Great guide to all the parts of PC, from CPU to Video Card, and more.

[bosox188]

First of all I have to give all the credit to Coylter of the Bungie.net forums for making this, I did not make this. But this is a very useful guide explaining all the parts of the computer, and the best ones to get and stuff. It covers all the P4 classes (A, B, C, E) and explains why a 2.8 Celeron is worse than an AMD Duron 1.4ghz. It's kinda long but it's great.


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This might help you if you consider upgrading your computer.

First off , this guide is dedicated to the people who have no knowledge about computer and who think that a celeron 2.8ghz is better than a duron 1.4 ghz. If you dont know what those 2 word means.....realy read this post.

1- The Cpu (Central Processing Unit)
Your CPU is used to calculate things (YIPE) like player position, shadow, bullet speed, damage and about everything else that need to be calculated. In fact games that has some complex AI (if you dont know what AI mean .... go watch Red vs Blue ..... If you dont know whta is red vs blue leave this forum now) will need a better CPU (Like the halo campain). Your cpu has ALMOST nothing to do with the visual appearence of a game (This is handled by the video card) so if you want better visual and you have an half decent cpu dont even bother upgrading it.

........So lets go into details
There is 2 brand of cpu : INTEL (INTegrated ELectronic) and AMD (Advanced Micro Device)

INTEL
Pentium 1
Play game that are 10 years old .... if you want to play halo or any other game get a newer CPU

Pentium 2
Same things as pentium 1

Pentium 3
This CPU is the minimum to play today game and its the VERY minimum.
P3 range from 450 to 1300 mhz.
If you have a P3 with less than 800 mhz you will not be able to play halo.
With more than 800mhz you will be able to play halo (or some other new games) but with poor performance.

Pentium 4
There is 4 variant of the p4 : The P4a , the P4b , the P4c and the P4e

P4a (1.3ghz to 1.8ghz)
Mhz for Mhz the p3 is better than those CPU. The P4a is a rushed CPU made by intel to compete with the AMD. Those CPU were and are still a waste of money. Those cpu were replaced by the P4b. Using a p4a you will be able to play halo with some good fps (depending on the speed of it and of your video card) but in the campain and in medium fight you will notice some major slow down...

P4b (1.8ghz to 2.6ghz (i do think that there is a 2.8ghz version))
A much better version of the P4. Still weaker than the AMD variant those p4 offer good perfomance in every game including halo. With a cpu like this (still depend on his speed) you will be able to play halo with good fps with some minor slowdown in big fight.

P4c (2.4ghz to 3.4ghz) also called NORTHWOOD
The best series of P4. Those cpu are very powerfull and are only beaten by the more recent AMD 64bit CPU. With a cpu like this you should be able (if you have a good video card) to play halo with almost no slow down of any kind. (Those cpu are also good overclocker). If you want this CPU to perform to his max you MUST have dual channel ram (more on that later).

P4e (2.4ghz to 3.4ghz) also called PRESCOTT
In one word : WASTE. Those cpu perform less than the "c" version of the p4 and HEAT A LOT. If you buy this cpu you will no longer need to heat your room during winter.

Celeron (any kind)
Pure waste of silicon and money. Those cpu are a shame. Take your money and go buya real cpu.
In fact a 2.4ghz Celeron is 50 to 70 % slower than a cheap (30$) AMD Duron 1400mhz.
If you play halo with this cpu you will get some major slow down even in calm zone.

P4 extreme
A VERY VERY expensive Cpu.
If you play halo with this cpu you not notice any lag even in the biggest fight. For 1000$+ those cpu are a waste of money over the less expensive athlon 64 who offer equivalent performance.

AMD
NOTE : THE NUMBER THAT REPRESENT THE CPU (EX: 3200+) DO NOT REPRESENT THE CLOCK SPEED (A 3200+ run at 2.2ghz) but dont be fooled clock rate do not represent speed. Ex: A A64 3400+ at 2.4 ghz is faster than a p4c 3.2ghz.

K6
Waste.

Athlon "no xp" (600 to 1000mhz)
Those cpu perform a little less than the p3
With a 800 mhz Athlon or more you SHOULD be able to play halo with 5 fps (Frame per second)

Athlon xp (1400+ to 3200+)
Those cpu are cheap, fast, stable....(speed depend on the model)
Generaly those cpu are the best choice for a cheap and good pc.
Cheaper than the best celeron the slowest athlon xp (1400+) can triple the performance of the celeron. Go figure... Those CPU will play halo very well depending on the model.
1400 to 2000 = Small slowdown in big battle
2200 to 3200 = Very good performance

Athlon 64 (2800, 3000, 3200, 3400)
The A64 2800 is litterally the best price/performance cpu out there. The A64 3400 is among the best cpu ever made so far. For the price those cpu are great , and 64 bit is a bonus.
Any of those CPU play halo with no lag of any kind. (Those are my personnal favorite)

Athlon FX (51-53)
Pretty much like the P4 Extreme edition but ..... faster and with 64 bit (more like a bonus).
Those are simply the fastest.
If you have problem playing halo with those one you are smoking good things or you have a very bad video card.

