cks=PLS

So my first question is...Am I right in thinking that even though I am running an AMD system right now, I could install that intel upgrade deal and it would work with my other hardware that ive been using on the amd setup? (hard drives, graphics card etc.)

My second question is: which is better, the amd setup or the intel setup?
I see that the intel deal has a 3ghz processor wheras the AMD only has a 2ghz processor, so why is there only 10 quid difference between them?

This is all very confusing for me! I hope that I have posted this in the right place!
Thanks
H

[kramman]

k so thoes both look pretty good. but your video card is hella old if it is a PCI card you COULD use it but it would be a major bottle neck in either of thoes systems. depending on how old your system is the PSU may work. Hard drive CD-rom drives would definately work. but if the hard drive is old its most likely going to be a slow hard drive and thats going to be another bottleneck in the system. would spend the money for a newer HD with a little more space and buy at least a Radeon 9600. the radeon will play newer games... just all probably on med to low settings. but i just realized that it has a PCI-X instead of AGP sooooo 9600 is out of the question. ATI has a mid grade line of PCI-X cards that you could pic up for cheep. a lower end card like an ATI X300 runs about $50. over all i could see you running that set up just the video card makes me cringe.


oh yeah umm AMD or Intel... a battle for the ages. i didnt look to indepth at them as far as the speed of the RAM but both processors are in the same ballpark. AMD has processors that benchmark usually better than Intells. but then again Intel has the clock speeds. like compairing a Porsche to a Mustang. porsche has great handeling but mustang has pure power.(ok i know a porsche would beat a mustang any day but it was the first thing to come to mind)

mark@coolguysquad.com

[onelegout]

hey thanks so much for the advice, i am planning on upgrading my graphics card with the money i get for christmas if a radeon 9600 wont work on that intel system then will my current card (9100) work on it?

I have a new 40gb hard drive that my mate gave me for free (although it failed earlier this week, taking a whole 60gb spannned volume with it )
cheers
H

[kramman]

well the 9600 wont work with either of them unless its a PCI card but dont waste the money on that just start out with like an X300 PCI-X card it will most likely run faster than the 9600. just do some research on some PCI-X cards that are in your price range and get one of thoes.

[onelegout]

aah no what I mean is, will my radeon 9100 that i already have work on that intel deal motherboard?

[public_eyesore]

ok, if it is a pci it will work on both boards. What people are trying to say is that you need a pci or pci express video card, agp WILL NOT WORK. The 9600 is probably agp.

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=307700&cks=SPK -64
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=307202&cks=PRL -110
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=304395&cks=PRL -72

total: 246

i suggest getting these, it is in your budget, but that site seems a bit expensive.

[onelegout]

ok thanks,
well thats pissed me off. my current card is an agp card and I cant afford a new one yet so im going to shop around and see what else i can get
Thanks
H

[public_eyesore]

there are amd boards that support both agp and pci-e, but im too lazy to find them on a uk site. They arnt the best of mobos, but they are better than what you have. If i was you and really wanted to upgrade, i would look into this.

[TheChef]

if it is a PCI card you COULD use it but it would be a major bottle neck in either of thoes systems.

Very true, I'd probably step down to a Venice 3000 and a different motherboard and get an upgrade of a video card too.

depending on how old your system is the PSU may work.

Probably won't. Even if he bought the PSU both of the mobo/proc packs will suck up a lot of juice. Upgrading suddenly becomes very expensive.

but i just realized that it has a PCI-X instead of AGP sooooo 9600 is out of the question.

The x600 is the PCI-E equivalent.

AMD has processors that benchmark usually better than Intells. but then again Intel has the clock speeds.

No. AMDs and Intels benchmark purely on which is the better processor. One doesn't do "better" than the other. The faster processor wins. Intel has faster clock speeds because of a completely different architecture. AMD's architecture allows the processor to get more done in fewer cycles, thus allowing a lower clock speed. So clockspeed means nothign in this battle. AMD is better for gaming and Intel is better for multitasking, in a very condensed version.

like compairing a Porsche to a Mustang. porsche has great handeling but mustang has pure power.(ok i know a porsche would beat a mustang any day but it was the first thing to come to mind)

Who's the Porsche and who's the Mustang?


In my opinion the AMD kit will provide more performance.

[onelegout]

Firstly thankyou all for your advice.
Here is my plan:
1. borrow money off parents. ( )

2. Buy:
Intel Pentium 4 BTX 630 Socket 775 3.0GHz 2MB EM64T
Gigabyte GA - 8S648FX - 755 Socket 775 SiS 648FX AGP 8x ATX
Corsair Memory VS512MB400 PC3200 512MB CAS2.5
(I plan to run it with the 512mb of pc2700 ram that I already have, so that will give me 1gb, i will upgrade my pc2700 ram to PC3200 when I have the money)

3. Get a nice graphics card for christmas from my rents.

Also someone said something about my psu, It says '300w max' on the side, is that good enough to run the new stuff?
Anyone see any problems?
Peace
H

P.S. I plan to buy this today, so if you know that something is wrong with it PLEASE tell me soon hahah