Help....K7(keep) or go for Coppermine???

[kelin]

I recently purchased a K7 600/FIC SD-11 combo..ended up going thru 2 1/2 weeks and three mobos prior to finding one that worked (the Asus' weren't available, here, yet). Well, my 30 days for return/exchange is up in a week or so, and I was thinking or either going for a K7 650 or 700(and getting the Asus K7M) or going for a Coppermine 667 (they don't have the 733s yet).
While the K7 600 is very fast...I have been less than satisfied with the way my G400 Max runs the 3D now (2) as opposed to how it handle the SSE instructions...Running my P3 450 @ 567 gave me pretty close to the same framerates on Q3 and Unreal T as the K7(the K7 is still quite a bit faster)...Also the fact that while the K7 is a "next generation" processor..it is still running the .25 micron process while the Cu-mine runs the newer .18 (which the K7s supposedly will be going to)....
Any input here...much learned people???
Thanks,
Kelin
primary sys 98)
K7 600 0n SD-11
256Megs EMS HSDRAM PC133
G400 Max
Adaptec 2940U2W
Quantum Atlas 10K
IBM Ultrastar UW
Aureal Vortex Super Quad
3Com NIC

Secondary Sys NT, Linux and 98)
P3 450 on Soyo BA6 +III
128 Megs CAS-2 PC100
TNT
2 V2s
2 UMDA/66 HDS
Creative Ensonic
3Com NIC

[Alfie]

You should consider that Athlon will be coming out in 1gig size soon and .18 micron is just around the corner.
Other's on this site have blasted the fic mobo and have suggested the Asus board,if you can find it or the msi(?)Epox is also meant to come out with a Athlon mobo.
See this link for more info on motherboards http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000650.html

[PaulS]

I think most people agree that the Athlon is the better processor, but as always it is bugged by poor supporting chipsets. It is such a shame.

Paul.

[UncleJoe]

Keep Athlon, change mobo ... You get everything out from cumine only with i820 board... have you seen one in stores ???...
and at least here in Finland with price of Cumine 667 you get Atholon 700 (price difference 300 Fim)....

J.

[Dyre]

Hey! read my relpy at Tweak3D dude. i guess great minds think alike, and visit the same places.



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</list>
PIII 450 @ 464
generic BX6 motherboard
G400 MAX : )
Maxtor 13 gig UDMA 33
Maxtor 13 gig UDMA 66
Creative 36x CD-ROM
HP 2x2x6x CD-RW
64 megs PC100 RAM
Intel 10/100
Soundblaster 32 AWE
DiamondMAX 56k
Logitech Wireless Desktop (best $50 ive ever spent)
4 large fans.

[TheMorg]

The Register reports that AMD say all Athlons now manufactured are .18 micron. It'll be a while before they filter through, though.

My own experience is that the overclocking limitation is currently the chipset (108-110MHz) rather than the CPU, so GO FOR IT!

[Alfie]

It's interesting to note that the new pentium III "coppermine" is running on what chipset? Guess what chipset Athlon runs on.
The winner? VIA,of course

[Goc]

Hey kelin

Stick to Athlon! That's the ticket... but as people have said change the mobo (K7M would be the best choice for now)... That way you would be able to stick in a 0.18 micron Athlon when it comes in January/February 2000, which will be running at speeds 1 Ghz and higher...
And for your comparison between your old P3 and new K7, I can't see where the problem is?!? :-))))

Intel Aside... Go AMD!!

P.S. I know, I know... My sig says I still have Intel in my rig, but that's only because Ahlon mobo's in Croatia are impossible to find!! :-((

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Just my humble opinion...

Specs--=>

PII 300@450 Mhz SL2W8
ABIT BH6 rev1.63
64 Mb PC133 SDRAM
Matrox Millenium G200 8Mb
HDD 4,3 Gb WDCaviar U/ATA66
HDD 1,6 Gb WDCaviar U/DMA33
Yamaha Waveforce 192XG
TEAC 32X ATAPI CDROM
MITSUMI 4X ATAPI CDROM
17" Macom S82
HP Laserjet 5L
Scanner, and loads of other stuff ;-)

[Kenlon]

Via chipsets. Ehh. Someone hand me a ten foot pole I can not touch them with.

I'm waiting for solidly overclockable i820 boards before I spring for my next box.

Rambus. Mmmm.




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Kenlon
"I am. All else is negotiable."

[merchant2112]

its your money, just don't be sorry in a few months.

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my system has arived. all together and if i new about the usb bug in 98 with this board i would have been fiished a lot sooner.

msi 6167 mobo k7 500 wk41 now at 650.(not overclocked its a real 650 they underclcoked.) 256 meg ram ,addtronics case w 250watt sp power supply, matrox g400, maxtor diammax 2500+ 10gig hd,5x cldvd region free, 3com 10/100 nic and 56k ext modem, xitel p storm sound card. lots of controlers joystick throttle rudder raceing wheel, and 19in monitor, usb logitech mouse.

i found the fix for the mouse hang problem.

[dush]

The reason for your bad performance on the K7 could have to to with the AGP mastering drivers. Do you have the latest ones? If not go get em at the AMD website or your MB manufacturers website. This should solve your problem.

[kelin]

Hey Volkz...
I certainly appreciate all of your time and input...I am taking the K7 600/FIC combo back tomorrow...the Coppermine question, at least for the mo...is pretty much moot...and I won't get my check from them for a week or so...
During that time, I will be doing alot of reading, etc...I still like the K7...would like to go for the 700..BUT, I have been reading where alot of the 500-550s are 650/650 UNDERCLOCKED!!! The thing I have been trying to say, although I might not have said it...is that even up the the K7 700 with its 128 k of WunDerFul L1 is STILL .25 MICRON!!! I wonder about the validity of spending my dough on that while the Cumines are .18...shows that .18 is more top notch if the K7s are going that way...
Anyway, like I said, I am putting my MAX back on my P3 450 and will get my ducketz back and wait for a week or so and see what develops...I would love to get the i820 or i840...try and find one, right??? and a Cumine 667 or 733...or even the K7 700 and a new VIA 133 board...hey, I have got to get some use out of this EXPENSIVE HSDRAM PC133...
But, thanks to all of your input...I am STILL ON THE DAMN FENCE!!!
Oh well...i guess that's what's makes eet fun!!!
A appreciative MURC Member,
Kelin
ps. Would like to get the new Q3 working on my MAX, though!!!

[Rags]

There are many reasons companies shrink the size of their process, just because Intel is doing it and AMD has not yet does not say anything about AMD, but more about Intel. Intel moving to a .18 die size has everything to do with them being at the high end limits of their current process, they can't squeeze much more than 600 Mhz out of their .25. And they also want to have ON DIE cache that runs at full speed, so again the shrink is necessary. The fact is that AMD's current process at .25 is working just fine, and I would bet money that they could squeeze 1Ghz out of it if they really fine tuned their fabs. But they already have Dresden pumping .18 COPPER processors (Intel still doesn't have copper yet), and with the shrink the processors will use less power and they will get more processors per wafer, and eventually they will be able to put their L2 cache on die as well.

Rags