what's the fastest CPU in town

[ohbehave]

i am looking to update my PC and need to know the following:

whats the fastest CPU in town?
what mother board what i need to run it.

hey if some one can help me with full details, that would be great.


i have at the moment 2X 30 GB 100 harddrives and 1 120GB harddrive.

 

[1nteger]

Current top end cpu's + mobo's would, I guess, be...

Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz (+ hyperthreading) at around £500 (less if you buy OEM, more if you buy retail...and something like the Asus P4T-533C mobo at around £120.

Or for AMD...
Athlon 'Barton' XP3000 +333FSB (retail at around £480)...

...but this is all silly money m8 !!

Why spend nearly £500 for a pent 3GHz when a 2GHz only costs around £150 ?

Why buy a Barton AMD (that's only just released) at over £400 when a tried and tested XP2100 costs under a ton?

If you want best bang for your bucks, i'd suggest one of the following combos:

Intel Pentium 4 'Northwood' 2.66BGHz (Retail box at £200) and something like the 845E mobo at £100.

Or:

AthlonXP 2700+ (in the £200 area) and say the A7N8X mobo at another £120. (This is the one I'd probably go for if i was buying now)

Shop around on the web of course for lowest prices...I don't know what they are if you're in the US tho! By the time you've read this, prices will all have tumbled again probably. :spin:

I'm sure someone will give you completely different advice and that'll really confuse you.

 

[Eric Portelance]

I'd also say the P4 3.06 (HT) but with the AXP 3000+ in close second. Depends on the applications you use. Either way, you can't go wrong, but I'd go AMD for the price.

 

[muckshifter]

Build from the foundation up ...

One of the fastest MB is the Asus nForce 2 (AMD CPU) ... MSI's n2 comes in a good second choice ... with that in mind, build your system around it.

Without a good foundation you'll sink.

 

[hmmm]

msi is cheaper, but i would say get the asus A7N8X Deluxe. It benchmarks the highest, has 2 network controllers, and really nice ondorad sound. for cpu i think a 2500+ would be cheap and fast. i say this over intel because of price mainly, i say intels only at their best with pc1066 rambus, but u prob dont wanna spend that much