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considering a new build: intel vs amd

J

jayw28

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
223
Hey guys im in the market for a new rig as i will be giving my current one away to my brother. For the AMD side I already chose the CPU I wanted (3200+ venice), however I was kind of curious to what Intel had to offer since prices are relatively simular. What kinda of CPU could I get with Intel that offers good bang for the buck (good overclocker a MUST).


Also im a newbie with Intel so with that being said what core is the best choice?


Are there any new cores that are being released soon that offer alot of potential?


PS: plz dont be bias in your opinions guys
 
I'll give you an unbiased recommendation if you can tell me what you'll be doing on the machine. ;)

Athlon 64 (venice if you want to do a good bit of overclocking):
- Gaming, Video EDITING/processing, Audio EDITING/processing, Scientific apps, compiling, Content creation, photo editing, Photoshop (non-CS), RAR archiving, and some types of 3D rendering, or heavy overclocking without fancy cooling

Pentium 4:
- Heavy video ENCODING, audio ENCODING, ZIP archiving, some other types of 3D rendering (non-game related), some content creation (most notably Photoshop CS is a bit quicker)

Athlon 64 X2:
- Heavy multitasking, the above advantages listed for Athlon 64, media encoding as well.

Pentium-D:
- Heavy multitasking where very good single threaded performance is not requried. Not recommendable for games or heavy dynamic (non-encoding, non-repeat operation-related) work is involved. Low cost alternative, go with X2 for an overall superior Dual-core implementation.

Pentium eXtreme Edition:
- Not really a good value given that the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ is able to outperform this CPU at roughly half the price point. Usually not worth the investment unless you need the extra bit of speed in the particular types of 3D rendering it has the advantage in.

Hope that breaks things down fairly well.
 
i was thinking p4 since i will be doing some gaming but not really hardcore, warcraft 3 and cs: source, but i want the extra performance on windows desktop(HT). so with that being said which P4 core should i opt for? good o/cer plz
:O
 
if you are dumping ur current rig to ur brother, then i would suggest you invest in a Intel P4 system. Since you arent gaming much, and more using HT and multitasking, definite P4 is the way to go.

If you are on a budget system, get the one of the Asus 915 chipset mobos.
And P4 3X 550J or 560J with 2x of 512 ddr2 pc5400 ram.
If you are wlling to spend a lot, get the Asus 925 chipset mobos with the P4 660 processors.

I personally just upgraded from my A64 3200+, DFI-SLI-D, GSKILL PC4400 to my current setup: Asus P5GDC-Deluxe, P4 3.6 560J, ocz 1gb of PC5400. My A64 rig was crashing with memory errors, unreliable and multitasking was horrible.
But now, my P4 rig, is awesome. Its smooth, multitasking and video editing is super fast. Gaming feels no different from my old AMD rig IMO.
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
what do you plan to do with the rig?
Click to expand...

If he says a word that starts with g and ends with ames will you automatically say, AMD OMFG IF U DONT BUY AMD URE GAMES WILL TEH SUCK (or something smiliar)?

P4's run games too, not just AMD (not pointed at you, eclipse) guys. Two hours of gaming and 3 hours of windows work doesnt warrant the purchase of an AMD system.

All 530J, 630, and 640 processors pretty much hit 4ghz out of the box, so look at those. Ide go with an NF4 for intel or a 955X chipset motherboard. Both offer great upgradeability. DDR2-667 is fine to go with, so is DDR2-533 if your on a budget.
 
Dillusion said:
If he says a word that starts with g and ends with ames will you automatically say, AMD OMFG IF U DONT BUY AMD URE GAMES WILL TEH SUCK (or something smiliar)?

P4's run games too, not just AMD (not pointed at you, eclipse) guys. Two hours of gaming and 3 hours of windows work doesnt warrant the purchase of an AMD system.

All 530J, 630, and 640 processors pretty much hit 4ghz out of the box, so look at those. Ide go with an NF4 for intel or a 955X chipset motherboard. Both offer great upgradeability. DDR2-667 is fine to go with, so is DDR2-533 if your on a budget.
Click to expand...

True, but either processor will be fine (in practice) for him. This decision is totally psychological.

In any case, I have to respectfully disagree with the i955 or NF4 suggestions. A certain website, (as many of you surely already know), is running a stress test that kind of 'brought a few issues to light' in regard to the i955 and NF4 chipsets... I would suggest a 925X chipset, myself.
 
I would take a look at the ABIT AA8XE (non-fatal1ty version, obviously :D ) with a 925XE chipset. It has actually recieved very postive reviews (unlike the fatal1ty).

This whole AMD versus Intel topic sickens me. I am an AMD user and even I will admit that Intel is the better choice for most ppl. Who cares if the FX-55 gets 102fps in Doom3 while the Pentium 670 gets 91fps? In gaming, the video card is going to bottleneck performance long before the CPU will. The tradeoff of being to do things like run a virus scanner while still being able to use your computer will greatly outweigh AMD's minute performance edge in gaming, IMO.
 
Josh_B said:
True, but either processor will be fine (in practice) for him. This decision is totally psychological.

In any case, I have to respectfully disagree with the i955 or NF4 suggestions. A certain website, (as many of you surely already know), is running a stress test that kind of 'brought a few issues to light' in regard to the i955 and NF4 chipsets... I would suggest a 925X chipset, myself.
Click to expand...

Enlighten us. I have an intel NF4 Mobo with not a single problem that was the fault of the motherboard.
 
