May Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 2

Intel CPU: Pentium 4-3.4 GHz Extreme Edition OEM

Current Cost: $1,029
Months on List: New
Price Change: N/A

After a few months of being virtually impossible to find, the 3.4 GHz version of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition has finally surfaced in the mass market. Based on the Northwood core, the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition is Intel's highest performing enthusiast-level CPU and Intel's only real competitor to the Athlon 64 FX. At a hefty $1,029 price tag, the CPU alone occupies 1/4 of the guide's allowance, so it's unlikely that we will be seeing this processor outside of "extreme" PCs anytime soon.

The Extreme Edition of the Pentium 4 retains all of the features of the Pentium 4 Northwood, including a high-end 3.4 GHz clock speed, an 800MHz FSB, 512K L2 cache, and Hyper-Threading technology, all on a 0.13-micron process. In making the Extreme Edition, Intel added an incredible 2-MB of L3 cache, while maintaining Socket 478 compatibility. At $1,029 the OEM Pentium 4 3.4 GHz Extreme Edition is extremely expensive, but our $4,000 budget has just enough room to accommodate this high-performance CPU.

AMD CPU: Athlon 64 FX-53 OEM

Current Cost: $759
Months on List: New
Price Change: N/A

As a direct response to Intel's 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, AMD countered with the Athlon 64 FX-53. The Athlon 64 FX series has proven itself to be an excellent competitor to Intel's Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, and can even best it in many benchmarks. The Athlon 64 FX-53 represents the top of the line product from AMD (not to mention it's considerably less expensive than Intel's alternative) so it's only natural that we include it in this guide.

On the surface, the Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX appear very similar, as both have 1-MB of L2 cache, an integrated Northbridge, and support for advanced instructions sets such as 3DNow! Professional and SSE2. However, the Athlon 64 FX-53 has a 128-bit (64-bit dual channel) onboard memory controller, while the standard Athlon 64 is single-channel only. The Athlon 64 FX-51 is clocked at 2.4GHz, allowing it to perform on par with the Pentium 4-3.4 GHz Extreme Edition, and in many cases surpass it.

One of the most important, and certainly most talked about, feature of the Athlon 64 series is its support for both 32-bit and 64-bit instructions. Full 64-bit support may not seem all that important right now, but there are a number of 64-bit programs on the horizon (64-bit Windows XP, Unreal Tournament 2004) in which the Athlon 64 will be able to show its 64-bit abilities. In the meantime, the 32-bit support of the Athlon 64 FX-53 is exceptional, and is more than enough to give Intel headaches at the high-end.

AMD and Intel Heatsink-Fan: Thermalright SLK-948U w/Vantec Stealth 92mm

Current Cost: $39
Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$6

As processors continue to rise in clock speed, heat dissipation can become a real issue. There are generally two options for the true enthusiast; air cooling and water cooling, the latter of which is a bit too expensive and beyond the scope of this guide. As a result, a nice solid copper heatsink and high quality fan should fit the bill for both of our processors this month, which is where the Thermalright SLK-948U comes in. Having received high marks across the Net, the Thermalright SLK-948U is not only a high quality heastink, but is also compatible with both Intel and AMD platforms.

The Thermalright SLK-948U is a large all-copper heatsink that is universally compatible with AMD Athlon XP, 64 and 64 FX CPUs, as well as Intel Pentium 4 processors. The heatsink can support a fan of up to 92mm in size, which offers the perfect balance between ambient noise and cooling capability. Opting for the quieter approach, we chose to go with the Vantec Stealth 92mm fan again this month.

The fan can push about 28 CFM air while operating at only 20db. This is great for those all-nighters where you don't want to wake up the neighborhood. However, if you're looking to do some heavy duty overclocking (and don't mind wearing ear plugs) you may want to look into the Delta FFB6912EHE 92mm fan as a high-performance alternative.