2-The video card
The video card is the what generate all the beatifull effect in a game (ie: halo). There is 2 company who make video card : ATI and NVIDIA (Any other brand is PURE waste). The better your video card the faster the frame will go (FPS : frame per second).
Cards will be classified like this:
-Name: xxxxxxx
-Memory: xxx
-Speed: xx/10
-Comment: xxxxxxxxxxx

NVIDIA
-Name: Geforce 256 and less
-Memory: 16,32 or 64
-Speed: 0.5/10
-Comment: i would not bother playing halo with this.

-Name: Geforce2
-Memory: 16,32 or 64
-Speed: 1.5/10
-Comment: Fair performance for its age and very low price.

-Name: Geforce2 mx
-Memory: 32 or 64
-Speed: 0.2/10
-Comment: Forget it.

-Name: Geforce3
-Memory: 32 or 64
-Speed: 3 or 4 depending on the model /10
-Comment: Aging but still good cards (better than any mx) and you can have those for very low $$$.

-Name: Geforce4 mx400 or 440
-Memory: 64 or 128
-Speed: 2/10
-Comment: A glorified Geforce 2 with higher clock rate.

-Name: Geforce 4 Ti-4200
-Memory: 64 or 128
-Speed: 4/10
-Comment: VERY good card for the price but no directx 9 support (less eyes candy). Showing its age. BTW the 128 mb version WITH agp 8x is the fastest version. The 128 mb version with no agp is a card using very slow ram.

-Name: Geforce 4 Ti-4400
-Memory: 64 or 128
-Speed: 4.2/10
-Comment: An overclocked Ti-4200. Get a 4200 and overclock it...

-Name: Geforce 4 Ti-4600
-Memory:64 or 128
-Speed: 4.4/10
-Comment: An overclocked Ti-4400. Get a 4200 and overclock it more...

The FX cards got 2 version : non-ultra and ultra..... The ultra is an overclocked version of the other. Basically 10-15% faster.

-Name: Geforce FX-5200 and 5200ultra
-Memory: 64, 128 and 256
-Speed: 2/10
-Comment: Waste of money, the 128 and 256 mb version are even more a waste. Halo is playable but almost no eye candy. Low fps in large battle. Support DX9

-Name: Geforce FX-5500 and 5500ultra
-Memory: 128 and 256
-Speed: 1/10
-Comment: The slowest Nvidia card currently in production. Its a shame. Slower than the 5200. 256mb version is the ultimate waste of money....i would not play halo with those... Support DX9

-Name: Geforce FX-5600 and 5600ultra
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 3.5/10
-Comment: I am sceptical about those card. They perform slow in some game and good in other. In halo they run between slow and medium. Not all the eyes candy can be turned on. Support DX9

-Name: Geforce FX-5700 and 5700ultra
-Memory: 128 and 256
-Speed: 4.5/10
-Comment: Pretty good mid-range card. Use good memory. Halo playable with smooth frame rate. Some slowdown in battle. Eye candy turned on and 800x600 should be playable. 256mb Version not much expensive compared to 128mb but still not much performance difference. Support DX9

-Name: Geforce FX-5800 and 5800ultra
-Memory: 6.5/10
-Speed: 128 and 256
-Comment: Also called the leaf blower this card make terrible noise and push a lot of air. A big fiasquo. Run realy bad in some game. *Discontinued* . Performance in halo are good with some visual quality problem. "Support DX9"

-Name: Geforce FX-5900 and 5900ultra
-Memory: 128 and 256
-Speed: 8.8/10
-Comment: Much better version of the 5800. This card is less noisy. Performance are a bit under the ATI equivalent , the 9800pro. Performance in halo should be very good with all eyes candy on and a resolution of 1024*768. Support DX9

-Name: Geforce FX-5950ultra
-Memory: 256
-Speed: 9/10
-Comment: Not much more speed than the 5900ultra (1-4% more) but a BIG price difference...Basically a overclocked 5900ultra. Support DX9

-Name: Geforce FX-5900XT
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 7/10
-Comment: This is a VERY good card for the price. It can even be overclocked to a 5900ultra. Good halo performance. Support DX9.

