New Comp. - AMD Athlon 64 x2 or Intel Pentium D Dual Core 2?

[kvp]

I posted a thread almost a month ago with an AMD setup but with the new Pentiums I'd like to get some advice.

Just movies, music, poker, and maybe games.

Party Poker: 8+/- tables, PAHUD, MTH, and PT. I have 2 monitors but always use one of them to have a DVD in the background. With my current comp I can't even run PT while playing and I get lag just playing tables with a movie playing.
Games - I only play WoW now but that will probably stop soon.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ Socket AM2
1024 MB DDR II 667 Memory 240 Pin (OCZ) (512 x 2)
ASUS M2N-E Mother Board
Maxtor 250GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA II
Liteon DVD RW +- Dual Layer w/ Lightscribe Technology SHM-165H6S16X
eVGA GeForce 7600GT KO PCI-E 256MB TV-Out DVI
777 Case
450 Watt Power Supply
$839 CDN

My questions are;

i) The 4200+ CPU is $2 more but has 1mb of L2 Cache instead of 2mb. How big of a diff will this be while playing poker?
ii) The ATI Sapphire Radeon x800 XL instead of the above card, it's $60 cheaper. Should I grab this one?
iii) Would the exact same basic setup except with a Pentium D Dual Core 2 processor be better instead?
iv) Raptor HD = better with PT going?

I basically just want lagless Poker and it would be nice to have PT + PAHUD going again. I'm not on a tight budget but I'd rather keep the cost down with me going back to school in September. Then again I'll pay the extra $$$ if it will really make a difference.

Thanks for the help.

[mayostard]

"Pentium D" and "Core 2" are two very, very different processors. I would not get the Pentium D unless you need a space heater. Those things put out a LOT of heat.

[kvp]

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"Pentium D" and "Core 2" are two very, very different processors. I would not get the Pentium D unless you need a space heater. Those things put out a LOT of heat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Intel Pentium D Dual Core 2 Conroe E6300 1.86GHz FSB 1066, 2MB CPU

It was listed like that on the sites I was browsing. Are you talking about that one when you say it requires extra cooling?

[LomU]

the pentium name has been dropped for the new CPU's, just 'Intel Core 2 Duo' and the current crop for desktop PC's are titled 'Conroe'

also, i'd be interested to hear if these new Inel dual cores are any good as im looking to upgrade aswell but haven't a clue about whether to pick AMD or these new Intel ones.

[Beavis68]

Pentium and Core 2 are different animals.

You can get a core 2 system from HP for around 900 without monitor. Best deals I have found.

That said, I have a pentium D 2.8G system with 1G of ram I am very happy with. Most of my games will run at full resolution and setting with a modest graphics card (I dont have the latest games though).

And only the fastest pentiums are space heaters. My fan is very quite and no heating problems.

The new Core chips are much cooler than AMD chips also.

[Victorvdb]

Core2Duo outclasses AMD by far. I'm looking into buying a new system myself and from what I've gathered from anandtech.com a Core2Duo E6600 beats any AMD out there, on gaming/office/whateveryoucanfind out there.

There is a downside though, and that is that Core2Duo is new, and not yet supported by all motherboards and chipsets. I have also heard people having trouble getting windows installed etc, but the E6600 is outperforming the top of the line AMDs. E6300 will perform better than the duo you just picked apparently, but again, support is a problem atm. Also if you want to get the Core2Duo, you will have to pick another motherboard as they are socket 775 and not AM2

[Beavis68]

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Intel Pentium D Dual Core 2 Conroe E6300 1.86GHz FSB 1066, 2MB CPU



[/ QUOTE ]

People must be coming up to speed with the new branding.

Core2 is a completely different micro-architecture from the "Netburst" Pentium desktop family.

[lastchance]

Core 2's are nice, new, and unnecessary. For right now, AMD will be somewhat cheaper, and the mobo selection is better. AMD is a quality budget option right now, but don't be mistaken, Core 2's have great performance per watt and OC much better.

If you don't have intensive gaming, I think the X800 XL will be a superior buy.

[Beavis68]

Actually Pentium Ds are probably the best $ option now.

[spy587]

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Actually Pentium Ds are probably the best $ option now.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is completely false. The Intel Core Duos(not pentium D) are the best. However, in response to Intel's release, AMD cut their prices by 50% and are now by far the best option for a cheaper CPU.