AMD Sempron is the budget processor. It gives better performance than a Celeron.

Athlon XP is the soon to be discontinued competitor for Pentium 4. It performs slightly under the corresponding Pentium 4 level

Athlon64 (until 64-bit computing comes in anyway) is the new competitor for the higher rated models of the Pentium 4. It performs slightly better than the equivalent Pentium 4 model.

AthlonFX is a higher performance processor of a similar type as an Athlon64. It outperforms the Pentium 4 EE

AMD Opteron is a server processor, not a desktop processor. Its direct 'competitor is the Xeon, but it absolutely wipes the floor with the Xeon, I'm afraid


Thinking of processors in terms of 'gigahertz' is a false way to judge competitiveness and performance. Even Intel has dropped the measure for its newer processors and now uses 'Model numbers'. Just look at the 'performance rating' model number for the AMD chip and assess it according to the general guidelines above.


Also, could you please continue your upgrade discussion in your existing upgrade topic, instead of creating even more topics about it?

Further discussion in this topic only about the comparitive standings of different processors please.

The 1 and 2 way opterons are also intended for workstation and high-end workstation applications (graphics design etc) and yeah, they even make Intels Pure 64bit Itanium2's look rather girly really.
And I backup the GHz rating to be a false means to qualitify chip performance. If that were the case Intel just wouldnt make money (as much as i would like that....)
As for Value, Athlon64's are probably the best bit really. XPs are on the way out, Semperon is budget market and FX is just plain expensive.
I'm just not going to say anything about Intel incase they sue me :-\

Alright, thanks. 'Em, what would you recommend for an entry-level gamers pc processor. Like, which AMD chip?

Your point is, rcrevolution?


Young Teck 06, cutting corners too far in relation to a processor isn't really a good idea for a Games system. A games system is a high performance system, or should be. You shouldn't plan on the need to upgrade a processor later on, because realistically technology changes too fast, a processor upgrade doesn't really give much benefit to Games performance, and by the time the next upgrade is needed almost everybody will need to upgrade their motherboard as well. So plan your system around a decent motherboard and processor from the start!

At present, for those people who need to be conscious of cost, there are two choices available which would make the basis of a good games system


AMD Athlon64 3000+ (or 3200+ is better if the budget allows) for socket 754 motherboards.

The Socket 754 standard is being phased out for future processors, but for now it's the affordable best performance platform. The processor should be coupled with a motherboard which uses the NVidia NForce3 250 chipset. This is the highest performing 'budget-level' option currently available for a games system.

Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz 'Northwood' for Socket 478 motherboards.

Not quite as good as the Athlon64 but still a very good performance processor/motherboard combination when coupled with an Intel i865PE or i875P chipset. Do NOT purchase an Intel brand motherboard, as it will have the performance features disabled. Third party motherboards using the chipset are a must, and ABit currently offers the best performing alternatives.


Build your system around either of those options, and install a high quality display card in it, and you'll have a gaming system which would perform well for you for a long time to come

Hmmmm, thanks for the notes. I'll think about it, what would the total cost be for them 2, and I am planning to get an ATI Radeon 9800Pro if thats any good.

Dude, I'm in Australia, so any pricing I give you probably wouldn't be relevent. Shop around and check lots of online stores to judge what prices are available for you location. Online shopping is usually much cheaper than purchasing from your local computer shop.

A Radeon 9800 Pro is a good performance/price display card. I would personally consider it to be a base level of performance to aim at for a games system. Upgrading it later on to an NVidia 6800GT or an ATi X800XT would give you a games system which will be good enough to use for a long time to come yet.

Alrighty, that NVidia 6800GT is like $600+ right?

Didn't you read that bit?

American wise, cant you realize. Nevermind, you must not get it, lol.