Which CPU would you get?

[Gradius]

Pentium 4 2.8 (800) or Ahtlon XP 3000 (333), for use only with MAME and ArcadeVGA. I have seen some pages with benchmarks, but not comparing these two cpus in particular. I wonder which one will get more fps with MAME. Please help me decide.

[blue]

bigger better faster...
i'd go with the AMD, but i personally am not too keen on Intel.... but i think the intel chip is a touch faster....

[zaphod]

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=14155

Either would be fine.

[DaveJ-UK]

Pay the extra few $ for an Intel chip. It will last ten times longer and you'll get a 3yr warranty if you buy new.

[zaphod]

Pay the extra few $ for an Intel chip. It will last ten times longer and you'll get a 3yr warranty if you buy new.

AMD's also have 3-yr warranties and I have a 7 yo AMD chip running just fine still.  In fact, I have five machines with AMD and love them all.  I strongly disagree with your "ten times longer" remark.  I think the Athlon and the Pentium are pretty equal for longevity.

[Tiger-Heli]

Pay the extra few $ for an Intel chip. It will last ten times longer and you'll get a 3yr warranty if you buy new.

Personally, I like the AMD for about $30 less.  You get a 3yr warranty with it too if you buy the retail and not the OEM version (and dont crack the core installing it - - - .

[blue]

Personally, I like the AMD for about $30 less.  You get a 3yr warranty with it too if you buy the retail and not the OEM version (and dont crack the core installing it - - - .

I did that once... thankfully it was only a $50 oem chip...  
And yes i have a 3yr Wr. with my AMD also.

[Warborg]

Pay the extra few $ for an Intel chip. It will last ten times longer and you'll get a 3yr warranty if you buy new.

That's about an ignorant statement...  I've been running AMD systems solidly for years, overclocking and all without issue, as well as many people I know.

[pointdablame]

Pay the extra few $ for an Intel chip. It will last ten times longer and you'll get a 3yr warranty if you buy new.

That is an absurd comment, but then again, you didn't actually give anyone any "information" either, so I'll chock that one up to fanboyism.

I've built a lot of Athlon systems lately, so I'm admitedly a bit biased, but I do think that they are quite a bargain.  You get comparable speed and performance for a lower price with AMD.  Also, I've found the newer AthlonXPs to be great overclockers.  If you really wanted, grab yourself a MOBILE AthlonXP 2500+.  You can be almost 100% certain that it will overclock to 3200+ speeds with no problems, and very good temperatures.  You really can't beat that for the price, and you'll more than likely end up with 3200+ speeds or better.

There is nothing wrong with Intel CPUs. They are very stable and you'll do fine with one as well.  You asked for opinions however, and I'd have to say go AMD.  You won't be making any real compromises, and you'll be saving money that can be put back into the cab

[dabone]

I work for a computer distributor and the difference is not with the cpus.
(Both are good) but the quality of the motherboards.
I use Intel cpus on Intel motherboards, we sell a few hundred a month and over the past few years I'd say that AMD mb's (Abit, asus, msi, gigabyte, ecs, and other misc ones) have about a 10X more failure rate than the actual intel boards. Now the cpus have been about equal.
It just seems that the asian mb makers cut every corner they can.
(I.E. remember the caps on the motherboards that started failing in huge numbers? It's because the mb makers bought from a company that was making sub standard componets) This little fiasco cost my company thousands of dollars in warranty. (We give 2 years on all systems, but the boards only have a 1 year)


Also if you get a real intel mb it has a 3 year warranty also.



Just my 2 cents.

And I've been in computer reselling for 16 years, so this is not just a newbie talking about working at bestbuy.

Later,
dabone

[Yander]

I wold get the AMD chip.

Pay the extra few $ for an Intel chip. It will last ten times longer and you'll get a 3yr warranty if you buy new.

