![](/Content/images/logo2.png)
Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1460
Price Guides September 2004: CPU and Motherboards
by Adam Rader on September 3, 2004 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Introduction
Welcome back for another edition of the Price Guides. This week has been a rather quiet one as prices for processors and motherboards gradually leveled out and waves from new sockets from AMD and Intel subside a bit. With new standards, such as PCIe and SATA, having been available for a while, it seems that the kid-in-a-candy-store effect is wearing off and we are able to look more closely at what hardware options really provide the best bang for your hard-earned buck. While it is often tempting to jump on the latest and greatest, we will compare some of the new kids on the block to the tried and true to see if the price of early adoption is really worth it at the present time.One thing that you will notice in this guide is the lack of any recommendations for boards sporting PCI Express slots. This isn't because the technology is bad, by any means. This is due to the fact that there are so few add-in cards available yet for the interface, and because it's difficult to justify the technology right now, since even graphics cards have yet to stress the AGP 8X interface that is currently the standard. In short, PCIe is still one of those things that are nice to have, but far from necessary at the current time.
The same holds true for DDR2 memory right now. Until DDR2 ramps up the speed a bit more to counteract the higher latencies, it really doesn't serve much purpose in the desktop world. Beyond that, the prices are not worth it yet, since even DDR1 memory is a bit pricey these days. Unfortunately, DDR1 is not so pricey so as to make DDR2 much more appealing.
AMD Processors
Processors, being the core of any PC, are one item that is worth scrutinizing when it comes time to make a purchase or upgrade. Currently, AMD still holds the price:performance crown when compared to offerings from their only real competitor, Intel. In cases where video encoding performance is not the deciding factor for your purchase, AMD takes the cake and maintains very solid gaming and desktop application performance.This week, there are two chips from AMD worth considering. The first is the Athlon XP 2600+. Prices for AMD's Athlon XP lineup have been something of a rollercoaster ride lately with the price changes that AMD has been making to help introduce their A64 offerings. Nonetheless, the AXP still remains a good choice for most users. More than enough power for office and productivity applications, along with enough horsepower for gaming, the Athlon XP 2600+ from MWave is this week's best option for 32-bit purchases. This chip is also based on the same Barton core as the famed 2500+, which means that it overclocks very well too when paired with a quality motherboard.
If you're itching to try out the 64-bit edition of Windows XP, or just want to future-proof your rig for a bit longer, the Athlon 64 3200+ (Newcastle) continues its worthiness. The Newcastle version gains the top spot due to its lower price point. The smaller cache, 512KB vs. 1MB on the Clawhammer, is ofset very well by the added clock speed which is 2.2GHz. Even though it uses a socket 754 interface, this does not mean that it is obsolete yet. Socket 754 still has a good bit of time left in the marketplace and as long as the prices remain as low as they are now, or lower, it should be considered as an option when shopping around. With prices this low, there aren't too many reasons why, aside from A64 vs. AXP price-only comparisons, not to pick one up.
Intel Processors
While AMD may hold the crown right now for price:performance comparisons, Intel is still not to be dismissed. Intel still maintains the best performance for encoding and many mathematical/scientific applications. There's a reason why Intel maintains an overwhelming share of the CPU market.On that note, Intel prices have indeed come down quite a bit in the past few weeks on some of their higher-end models. This week's Intel pick goes to the Intel Pentium 4 (478) 3.0GHz 800FSB 1MB from E-Wiz. This is the first time that we have seen a chip from Intel clocked at or above 3GHz come to this price and stay here, for any useful period of time, which is definitely a good sign and should help boost competition just a bit more between the two major players in the CPU industry. This chip alone is helping to close the gap with AMD when it comes to price and it will be interesting to see if this trend continues.
AMD NVIDIA Motherboards
From a 32-bit perspective, Abit's NF7-S Rev. 2 continues to be a favorite among overclockers and value-minded buyers alike. This board has only gone down in price over the last year and continues to provide the same rock-solid stability and overclocking abilities that we have become used to from Abit. Throw in the fact that this board, and its derivatives, have been around for a while and you have a tried-and-true board that won't let you down.If you're going with an A64 chip this time around, then look no further than the MSI nForce3 Pro 250 K8N Neo Platinum. This socket 754 board is known to be a great overclocker, capable of running in a stable and full-featured manner. Being one of the very few boards on the market to possess a fully working AGP lock helps immensely to those of us who would choose to overclock. Onboard GB LAN, SATA support, and 8-channel sound work to round out the overall package from MSI.
AMD VIA Motherboards
This week, we have to give Asus and Via credit yet again for creating the K8V SE Deluxe. For a price not far from MSI's K8N Neo Platinum, Asus creates a viable place to set your new A64 chip using Via's K8T800 chipset. Still, the only motherboard that we are aware of which sports the Marvell VCT, or Virtual Cable Tester, the other features of this board (such as plenty of storage interfaces, GB lan and firewire) all come together to give great bang for the buck. While not as capable as some nForce3 chipset motherboards when it comes to overclocking, the Via chipset provides just as much stability and stock speed as one would expect from a high-end A64-based machine.Intel Motherboards
When a single manufacturer produces a matching processor and chipset, compatibility and performance are two keywords that come to mind. Intel has been in this position for quite some time and has continued to do a great job in this area.With Socket 775 boards hitting the market in full force, many sporting PCIe and DDR2 in addition to all the regular bells and whistles, it's easy to jump right on board without much thought. While these features will definitely become the standard in the near future, they do not present any compelling reasons to change your motherboard, processor and RAM all in one shot. Unless you are building a new system, socket 478 is more than enough, along with DDR1, to make for a very nice upgrade. Even in the case of building a new system, it's not entirely necessary to make the jump just yet, since overall system performance does not change much between the two "generations" of technology.
In the meantime, Abit's IC7-G 875P motherboard continues to hold the lead for Intel motherboard choices. At a relatively low price-point, the IC7-G comes fully loaded with optical SPDIF connections, SATA, GB lan, firewire, and a nice board layout that should prevent many cable routing issues that enthusiasts and system builders have come to despise. Of course, being an Abit board, the IC7-G is one of the best FSB overclockers that Anandtech has ever tested for the Intel platform.