asked on

Which CPU to buy?

I don't have enough money for a P III, but I am confused about the less powerful alternatives:

AMD
P II
Celeron

Which is the best CPU for the money, everything else being equal?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

cyderpunk

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Tom Knowlton

ASKER

Cyderpunk:

I think your comments are very good. I will probably give you the points, but let's have a few more posts so I can get viewpoints from all sides.

Tom

bekaye

Each of the chips have strengths and weaknesses. If money is not a factor, go Athlon, as fast as you can get it.

However, the best bank for the buck, celeron, hands down. Look at the U.S. prices:

Athlon 500 @ $183
PIII 500 @ $217
PII 450 @ $147
Celeron 466 @ $80

with an Abit bm6 ($80) and its softmenu functions, you can easily overclock the C466 to 525, 569, or (maybe) faster (I had one post at 608!).

as to p2 vs. celeron, there is so little difference in the throughput, the money factor says Celeron, no contest.

cyderpunk

It's also worth considering the chipsets, I won't be popular for saying this but some people have had trouble with AMD boards and generally the intels are more stable.

You know what to do - get the Celeron!

galileo22

Well...

It is hard to compete with the clear win ($$) Celeron, but you might lose out in the long-run... If you would like to leave the door open for up-grades the Celeron chipset does not allow the new Slot1 that the PII and P3 come with...

So a few dollars more now for the PII (Slot1) might let you up the CPU down the road.

Gal

Tom Knowlton

ASKER

Thanks!