That is crazy talk. Infact intel is currently using some of AMD's techonolgy for 64 bit proccesers and intel has currently hit a wall with some of their proccesers. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/173750_intelchips18.html

[Minwah]

I like both, have an Athlon in this machine and P4 in my cab.  I have a soft spot for AMD but I went for P4 in my cab as I believe they tend to run cooler, ie less cooling required.

There were some benchmarks posted somewhere recently, which showed each manufacturer 'winning' for differing games in MAME (sorry don't have the link )

[rchadd]

Go AMD 2x00+ and overclock

[maraxle]

Personally, if the price is comparable, I'd use an Intel chip when putting it in a cabinet, simply because I don't want to invest in giant heatsinks or extra fans.  You can fry an egg on an AMD!

[paigeoliver]

Wow, a lot of comments.

First off, I have some decade old AMD hardware that is STILL kicking it.

Secondly, I have every dead motherboard/processor I have sitting in my closet (4 of them at last count) is Intel hardware.

Third off, overclocking the computer used in your Mame cabinet is silliness. The fact is this, once that Mame cabinet is DONE, then it might very well be around for 10 or 20 years, and there is no reason to do anything that would accelerate the death of the hardware, especially since it is just silliness, since Mame games basically fall into three categorys, stuff that will run on a 700 mhz pc (basically everything), stuff that won't run full speed on anything (50 games or so), and stuff that isn't properly emulated which must somehow be mentioned (I am not sure why, ask Howard Casto).

[maraxle]

Secondly, I have every dead motherboard/processor I have sitting in my closet (4 of them at last count) is Intel hardware.

Well, I have plenty of decade(+) old Intel hardware that works fine.  My P100 is still around, and last I heard, so's my 486-SX 25mhz machine.  The only dead board I have is a VIA Mini-ITX that got struck by lightning.  Actually, even that one kind of works.  Just the onboard sound, LAN, and possibly USB/Serial/Parallel ports don't work (haven't tested the ports).

[paigeoliver]

Oh, most of my decade old Intel hardware works too. Only really old dead intel hardware I have is my Tournament Solitaire mother board (fanless, diskless, 386 based, died from battery acid damage), a 286 laptop, and a 486 laptop.

But, by comparison, ALL my AMD hardware still works regardless of age, and I have never had any AMD hardware fail on me (have lost power supplies in them, but that has nothing to do with Intel vs. AMD).

[Sylentwulf]

This is turning into a completely fanboy stupid flamewar type of post.

If either AMD or intel were blatantly better than the other one, the lesser of the 2 would not be in business anymore or would be SIGNIFICANTLY lower in price.

Get whatever one you want. They'll both perform GREAT.

[Magnet_Eye]

Both AMD and Intel are good. The thing is, most Intel fans are old skool and dedicated. Some years back AMD was not that solid. But today, they are very good. So, I think the guys that were around back in the day when Intel was better than AMD still hold tru to the intel flavor. But the truth is that AMD has come a long way and is giving Intel a run for their money. Big time.

AMD is actually on their way to surpassing Intel. (heard of the new compound in germany?)

Anyway, I think an AMD is a great choice for a mame cab. I am currently using one. An Athlon 1ghz that is 3 years old now.  

Best of luck to ya!  

[Oldskool]

The thing is, most Intel fans are old skool  

I take offense to that statement.  

On a serious note, I have two AMD XP2500 systems up and running, and I love them both.

Want bang for the buck? Buy AMD.

Even my old Cyrix 166 was a good buy over the equivalent Intel model.

[kahlid74]

All really depends on what you feel comfertable with.  Both systems work great, and both are reliable builds.  Some older games have known problems with AMD systems.  I know Shadow Run has failed on both AMD systems I own.

I bought a 50 dollar Asus board with a Athlon 2500+XP.  It works perfect.  

If you spend 100 or even 150 to 200 on the Motherboard it will last a lot longer, but remeber, this is an Arcade machine.  If you have the money, go for it.  But if money is of concern, get something you trust that has good online reviews and a warranty.  You should be set.

