The Motherboard, Processor, and Memory - Choosing and Installing a CPU

Your choice of a CPU is crucial to get the fastest one can afford that’s suites the motherboard. Only one motherboard suggestions is restricted to a specific speed, the SOYO P4X400 DRAGON Ultra, and that’s because Pentium 4 processors greater than 3GHz need a new motherboard with support for Hyper-Threading Technology.

To choose a motherboard for processor, consider following factors:

* Pentium processors are available at higher clock frequencies in comparison to the Athlon CPUs. The newest Pentium 4 is slightly faster than the fastest Athlon XP.

* Pentiums undergo the best testing regimens in the industry, making sure across-the-board compatibility.

* History has proved that it’s simple to upgrade Athlon-based systems. Intel processors requires new motherboard technology.

* Athlon-based systems deliver a better price/performance ratio.

Due to the simplicity of upgrading and the reasonable costs, try an AMD Athlon processor. It’s not a simple choice, however, as P4 CPUs at 3.06GHz outperform Athlon XP 2800+ CPUs, but only by a small margin. AMD processors are very good because of their speed and simple upgradeability, but Pentium offers new technologies faster than AMD. The following installation demos use the Athlon XP 2800+. Remember that if cost is not an issue and highest performance is required go for a Pentium 4.