what deal is the better one?

[xtreemman]

Deal 1
AMD A64 3000+ with an Abit NF8-V for $200

Deal 2
P4 3ghz with an Asus P4S800D-X for $255

i dont need a top of the line system i just like to play games.

[pfh]

The AMD64 will be better for future 64 bit code but not sure about the diff. between mobos. Nvidia chipsets are better than Sis if that's what the Asus is using.

[BJ_M]

yea - stay away from sis chip sets (if that is what the asus used)

[normcar]

I agree, stay away from SIS chipsets (on ASUS boards the S in the P4S800D-X indicates the SIS chipset), you can get a better board (P4P800-E) for only a few more dollars, which will decrease the likelyhood of problems -- well worth it. I just upgraded/replaced a motherboard that was using a SIS chipset, and I had several problems with it over the years, the main problem was booting, I would get errors on booting, and had to do it several times to get the system started. This motherboard had a problem recognizing Antec powersupplies.

For gamming, get an AMD, for video processing, get a P4.

[reboot]

For gaming get the A64.
For video processing, also get the A64.
Athlon's are just faster at video related stuff, and that includes encoding and gaming.
P4 is a workhorse, good for Word/Excel/Office stuff, even with HT.
What might outperform an A64 is dual Xeon's.

[normcar]

Every topic I have ever seen on this forum, as well as outside information indicate that the P4 has a distinct speed advantage including encoding software which takes advantage of the P4 HT. The few speed tests by individuals on this forum indicate the P4 beats the AMD on video encoding every time by significant amounts of time. All outside information indicates the same including the way the P4 is able to calculate ahead using the P4 longer pipes. While the AMDs shorter pipes are better for solutions which are more random like gamming.

[rallynavvie]

OMFG dual Xeons are not terribly fast; they're terribly handy though.

The SiS chipset that Asus board is sporting is the one that "rivals" the Intel 875 chipset. Right, that claim alone makes it laughable. However the rest of the features on that board are very nice.

The other board uses the nForce 3 chipset which will be great for gaming, though I don't like the 754 A64s and I've had more mixed reviews with Abit boards versus the Asus boards' better reviews.

However since you are using it for gaming I would easily lean toward the A64 system. Being it $50 cheaper means $50 more toward a good video card too.

[thevoelk]

If you get an Athlon64, pickup Windows XP 64-bit. At work, I have a P4 3.4 with HT (not sure the model, at home now), and it out performed my A64. After throwing XP64 on my home workstation, all my 32-bit apps (Vegas 6, Encore, TMPGEnc, etc) blow away my work computer, even though my work computer has half again the RAM and is almost 1GHz faster. The board I have has the nForce 4 chipset, have not had one issue yet.