For the Arcade machine, AMD is cool, but for my main gaming machine, I go with nothing but Intel.  The wide varietey of Hardware and Software I use on my main machine requires full inter-operability, AMD just is not at that point yet.

[Buddabing]

Pentium 4 2.8 (800) or Ahtlon XP 3000 (333), for use only with MAME and ArcadeVGA. I have seen some pages with benchmarks, but not comparing these two cpus in particular. I wonder which one will get more fps with MAME. Please help me decide.

For price to performance, AMD is the clear winner, and has been for quite some time, ever since the Thunderbird Athlons came out.

I have two dead motherboards, one AMD and one Intel, so reliability has been roughly equal for me.

I glanced at pricewatch. The price for a P4 2.8 was $160, and the XP3000 was $114. I didn't price motherboards, but Socket A motherboards are typically less cheaper and are just as full-featured.

Personally, I would go with choice C, the Mobile Athlon 2500. They run with less voltage and thus are cooler. Heat can be a problem in an enclosed space like a cabinet. If you are into overclocking, these processors are great since they are multiplier unlocked.

Mobile Athlons were $94 on pricewatch.

Yet another choice would be to get an inexpensive motherboard/processor combo on Ebay. These combos are pretty cheap, I didn't price any but I'm guessing $120 or so. Get a motherboard that has everything except video, since you're going to use an ArcadeVGA.

[Edgedamage]

I got a cheapo ECS-L7VMM3 MB with pro2800 cpu it has onboard sound and vid and lan. There is no way  I would use this board for a AVI to MPEG grinder. But this board has played all mame games but the midway fighters start dropping frames. Also it has played every visual/pinmame table that I threw at it. It is my future mame cabinet MB. And all this goodness for $120.00

[DaveJ-UK]

Woa I didnt mean to start all this Intel Vs. AMD flaming!

I've worked building and repairing PCs for just over two years now. We actually have very few CPU's fail (both AMD and Intel), but when we do it is almost always AMDs. There was one occasion where a guy brought in an Athlon system which was just hanging randomly. I spent AGES fidling, reinstalled Windows, reseated CPU and memory, etc. We happened to have another Athlon in and I popped that in there. Left it over night and it was fine. A couple of weeks later the same guy brought in another identical system with the same problem. Again, swapped the CPU and it was fine.

We build about a dozen systems a week, mostly for small - medium business' and have only once in the two years I've been there had anything Intel broken(we only use Intel boards + CPU's) and that was a mobo damaged in transit.

Personally, I have only ever owned one AMD chip (which worked perfectly well - sold it still working) but I have never had an Intel chip fail.

I wasn't aware that AMD did offer a 3yr warranty; do they have 1yr on OEM like Intel?

How can you call me stupid and then go on to say you have four broken mobo's in your closet?

I think it is well worth getting a P4 for the sake of a few $. The P4 hs/fan is the best retail to be bundled with any CPU.

[Sylentwulf]

hs/fan combo's are pretty much worthless due to the heatsink compounds they use and the low price of a really GOOD heatsink/fan combo (My thermaltake spark 7 with temp controlled fan was around $25 I believe, plus $5 for a tube of arctic ceramique that will last forever)

[bionicbadger]

I'd buy the one that works out cheaper for Motherboard+cpu, if you already have a motherboard for one of those CPUs that you can use, then get the CPU for that.  Its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, same crap different pile.  It won't really make a big difference so you might as well get the one that costs less.

[rchadd]

for my cab i got new a Syntax motherboard and AMD duron 1800+ for

[Jawadali]

I'd buy the one that works out cheaper for Motherboard+cpu, if you already have a motherboard for one of those CPUs that you can use, then get the CPU for that.  Its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, same crap different pile.  It won't really make a big difference so you might as well get the one that costs less.

I agree. Buy whatever comes to a cheaper combo. With CPUs this fast, you won't notice a difference.