-Name: Geforce FX-6800
-Memory: 256mb
-Speed: 10/10
-Comment: Very good card. Support PS 3.0. About 40% faster than FX-5900

-Name: Geforce FX-6800GT
-Memory: 256mb
-Speed: 13.9/10
-Comment: The best card to get at the moment, Kill everything for the price!!!

-Name: Geforce FX-6800ultra
-Memory: 256mb
-Speed: 14/10
-Comment: About 100-120% faster than 5950ultra...

Read below for Part 2

 

[bosox188]

ATI
NOTE: The SE version of every card is more or less 50% slower than the regular one. DONT get the SE version
NOTE 2: ATI has better anti-aliasing and visual quality.

-Name: Radeon 7000
-Memory: 32 or 64
-Speed: 1/10
-Comment: One of the worst Radeon ever made by the hand of men.

-Name: Radeon 7500
-Memory: 32 or 64
-Speed: 2/10
-Comment: Equivalent to a geforce 2 but a little slower at the same price so a GF2 is a better choice...Play halo with atari looking graphics.

-Name: Radeon 8500LE
-Memory: 64 or 128
-Speed: 4/10
-Comment: Good card but for the same price you can get a Nvidia Ti-4200 wich is faster. 128mb edition not much faster than 64mb. Good halo performance.

-Name: Radeon 8500VE
-Memory: 64
-Speed: 2.5/10
-Comment: This card is a waste. Only a few buck less than the 8500LE and it is much slower.

-Name: Radeon 9100 and 9000
-Memory: 64
-Speed: 4/10
-Comment: Its LITERALLY a 8500LE. Good halo performance

-Name: Radeon 9200
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 1.8/10
-Comment: Very slow card ,no dx9 support. Not a gaming card. Halo would work but slow and with no eye candy.

-Name: Radeon 9500pro
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 6.5/10
-Comment: VERY good card but hard to get because its discontinued. If you can get your hand on one GET it. Play halo very well and support DX9.

-Name: Radeon 9600
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 3.5/10
-Comment: Those are not recommended because the majority of them use crappy ram so they are very slow.

-Name: Radeon 9600pro
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 5.5/10
-Comment: Very good mid-range card. Support DX9 and play halo very well.

-Name: Radeon 9600XT
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 6/10
-Comment: About 5-10% faster than the PRO version. A good product for the price, but at almost the same price you can get a 5900xt wich is faster than the 9600XT

-Name: Radeon 9700
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 7/10
-Comment: *Discontinued* Good card for the price and can be overclocked to 9700pro.

-Name: Radeon 9700pro
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 8/10
-Comment: When it was released this card was a real revolution, almost having twice the performance of the ti-4200. This card is STILL a good deal if you can find one. VERY cheap and VERY powerfull (for the price).

-Name: Radeon 9800
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 7.8/10
-Comment: Good card. Cheap and fast. Can be overclocked to 9800pro. Basically a new version of the the 9700.

-Name: Radeon 9800pro
-Memory: 128 or 256
-Speed: 8.9/10
-Comment: Very good card. Can be found for 200$ US and less. Basically a new version of the 9700pro. Play halo like a charm.

-Name: Radeon 9800XT
-Memory: 128
-Speed: 9.1/10
-Comment: 2-3% faster than the 9800pro. Look like a toy of the last century compared to the new cards...but still good.

-Name: Radeon x800pro
-Memory: 256mb
-Speed: 12/10
-Comment: About 70% faster than the 9800XT

-Name: Radeon x800XT
-Memory: 256mb
-Speed: 14/10
-Comment: About 100-120% faster than 9800XT

3-Motherboard
I wont go into details with the motherboard but here are my suggestion.
For an intel P3 go with a Motherboard with a intel BX chipset
For an intel P4 go with a Motherboard with a intel chipset (ex : i865)
For a Athlon xp go with a Motherboard with a nForce 2 chipset
For a Athlon 64 go with a Motherboard with a VIA or nForce 3 250
For a Athlon FX go with a Motherboard with a VIA chipset

4-RAM
If you have a P4 get 2x 256 mb to run DUAL CHANNEL RAM. It is very important for a P4.
If you have a Athlon get either one 512mb or 2x256mb. Athlon dont gain many performance with dual channel.
Dont forget to get RAM that match you system FSB (FRONT SIDE BUS). If you dont know what that mean just open you CPU instruction manual and search for his FSB speed.
Good RAM brand are : Corsair, Mushkin, Kingston, Infineon..... Those are if you want max performance but there are many other good brand out there

5-Sound card
Some motherboard has onboard sound but i strongly (except if you have the nforce 2 DELUXE edition) suggest you to get a sound card to lower the load your cpu get from the sound.

