Sempron, any good? Also how does this sys spec look

[mattyp]

Having been out of the computing loop for a long time, I am a bit unsure as to whether this new setup is any good?

1 x Crucial 256 DDR333 PC3200 CL 2.5 DIMM £25.99
1 x Amd Sempron 2300+ 1.583ghz 256kb Cache 333fsb Retail Boxed £31.95
1 x PcChips KT400A SKT A AGP8x DDR400 LAN USB 2.0 Retail Box £20.45

(All plus vat)

It is just for one of the spare pc's and it will mainly be used for word processing , browsing the net and basic windows games

Is there anything better for little more £££?

I did look at XP based cpu's but they seem to be very rare now and quite expensive when you can find them!!

Thanks

[johnnr892]

If you look on ebyer.com, they still have some fairly cheap xp's.Thats where i got my xp2600 and thats pretty good. You might want to spend a little bit more on the motherboard though and get a better branded name like gigabyte, abit or asus? my gigabyte ga7s748-l cost me 33 inclu VAT:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=60092

I've been using it for about 3 months now and never had a problem with it and it would be easily good enough for what you need.

[sparky191]

mattyp - where are those prices from?

[mattyp]

If you look on ebyer.com, they still have some fairly cheap xp's.Thats where i got my xp2600 and thats pretty good. You might want to spend a little bit more on the motherboard though and get a better branded name like gigabyte, abit or asus? my gigabyte ga7s748-l cost me 33 inclu VAT:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=60092

I've been using it for about 3 months now and never had a problem with it and it would be easily good enough for what you need.

Thanks for the reply.

It looks like a xp 2200 would cost £37.75 + vat, then the hsf for about £5 + vat

So works out at about £11 + vat more for 100mhz less and considering the usage of the system, wouldnt the extra 100mhz but 256kb less cache be better to suited to the requirements?

With the mobo I have also been an Abit fan, always chucking in a £80-130 board, but as its only a spare system, I thought that the pc chips would be adequate.

This was the board I was looking at and it seems to be rated highly, even more so than the cheap asus/abit which was surprising

With regards to gigabyte, I had multiple doa's with a range of their motherboards and I must admit my view of the manufacturer, as a result has taken a beating.

Also isnt the via chipset in the mobo better than the sis chipset? (or is that just my outdated knowledge showing?)

[mattyp]

mattyp - where are those prices from?

They are from ebuyer, remember they are plus vat!

[sparky191]

They are from ebuyer, remember they are plus vat!

Thanks but do you mean they incl VAT?

[Furton]

Something like this would be better than using a PCChips mobo.

Asus A7V8X-X SKT A KT400 8x AGP DDR Sound lAN USB 2.0 Retail Box
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=49060

[mattyp]

Thanks but do you mean they incl VAT?

Sorry, nope you have to add the vat on!

[mattyp]

Something like this would be better than using a PCChips mobo.

Asus A7V8X-X SKT A KT400 8x AGP DDR Sound lAN USB 2.0 Retail Box
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=49060

I forgot to include the link to the mobo in one of my last posts, here it is

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=59287

It actually seems to be rated higher than the asus!

I will look into a bit further though, to see if there are any real advantages to go for the asus board. I must admit I am normally a brand snob when it comes to mobo's, but after fairly recent experience with higher priced boards, I do wonder if its worth the extra. The only manufacturer I have been truely satisfied with in terms of reliability, doa e.t.c is Abit, never had a single problem with one. (Though the cheaper abits do not seem to live up to this rep).

[sparky191]

Sorry, nope you have to add the vat on!

Whats with the smile then?

[mattyp]

Whats with the smile then?

Well they are still good prices and just put something at the end , also the text was pretty self explanatory "plus tax"

[Rave]

Thanks for the reply.

It looks like a xp 2200 would cost £37.75 + vat, then the hsf for about £5 + vat

So works out at about £11 + vat more for 100mhz less and considering the usage of the system, wouldnt the extra 100mhz but 256kb less cache be better to suited to the requirements?

Sempron model numbers are not the same as Athlon XP model numbers- the XP2200 actually runs at 1.80GHz on a 133MHz bus; it has the same 256KB L2 cache as the Sempron. Neither XP not Sempron model numbers correspond to the actual MHz of the chip unfortunately.

Anyway, having said that, the Sempron has more than enough power for the tasks you list.

Rich :¬)

[mattyp]

Sempron model numbers are not the same as Athlon XP model numbers- the XP2200 actually runs at 1.80GHz on a 133MHz bus; it has the same 256KB L2 cache as the Sempron. Neither XP not Sempron model numbers correspond to the actual MHz of the chip unfortunately.

Anyway, having said that, the Sempron has more than enough power for the tasks you list.

Rich :¬)

Cheers Rich!

I already knew about the "amd speed" and the true speed, all to do with making it clearer for the consumer e.t.c and the "amd speed is the equivalent to an intel" e.t.c

So what is the actual difference between the sempron and the XP? as the xp is apparently quicker than the equivalent sempron.

[Rave]

All the Semprons except the 3100 use a Thoroughbred core, same as most of the Athlon XPs. They all run on a 166MHz bus though, whereas only XPs from the 2500 upwards ran on a 166MHz bus.

The bus speed doesn't make a great deal of difference to the performance though, the main thing is the clockspeed. The Semprons will be multiplier locked, which limits the extent to which they can be overclocked since the multis they come with are quite low. The 2300 runs at 166x9.5.

Rich :¬)

[mattyp]

All the Semprons except the 3100 use a Thoroughbred core, same as most of the Athlon XPs. They all run on a 166MHz bus though, whereas only XPs from the 2500 upwards ran on a 166MHz bus.

The bus speed doesn't make a great deal of difference to the performance though, the main thing is the clockspeed. The Semprons will be multiplier locked, which limits the extent to which they can be overclocked since the multis they come with are quite low. The 2300 runs at 166x9.5.

Rich :¬)

Oh right!!, so as it wont be oc'd , its probably just as good as a xp of the same level. . I thought I read somewhere that the xp was quite a bit faster than the sempron, it must have been a fallacy though.

[Dorza]

Theres nothing reallly new about the sempron on a socket A motherboard. Their basicly just Athlon XPs with the thoroughbred core.