However, If you are going to be buying an AMD, I suggest you get an Athlon64 (either a 2800+ or a 3000+). These two low-end athlon64s are not that much more expensive than the Athlon XP, but perform significantly better (at least in modern PC games).

[joshbr7257]

for my cab i got new a Syntax motherboard and AMD duron 1800+ for

[nickbuol]

for my cab i got new a Syntax motherboard and AMD duron 1800+ for

[snedger]

Hello
Been considering building a small-height few inch high portable cocktail cabinet table top that I can move around. Probably won't happen if I can't find a TFT with sufficient viewing angle.
To make things small, quiet and power efficient I've been researching plopping mobile CPUs into a desktop build.
Intel appear to be quicker, but require a specific mobile mobo and for AMD Turion you can plop them on a lot of 754 socket mobos, oh, and they are 64 bit. When is the 64 bit version of mame going to be ready? And is anyone also working on a dual core version yet?
Much less cooling is required, which means almost no noise. According to some web articles, as long as a powerful graphics card is not used, then passive cooling should be possible. Although a casbinet fan is probably going to be needed and spoil the whole noiseless effect - just turn the speakers up!
Cheers
snedger

[thetered]

Let me ask a semi off topic question then, I just bought a AMD Sempron 2500 but my motherboard and windows identifies it as a 1000mhz AMD Athlon.

Is it supposed to say that?

[pointdablame]

Let me ask a semi off topic question then, I just bought a AMD Sempron 2500 but my motherboard and windows identifies it as a 1000mhz AMD Athlon.

Is it supposed to say that?

Sempron 2500+'s are supposed to be run at 1.75Ghz.

Your FSB and/or your Multipliers are set incorrectly in your BIOS.

[D10]

Let me ask a semi off topic question then, I just bought a AMD Sempron 2500 but my motherboard and windows identifies it as a 1000mhz AMD Athlon.

Is it supposed to say that?

Sempron 2500+'s are supposed to be run at 1.75Ghz.

Your FSB and/or your Multipliers are set incorrectly in your BIOS.

Or it could be a jumper setting on the board it self.

[pointdablame]

Let me ask a semi off topic question then, I just bought a AMD Sempron 2500 but my motherboard and windows identifies it as a 1000mhz AMD Athlon.

Is it supposed to say that?

Sempron 2500+'s are supposed to be run at 1.75Ghz.

Your FSB and/or your Multipliers are set incorrectly in your BIOS.

Or it could be a jumper setting on the board it self.

quite right... check your motherboard manual to make sure it's on the correct setting if there is in fact a jumper.

[Jawadali]

Let me ask a semi off topic question then, I just bought a AMD Sempron 2500 but my motherboard and windows identifies it as a 1000mhz AMD Athlon.

Is it supposed to say that?

Sempron 2500+'s are supposed to be run at 1.75Ghz.

Your FSB and/or your Multipliers are set incorrectly in your BIOS.

Or it could be a jumper setting on the board it self.

quite right... check your motherboard manual to make sure it's on the correct setting if there is in fact a jumper.

That will probably be the case if you have an older motehrboard (more than 3-4 years old).

If you have a recent motherboard (like 1-2 years old), go into the BIOS when the PC boots (you usually have to keep hitting "Delete" or "F2" or "F12"; it's defferent for each motehrboard), and there should be an option to "Load Optimized Defaults".

That Should set you to the right speed. The same thing happened when I installed my Athlon XP 2500+ for the first time; it's like a safety feature.

[krick]

If you buy an Intel CPU, go for a P4 with a "Northwood" core.

[Jawadali]

If you buy an Intel CPU, go for a P4 with a "Northwood" core.

[krick]

If you buy an AMD cpu, go for a "Venice" or "San Diego" core.

[USSEnterprise]

What about a G5? those are kinda fast, right? 

[Jawadali]

If you buy an AMD cpu, go for a "Venice" or "San Diego" core.