I hope this helped a bit for those wondering why their FX-5200 WITH 256mb RAM (HIGH number sells ) run halo .... slowly

Final suggestion: Build your own PC....realy. It might take you some time but i am sure you will have fun doing so. Dont buy pre-made computer (Dell, IBM, ALienware) those are either overpriced or very slowed down with very cheap parts.

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The End

 

[bosox188]

Umm if nobody responds it'll be gone.

 

[thefiznut]

I think it's great! Nice post. To those not PC savvy, read up =]

I wonder why he included Alienware as a cheap and dumbed down made PC? They use the best components possible, and test ALOT before shipping every PC. They are extremely well made gaming PC's.

 

[SidewinderX]

nice, but he left out the Mobile XPs.

 

[blindvomit]

I disagree completely with what was said about the Prescott cores, Just because it runs hotter dosen't mean it sucks, ok say you get a 3.0E and a 3.0C, everything the same cept CPU, in games you may only notice a couple of FPS higher on the C than the E maybe about 2-3 FPS, also once you get past the 3.5-3.6 mark the Prescott really starts to show it's colors, and the Prescotts have 1MB L2 Cache which is always better but I guess it makes no difference because of the C's short pipelines, and the Prescott comes with SSE3 with 13 new instructions which will probably come in handy in the future.

 

[Asus]

I disagree completely with what was said about the Prescott cores, Just because it runs hotter dosen't mean it sucks, ok say you get a 3.0E and a 3.0C, everything the same cept CPU, in games you may only notice a couple of FPS higher on the C than the E maybe about 2-3 FPS, also once you get past the 3.5-3.6 mark the Prescott really starts to show it's colors, and the Prescotts have 1MB L2 Cache which is always better but I guess it makes no difference because of the C's short pipelines, and the Prescott comes with SSE3 with 13 new instructions which will probably come in handy in the future.

That's not exactly true. :\

You will notice more than a 2-4 FPS difference.
Large L2 cache is bad becuase it is slower because it has a lot higher latency.
They are compensating for the low performance by adding more L2 cache. Longer pipelines can really hinder performance. At least the P4 EE didn't mess with the L2 cache speed as they just added L3 cache.

First, any Pentium4 that doesn't say 'E' or have a model number like '560' is a Northwood core ('C'). 'The last good Pentium 4'.
560 - 3.6GHz P4 'E'
550 - 3.4GHz P4 'E'
540 - 3.2GHz P4 'E'
530 - 3.0GHz P4 'E'
520 - 2.8GHz P4 'E'

It runs hotter... A lot more power consumption!
Games run slower...
Tom's Benchmarks

 

[blindvomit]

That's not exactly true. :\

You will notice more than a 2-4 FPS difference.
Large L2 cache is bad becuase it is slower because it has a lot higher latency.
They are compensating for the low performance by adding more L2 cache. Longer pipelines can really hinder performance. At least the P4 EE didn't mess with the L2 cache speed as they just added L3 cache.

First, any Pentium4 that doesn't say 'E' or have a model number like '560' is a Northwood core ('C'). 'The last good Pentium 4'.
560 - 3.6GHz P4 'E'
550 - 3.4GHz P4 'E'
540 - 3.2GHz P4 'E'
530 - 3.0GHz P4 'E'
520 - 2.8GHz P4 'E'

It runs hotter... A lot more power consumption!
Games run slower...
Tom's Benchmarks

I stand corrected, but what about OCing and the SSE3?

 

[Asus]

SSE3 has been enabled for one program that I know of and shows no difference.
Besides. Why buy a CPU that has to be optimized for just to improve performance in the hopes that it can be on par with the old or it's competitors.

OCing.
P4 C vs P4 E Link
P4 EE vs A64 Link
Keep in mind that OCing does not exactly show what performance will be in the future but just gives you an idea of what could be.
Also that last Link is a Pentium 4 Extreme(ly Expensive) Edition and not the standard P4.

 

[blindvomit]

Wtf why do they only get 60-65 FPS on UT2k4 in low resolution? That sucks what vid card are they using?

 

[bosox188]

The other thing is, E's I think cost a little more, and the stats prove the C's can beat them. I have a B, and it runs fine for me. My friend got his pc when P4 came out, so he has a 1.5ghz P4A. Not nearly as fast as mine, I'm sure a good 1.3ghz P3 could beat it.