AMD/Intel (n00bie ?, please no flame war)

E

Empyrean

Limp Gawd
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May 27, 2005
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I am steadily building a new computer. Right now I have a case and a sound card (EMU0404). I am gearing this towards audio production, although I will use the computer for my other computing needs as well. I am looking to not break the bank, but I am willing to put the money in to get a quality system. I guess that means, not the cutting edge, but yesterday's best.

My main purchase at this point is a motherboard/CPU. I know you can save a lot by doing combo deals, so I will probably end up doing that. I can settle on what speed processor based on price, but the big choice seems to be AMD or Intel. And when I go to research, each site I visit seems to be slanted to one or the other based on what people have. I read here that AMD is good for gaming and Intel everything else, but other places I've read the only thing Intel does better is video encoding, and AMD is better price/value and runs cooler. Since I am just getting into this computer building and have a lot to figure out, overclocking capabilities is not a concern of mine. I don't plan on gaming heavily, and I don't know when I'd ever need to encode video.

So.... will I get more bang for my buck with AMD? Will Intel's hyper-threading make a big difference in user experience? Or does it not really matter either way? I will be loading XP SP2 as my main OS, if that makes a difference.
 
AMD owns more crowns than just gaming.

I'm biased towards AMD so I can't give you much more help than that. :p
 
i have never had a problem with stability on my intel system :p
the above statements be true though, im actually going to build an amd system in the next week more for my money is what made me decide, a good amd mobo is 130 (non sli) while a good intel mobo around 200, better for gameing too, i never had a hyper threading processor so its not like im going to miss it by switching to amd
 
There are a lot of good Intel mobos under $200. I don't even see any reason to get a $200 Intel mobo. With SLI going with an AMD mobo for around that price isn't bad though.
 
I'm a semi-professional audio producer and I can tell you that you WILL want hyper-threading. If you're going to run at least three different audio/codec programs then go with Intel. If you use any CPU-reliant audio/codec programs, then go with Intel. I've tried to produce music on an Athlon XP/64 and a non-hyperthreading Pentium 4 system and basically the experience suffered.

Take my word for it. ;)

My recommendation: Intel set up with at least 1 GB and a large dedicated hard drive.
Make sure the speed is at least 2.8 GHz, depending on your expected workload. As for the motherboard, I'm not too sure on it due to your pricing concerns. Regardless, the Asus P5AD2-E is a very good choice. There are other good motherboards as well. I would hope you would have some sort of sound card as well-- a 7.1 Revolution of some sort.

-J.
 
GeForceX said:
I'm a semi-professional audio producer and I can tell you that you WILL want hyper-threading. If you're going to run at least three different audio/codec programs then go with Intel. If you use any CPU-reliant audio/codec programs, then go with Intel. I've tried to produce music on an Athlon XP/64 and a non-hyperthreading Pentium 4 system and basically the experience suffered.

Take my word for it. ;)

My recommendation: Intel set up with at least 1 GB and a large dedicated hard drive.
Make sure the speed is at least 2.8 GHz, depending on your expected workload. As for the motherboard, I'm not too sure on it due to your pricing concerns. Regardless, the Asus P5AD2-E is a very good choice. There are other good motherboards as well. I would hope you would have some sort of sound card as well-- a 7.1 Revolution of some sort.

-J.
Click to expand...

or AMD X2 :D
 
I would hope you would have some sort of sound card as well-- a 7.1 Revolution of some sort.
Click to expand...

The sound card is the one thing I've already purchased, it is an Emu 0404. I hear it is a pretty good for audio recording, comparable to the Revo series.
 
I would've recommended the X2 if it was available right now. But since it's not, it's the P4 for now. If you're in a hurry, P4. If you can wait, X2. Although, it will be out of your budget, if you have any.

-J.
 
I didnt say one single bad word or bad name, thats useless moderation. The word 'fanmoron' isnt illegal, or is it. :mad:

Anyway, lets get back on topic kids.
 
Dillusion said:
I didnt say one single bad word or bad name, thats useless moderation. The word 'fanmoron' isnt illegal, or is it. :mad:

Anyway, lets get back on topic kids.
Click to expand...
The word as used in it’s original sentence read as an insult to members of this board who use a particular product. And as such is considered flaming per:

The [H]ard|Forum Rules:

(1) Absolutely NO FLAMING OR NAME CALLING. Mutual respect and civilized conversation is the required norm.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=760666

Since no doubt your comment was made accidentally; as you surely wouldn‘t do that on purpose; I deleted your post so that you wouldn’t accidentally come into conflict with the rules.

But mainly so that it wouldn’t ignite a flame war which such comments are designed to do.

The OP of this thread asked a calm question and even went so far as to include this in his title: “ AMD/Intel (n00bie ?, please no flame war)”

That’s certainly a reasonable request on his part, and in accordance with the previously noted [H]ard|Forum Rules that we all read and agreed to when we joined... .since you asked.

But accidents do happen so no harm no foul.

Thank-you and enjoy the weekend.

gl :)
 
Yeah you're definitely gonna want lots of ram. 1-2gb depending on what you can afford. if you go AMD you'll be using DDR without a doubt.. and the memory will be cheap. If you're looking at a newer intel system with the new socket/chipset you're gonna have to buy DDR2 which can be a bit more pricey.

I personally am an avid AMD user.. but I do understand that Hyperthreading is a wonderful thing. That's why im buying an Athlon X2 this summer. :)

If you can wait and afford it.. I say go with the X2..

Otherwise go Intel 2.8ghz or above.
 
I think that the only reason to go Intel right now is for the budget Celeron line. AMD simply has nothing in the sub $100 price range that is as overclockable or competitive with the Celeron D.
 
I personally would go for one one of the Intels with EMT64 and 2 megs of cache. They're available now and loads cheaper than the X2's will be when you can get them.
 
Athlon 64 X2 is your best bet. You will get the superior performance of AMD's architecture for editing, rendering, cutting apart/splicing audio bits, et cetera, superior encoding performance, and superior multitasking performance to Intel's lineup even with dual cores or hyperthreading (or both). You'll pay about $600 for the 4400+ with 1MB cache rather than 512KB. You'll also be far more futureproofed with AMD's Socket 939, will spend much less on RAM (you'll want 2GB+ of it for heavy audio editing!) ... the system will run cooler, and you can thereby have quieter cooling to focus more on what you're trying to listen to. ;)

You can pre-order an Athlon 64 X2 from Monarch, you shouldn't have a problem getting one within the month. This 'X2 if you can wait' is rather exaggerated in that they are not going to be THAT difficult to obtain at all.
 
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