AMD64 3000+ or an Intel P4 3.0 GHz for my next PC ???

[transtec]

Hi Guys,

It's time for me to buy a new PC. I jus cant decide which way to go. Well my first and last PC was an Intel Pentium III 800 MHz and I worked on it for almost 5 years with few upgrades ( like memory, VGA stuff ). I've heard that AMD64 is stunningly high in performance to its current P4 3.0 GHz cousin and also very low in price .
I've read plenty of reviews on the net and seen comparison charts ( the one from TomsHardware is excellent !) and also have been adviced by my friends who use AMDs saying that AMD does give a performance rise. But I have figured out that this "performance" is only in gaming as the internet firgures and reviews show.
It's easier if I state the intentions of going to a new PC.
1) Well I want faster performance ( obviously ),
2) I'll be doing lots of programming ( Java, .net and the like )
3) Also a littile bit of 3ds Max and Photoshop.
4) Plus a great deal of stability since Ill be on the net fulltime.

And the PC configurations that I have received quotations on are as follows :

AMD : >>>
AMD64 Athlon 3000+
Gigabyte motherboard
128 Geforce ( PCI Express )
512MB DDR
etc etc....

Pentium : >>>
Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHZ ( 1MB cache )
Intel motherboard ( 915GEV )
512 MB DDR 2 RAM
Gigabyte PCX 5300 128MB PCI Express
etc etc.


Well there's almost a US $150 difference if I switch on from Intel to AMD64. But thing is, am I better off with Intel than AMD cos Im not gonna use my PC for gaming ( I mite use it for a few times, but definitely not all the time... ) ? I'm sorry for asking this million dollar question but the numerous reviews on the net have all left me puzzled !

 

[LSTAN]

I think from the THG review, you may have noticed that AMD support the 3D Max instruction set and Intel not.

Though I am not quite sure how this instruction set affected the performance of the chips but one thing is definitely sure, Intel P4 chip has higher heat losses that AMD.

 

[paparazi]

1) Well I want faster performance ( obviously )
Well both are faster, the AMD faster for gaming but the Intel probably better for 3ds Max and Photoshop, thing is, there isn't much in it either way.

2) I'll be doing lots of programming ( Java, .net and the like )
Well Hyperthreading makes the Intel best for these

3) Also a littile bit of 3ds Max and Photoshop.
Still think Intel P4 has the edge

4) Plus a great deal of stability since Ill be on the net fulltime.
Well stability doesn't get much better than with an Intel CPU combined with an Intel chipset and on an Intel motherboard.

But your spec lists do raise a few more questions:

1)Why an Intel 915GEV (with onboard graphics) seems a bit pointless if the setup has a seperate graphics card
You would be better looking at one of the newer Intel motherboards with the 945 chipset that has support for both DDR2 677 and dual core Intel CPU's

2) Second point, is the inclusion of the very weak PCX5300 graphics card, if you have any gaming asperations then this card is just not up to playing any of the newer games at useable frame rates.

3) Try and get the 3.0gig P4 with 2meg cache if you can, it doesn't cost much more.

4) I would also push for a full gig of ram baring in mind the applications you are running.

Martin



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Participate and help others.

 

[KevinADC]

No sense it having a great system with a mediocre monitor. The monitor is your primary interface with your computer, you should always try and get the best monitor you can, if you are upgrading a 5 year old computer you may still be using a 17 inch CRT type monitor. 19+ inch flat panels or LCDs are really nice. Do some research before purchasing anything.

 

[transtec]

Well thanx a lot for the replies guys,

Yea, I've given thought on goin in Intel's way cos it's more popular and still a gud brand altho reviews say AMD64 is better in some areas.
Well as for a 915GEV mobo, thing is in my country, the new chipsets ( 925, 945 ) aren't available. I donno if they are available in Gigabyte and MSI models here, but definitely not in Intel mobos. So I have to settle for this.
Abt the 3.0 Gig CPU, well I havent actually received the number and model of the quoted CPU. I know there are several versions in P4 3.0 GHz. So Ill have to ask for the exact number and get the details. I know it would be better if I settle for the one with EM64T technolgy ( 64 bit ) and a higher L2 cache.
And as for the VGA, well Im on a budget, I tht since it's on PCI Express, it would support the needs of "occasional gaming" that I'd be doing. If u think that there are good PCIExpress models pls do list them down for me.

I have come across some questions whilst trying to arrive at the best P4 CPU config. for my new PC.

1) I thought maybe I should increase the CPU from 3.0 Gigs to 3.2 GHz whilst compromising on staying at 512MB DDR2 rather than going 1Gig Ram. Do u think going for this .2 Ghz speed increase is an advantage over another 512MB DDR2 which I cud use as a dual channel RAM ?

2) I wanted to scrap the idea of going for a PCIExpress VGA and use the Intel Media Accelarator for video. Maybe later I can invest in a good PCIExpress card at a cheap price. For the moment I only want to do my assignments on my PC.
So if I use the new Intel Media Accelarator for video, would it slow down the performance of my PC ? And how good is it for gaming ? Is it better than the PCX 5300 I've included ?

