Sempron 3100+ (Socket 754) vs AthlonXP 3200+ (Socket A)?

[DragonQ0105]

Situation: My Grandad wants a PC "to get into the 21st Century". He already bought a Video Camera, DVD Player and 22" LCD TV. He said he was going to get a PC but I got him to let me make it for two reasons: I like building PCs and I don't want him getting the wrong stuff.

The PC will be used for Internet, Word Processing and all the usual casual stuff, but it needs to play games quite well too since he likes playing Flight Sims etc. on my PC.

I'm a bit stumped about the CPU though. Which would you get for a PC?


The Sempron 3100+ is a Socket 754 and has a 333MHz Bus. It's based on a 90nm Palermo Core (Revision 'D'), and is a Retail Chip -- £77:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=79191

The AthlonXP 3200+ is a Socket A and has a 400MHz Bus. It is an OEM Chip -- £81:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=62051

If we include a Heatsink/Fan for the AthlonXP, that makes the Sempron about £12 cheaper. But the AthlonXP's faster Bus means I'd be inclined to get it. I realise that a smaller Bus isn't much difference, but neither are the prices - and besides, I don't want him complaining about it being slow in a 2 year's time. I have no clue about the Sempron really...does it have a smaller L2 Cache? What are the performance differences between the two? Which would be better in your opinion?


Phew...thanks for any advise as usual!

 

[paparazi]

DragonQ0105
Do yourself a favour and give the old socket A a miss, side step the now defunck socket 754.
939 is the future for AMD, it significantly outperforms both the others and has some degree of future proofing, if there is such a thing.
These people are excellent, NOTE* FREE POST.

CPU

http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/DisplayInfoMain.asp?e=969AA16E-0395-419D-9CC7-5E5EC5BD29CA

Cooler

http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/DisplayInfoMain.asp?e=14F0B5AE-BCEA-4EAA-983E-B9F1B234DC95

Motherboard

http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/DisplayInfoMain.asp?e=8E257A40-1EC6-4721-8A62-DB91BC21728E

Upgrade KIT: CPU/512memory/Motherboard

http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/DisplayInfoMain.asp?e=36700447-E62A-4B89-A6B3-A7CB90A5A0E6

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[DragonQ0105]

I will take that into consideration, it's just that he really isn't going to ever need the power of a 64-Bit CPU, and the motherboards and CPUs are quite a lot more expensive.

The Graphics Card I'm looking at is a PCI Express Entry-level card (Leadtek GeForce 6200-TD128), and then I'm getting a cheap Maxtor 120GB SATA Drive for £45 and a cheap CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo for under £25. So the PC isn't going to be amazing

 

[paparazi]

DragonQ0105
I guess in that case I would go for the newer socket 754 Sempron because it leaves you with an upgrade to a possible Athlon64 3700+ and 64bit computing.
The performance must be about the same I would have thought or too close to notice.

Note*
Surely this motherboard is standard 8x AGP not PCI-E?


Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[DragonQ0105]

There is no "motherboard" as of yet, since I'm looking at a few.

I guess AGP will be fine, but the main plan is to get a great, upgradable motherboard that should have a long upgradability life, but then cheaper parts everywhere else.

The problem is that of course to ensure future proofing, a Socket 939 with PCI-E and SATA makes sense, but then Socket 939 CPUs are expensive (even the entry level ones).

Dilema...