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As of November, 1999.

Click here to read what the best PC is made of.

I do not wish to go into much detail as to the architecture of the processors or how they work in this guide as this comparison is intended to be a buyer's tool and not solely a technical reference document.  However, in order to make specification comparison easier, the below table sums up the basic differences between the processors compared here:
 
                        Intel  CPUs 
AMD  CPUs
IBM/Motorola
Maker  Intel   Intel   Intel Intel  AMD  AMD AMD IBM~Macintosh
Name Celeron Pentium II Pentium III/e Pentium IV K6-2 K6-III  Athlon  G4
Transistors  19 million  7.5 million  9.5 to 27 million 48 million  8.8 million  21.3 million  22 million  10.5 million
Core Voltage  2.0v  2.8v/2.0v  2.0v/1.6v 1.6 v 2.2v/2.4v   2.4v  1.6v  1.8v
M/B Interface Slot-1/Socket-370  Slot-1 Slot-1/ FC-PGA  FC-PGA Socket-7 Socket-7  Slot-A  Socket
L1 Cache 16KB Data
16KB Instruction Set		 16KB Data
16KB Instruction Set		 16KB Data
16KB Instruction Set 		 16KB Data
16KB Instruction Set 		 32KB Data
32KB Instruction Set 		 32KB Data
32KB Instruction Set 		 64KB Data
64KB Instruction Set		 32KB Data
32KB Instruction Set 
L2 Cache  128KB  512KB 256KB~512KB  256KB 512KB ~ 2048KB 256KB ~ 2048KB  512KB ~ 2048KB  1024KB ~
2048KB
L2 Cache Speed  CPU Clock Speed  1/2 CPU Clock Speed 1/2 CPU Clock Speed to FULL Clock Speed Full Clock Speed FSB  CPU Clock Speed  1/2 CPU Clock Speed  CPU Clock Speed 
Available Clock Speeds  300MHz - 533MHz  233MHz - 500MHz  450MHz - 1130MHz  1400MHz - 1500MHz 300MHz - 500MHz  400MHz - 500MHz  500MHz - 800MHz  400MHz-
500MHz

I have heard so many bad things about Win-intel machines, that I must say something here.

There are many makers for a so called win-intel machine.  For example, A win-intel PC's  CPU may not be an "Intel" product, but be using an AMD's or a Cyrix's CPU, which normally have less than stellar performances compared to a true Intel.  Also, The other CPUs also prove to be less stable.  But the CPU is not the only factor.  Motherboards,  RAM, and video card brands also make or break a PC.  I have been building PCs since 1992 and I have found the brands, which I feel make a PC that NEVER freezes or locks up, or gives any other problems.

Most important items
CPU:                    Only use the Intel Pentium III (800 or above) or AMDs, stay away from the Celeron and others.
Motherboard:     I use only the Asus brand (CUSL2). Other good boards are SOYO and Abit.
RAM:                  Use 133 MHz or higher SDRAM from Samsung.  Use no less than 128 megs.
Video:                  Creative Lab's TNT2, Geforce, and Banshee AGP Video cards. Use the 32 meg versions.
Sound:                 Creative Labs PCI sound cards do well and do not slow the CPU down like most others can.
Hard Drive:        Maxtor and IBM make solid drives, use the 7200 RPM or faster drives with ATA 66/100, and more than 30 gigs of space.
Secondary, but still worth noticing.
Case:                  Hmmm...  There are many case makers out there.  There are even ones that look like a G4 ( bluish in colour ).  Find one that matches your tastes.
Power Supply:   NSpire model # MAU-250PI, 250W.
Monitors:          Sony is nice, but DecaView is cheaper and is made by the same designers.  Buy the G380, .25mm, 17" monitor, for the best in viewing.
Speakers:          Boka, need I say more.  I bought mine new 300 wt. at a PC show for $30 (US). They give a super clear sound and can even shake the whole house.
Mice:                 I use only USB mice that are around $10 (US)  I have found that they do just as well as the $60 ones.
Keyboard:         I use the "Smart Keyboard" with built in short cut keys to shutting down the PC, opening up your programs, and logging onto the 'Net. This keyboard even opens the CD ROM for me.
OS:           WINDOWS 98 SE with IE 5.01, Mac Vision 8.0204 (mimics Mac OS 8.6), and Tweak UI.

Well, there you have it.  Build a PC with these brands and you will be surprised by just how clean, mean, and fast your system will run.


  Video Cards :-)

(Tested on 11/22/2000)


 

I tested four AGP video cards that were all priced below $70 (US). The cards were:
S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs ($25)
Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP (v6.45.5423f.98) w/ 4 Megs ($25)
Creative Labs nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs ($25)
Creative Labs nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs ($65)

The software drivers used were downloaded from the vendors' sites on 11/22/2000 and were the most up-to-date drivers found.

These cards were tested using one PC system, which is listed here:
Pentium II 450
Windows Version 98 4.10.2222 A
384 Megs of PC100 SDRAM
ASUS B2P Motherboard
IBM ATA 100 - 20 Gig Hard Disk Drive

Benchmark software used:
WinTune 98
GT Interactive's DRIVER

These cards were tested for Video(2D), Direct3D, and OpenGL scores.

 

Video(2D)

800x600@16bits/pixel

Raw 2D scores @

800x600@16bits/pixel
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Scores 36.13 MPixels/s 41.86 MPixels/s 86.61 MPixels/s 86.17 MPixels/s

 

Video(2D)

1024x768@32bits/pixel

Raw 2D scores @

1024x768@32bits/pixel
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Scores Failed 21.13 MPixels/s 65.74 MPixels/s 70.76 MPixels/s

 

Direct3D

800x600@16bits/pixel

Raw D3D scores @

800x600@16bits/pixel
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Scores 16.85 MPixels/s 44.20 MPixels/s 133.036 MPixels/s 192.61 MPixels/s

 

Direct3D

1024x768@32bits/pixel

Raw D3D scores @

1024x768@32bits/pixel
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Scores Failed 6.27 MPixels/s 61.07 MPixels/s 92.53 MPixels/s

 

OpenGL

800x600@16bits/pixel

Raw OpenGL scores @

800x600@16bits/pixel
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Scores 12.21 MPixels/s 9.50 MPixels/s 17.47 MPixels/s 24.62 MPixels/s

 

OpenGL

1024x768@32bits/pixel

Raw OpenGL scores @

1024x768@32bits/pixel
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Scores Failed 5.76 MPixels/s 17.34 MPixels/s 24.61 MPixels/s

GT Interactive's DRIVER
Video Card S3 Trio 3D/2X (362/368) w/ 4 Megs Trident 3D Image 9750 AGP CL nVidia RIVA TNT w/ 16 Megs CL nVidia RIVA TNT2 Pro w/ 32 Megs
Remarks Failed, major artifacts Failed, would not run Good image, no artifacts, but slightly sluggish. Good image, no artifacts, with fast response.

Conclusion

As of today, I like the AGP CL TNT2 card with 32 Megs.


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