3) Could someone please help me with the different editions available on the Pentium 4 line up ? There are P4 3.0 GHz EE edition, then a P4 3.0 GHZ E edition... what do these EE and E letters stand for ?

 

[LSTAN]

The Intel Media accelerator is a 128Mb on-board graphic, meaning it will eat-off 128Mb off your installed RAM.

P4 EE - the EE stands for Extreme Edition, basically using the same core as the Xeon CPU.
EE clock speed ranges from:
socket 478 - 3.2GHz~3.4GHz
socket 775 - 3.4GHz~3.72GHz

P4 "E" - the "E" is the contiunation of P4 "C", Intel skip the "D" numbering because they reserved it for their Pentium D CPU. The "E" has a new instruction set added and that is also how Intel numbered their CPUs.
E clock speed ranges from:
socket 478 - 2.8GHz~3.4GHz
socket 775 - 2.66GHz~3.6GHz

 

[carpetbelly]

a gig of ram over half a gig will defo be more noticeable especially if you do 3DMax & Photoshop work, I use both those programs and when I went to half a gig of ram (slots fried in my old mobo) then I noticed a horrible difference.

I have a gig and a half and that's pretty nice

 

[transtec]

Do u use Athlon or Pentium for Photoshop and 3ds MAX work ?

 

[paparazi]

transtec
Relating to your motherboard purchase.
I would still go for one of the later Intel chipsets, possibly change from Intel brand to:

Asus
Abit
MSI or
Gigabyte

Full sized ATX and maybe a basic PCIe graphics card like an ATI X300 if gaming is not going to be important.
I wouldn't recommend going with the onboard graphics.

2meg cache Intel would be desireable for you.

Otherwise an AMD X2 (dual core on an NF4 platform) if you suddenly win the lottery.
Martin



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Participate and help others.

 

[carpetbelly]

Personally I use an Athlon64 3000. It's a socket 754 too.

It does me fine. I'm an occasional gamer, but spend most of my time with an athlon. Even though the Pentiums generally perform slightly better at image rendering and what not I prefer the fact my AMD runs at about 35celcius under load with the stock heatsink and not many fans in my case. Thus making it quieter to work with and it doesn't heat my room up to much either.

Also, a decent monitor for photoshop, 3DMax, Maya... Any sort of work like that is essential. I weas running a lovely duel screen 19" CRT setup and switched to single widescreen 20" Dell TFT that's far superior, and again, gives out far less heat and is more comftable to work with.

 

[transtec]

Yea I'd like to go ahead with dual core and if it's dual core I know that AMD leads way ahead than Intel. But the problem is these dual core CPUs hav not yet arrived to the Sri Lankan market. For now I have to settle for Intel 3.2 GHz ( with 2MB cache, E64MT etc ) since the only Athlon's available are of speeds upto 3000+.
I have postponed this purchase for another 2 weeks or more ( definitely after the 24th this month ) to go ahead with it, hoping that the vendors will bring in new stock by then. If at that time I find Athlon dual cores avaialable or the Athlon FX series processors available, Im going for AMD . If not it'll be dear ole Intel.
For the moment Im jus going through the various components and reading reviews on what should be right for me. As for the panel monitor couple of guys mentioned, I do not have enuf money to buy such a baby altho it's gonna be more comfy than CRT.

 

[carpetbelly]

yeah, a good monitor will set you back some... mine cost £350... for about £10 more and the deals on at the time I could have had a diel screen 19" TFT setup but the 19"TFTs still only had a res of 1280*1024 and at least my monitor does 1680*1020 (or something like that hehe).

 

[transtec]

Hope this thread is still alive,

Could somebody please tell me which online store would ship an AMD64 dual core or an AMD64 above 3000+ processor to my country ( Sri Lanka ). Im thinking of getting it down from an online store.

Thanx, hoping for an answer soon.

 

[electronicsfreak]

Im not for sure which one might but you can take a look at a few of these stores here.

http://www.pricewatch.com

(has many of stores)

http://www.newegg.com

http://www.tigerdirect.com

 

[transtec]

I got hold of a site that would ship the AMD64 dual core 3800+ CPU to my country. It's named as Manticore Technology, the link is

http://www.manticoreinc.com/tech/product_info.php?cPath=1_22_23_25&products_id=39

I believe this would do the job. But the problem comes now when I have to select a good Mobo if I go ahead with this purchase. I have spent all this time researching on an Intel 640 3.2GHz processor. Add to it I have never used an AMD system before.

So could someone please recommend a good mobo or a chipset that would go well with this processor ?

 

[paparazi]

Transec
Basically any Nforce4 ultra or SLI chipset based socket 939 motherboard from one of the TOP 5/6 manufacturers
Obviously pic one that has the features that best suit your needs.
Asus
Abit
Gigabyte
MSI
DFI
For example:
Asus A8N-E or A8N-SLI
Abit K8N
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum
Each manufacturer has 3/4 options of each board range.
Note* SLI is the top NF4 chipset even if you don't use two SLI compatible graphics cards this version of the chip has most features (Ultra is the next)

martin


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