To wait for Athlon or not to wait?

[Jammrock]

It seems kind of strange to buy a dual CPU system just so a couple of games will pump out a few extra fps. Getting it all to work on the necessary OS (unless you are a Linux buff) just doesn't seem worth it. You must have patience Burri. Quake 3 won't be out until you can get your hands on a nice new 0.18 micron Athlon running on PC133 HSDRAM that will be running Quake 3 at 120 fps on you G400 MAX.

Jammrock

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PIII 540 (120 MHz x 4.5 - 540), 256 MB PC133 SDRAM, ASUS P3B-F, Winblows 98 SuckyEdition, 18 GB WD Expert HDD, Encore 6x DVD w/ Dxr3 decoder, (TEMPORARY!!!) Voodoo 3 2000 @ 175 MHz which will be replaced by a Matrox G400 MAX, Sound Blaster Live! full retail, MAG DX715T 17

[merchant2]

jammrock i was thinking the same thing

too few games will use two cpu's properly, to merrit the expence of a dual system (for now any way, and when thire is more support for 2 cpu in gameing something faster better will be out p4 ? dual k7/8 who knows. but for now 1 celly and k7 will give the best performance with the most programs.

[This message has been edited by merchant2 (edited 07-29-99).]

[This message has been edited by merchant2 (edited 07-29-99).]

[Jon McGarry]

There are two possible reasons why you should wait for the Athlon/PIII war to begin.

1. The Athlon might just be the stellar performer that it's been hyped to be. In that case this would by far be the best chip to pair with a G400

2. Even if the Athlon isn't all that it's been hyped to be, the Athlon/PIII war is bound to lower prices.... a lot. Even though the top end 600 MHz chips may be $600-$700 now, by late September this should drop dramatically. I wouldn't be surprised if 600 MHz chips were available by October for less than $300!

BTW, dual Celerons clocked at 500+ cannot beat a lone Athlon. Read the SMP/Athlon article here:

http://www.firingsquad.com