I'm going AMD just because it seems like "more fun". HT makes a good difference, but overall it's hard to make the call for you. My Intel now can tear through any game at med/high settings, and its several years old.

I'm going AMD for:
More overclocking fun
Coolness (temp wise)
Try something different
More for your $

Strongly considered intel just like you though
 
hmmm im strongly leaning towards intel as of right now, but now i gotta decide on a mobo. what is the deal with the 4 chipsets tho? (915,925,945,955) which offers the best performace to price ratio? i will be running ddr2 ram and o/cing is a must
 
GVX said:
tradeoff of being to do things like run a virus scanner while still being able to use your computer will greatly outweigh AMD's minute performance edge in gaming, IMO.
Click to expand...
so an AMD 64bit can't handle this as well as a P4? I dunno...
 
No it cannot. Running a virus scan on AMD64 will make the computer much more "un usuable" for lack of a better term, than on a Intel system due to hyperthreading.
 
jayw28 said:
hmmm im strongly leaning towards intel as of right now, but now i gotta decide on a mobo. what is the deal with the 4 chipsets tho? (915,925,945,955) which offers the best performace to price ratio? i will be running ddr2 ram and o/cing is a must
Click to expand...

If you're gonna run DDR2, then cancel out the 915P, as it can handle DDR1, but since you already going DDR2 theres no need to have backwards compatability.

925X/XE is the next step up, and is a very mature and stable chipset. Lots of features, but limited overclocking if you ever decide to wish to do that.

945 and 955 are the brand new chipsets that just debuted two months ago and are not as mature as the 925X/XE series but offer newer things like the ICH7R South bridge and a new North Bridge. Things like enhanced bandwidth, better PCi-E, SATA II, RAID 5, PCI Locks, and Dual Core Compatability are in these two chipsets. ONLY the 945 and 955 chipsets support Dual Core CPU's as of yet. (nvidias NF4 for INTEL does aswell)

And the one you didnt mention, the nvidia NF4 for intel- the only reason to buy this chipset (like i did) is to have SLi compatability later on.
 
n64man120 said:
No it cannot. Running a virus scan on AMD64 will make the computer much more "un usuable" for lack of a better term, than on a Intel system due to hyperthreading.
Click to expand...

HyperThreading is so over-rated, I just dumped my always hot running PIV for my current system, no regrets.
 
n64man120 said:
No it cannot. Running a virus scan on AMD64 will make the computer much more "un usuable" for lack of a better term, than on a Intel system due to hyperthreading.
Click to expand...
that's what an X2 is for ;) :D

Dillusion: maybe, maybe not. everyone knows where my feelings lie, but it is true that he just said he needs a rig. the usage of it should effect what he gets, regardless of the camp :D
 
splinter3k said:
HyperThreading is so over-rated, I just dumped my always hot running PIV for my current system, no regrets.
Click to expand...

Is that a Palermo or Paris core? I have a 3100+ in my spare rig, wondering if i should OC it.
 
n64man120 said:
No it cannot. Running a virus scan on AMD64 will make the computer much more "un usuable" for lack of a better term, than on a Intel system due to hyperthreading.
Click to expand...

hmm... ive never had any problems.. maybe its my enhanced virus protection for sp2 :p

if you want a few extra fps in games, then go a64, if the extra fps dont mean anything to you... get an p4... or if you have money, get an x2 and have the best of both worlds :cool:
 
Glow said:
so an AMD 64bit can't handle this as well as a P4? I dunno...
Click to expand...
I can't speak for A64's as I don't own one. But I do have a Barton 3000+ and that things lags like a b*tch whenever I run a virus/adware scan (even when it's oc'ed to 2.3GHz). My friend's system, which has a 2.4c with HT, is quite usable even when it's running deep system scans in the background.
 
I just sold a 3000+ venice @ 2.6.ghz. I like it for game but when I encode avi to mpeg it feel sluggish and slow compare to the 2.6c @ 3.4 ghz may be I gett used to HT.

I also just got a dual Pent D 820 @ 3.4. My game run smoother than the venice and encode 1 hour of avi to mpeg2 in less than 20 minutes. I can do other task while encoding video no hickup.
 
i went to amd and i am now in hell. i am not sure if this is actually AMD's fault or MS. i use my pc to game a little and for work alot. i made the move because i figured it had to be faster or the same by what i could tell for work stuff. well have had all kinds of issues conserning DCOM and DEP conflicts. i get a random BSOD i cannot repair. granted this stuff will go away when i learn how to might the right changes but i didnt sign up for the time involved. i miss my intel systems. i hooked it up installed the os and it ran no issues like this for 5 years. i bought a A8N-E and a 3200+ i had a 2.4 northwood runnning at 3.2 P4C800-E and i miss it dearly. the pc is extremely fast in games but when i need to make money it seems that it has just been a time hog. all weekend and still running trying to find a way to resolve this issue.
 
HT here, HT there.

I'm still on my XP 1700+, if I run a really demaning app, like compressing large files, I just turn down its priority in the task manager to make the computer usable. It's bothersome, yes, but the system doesn't have to grind to a halt just because you don't have multi-cores or HyperThreading.
 
Araanor said:
HT here, HT there.

I'm still on my XP 1700+, if I run a really demaning app, like compressing large files, I just turn down its priority in the task manager to make the computer usable. It's bothersome, yes, but the system doesn't have to grind to a halt just because you don't have multi-cores or HyperThreading.
Click to expand...

Comparing an XP1700+ to new systems is like comparing a VW bug to a porsche ... I had an xp1800+ and while it workd nicely I noticed HUGE improvements with my xp2600, p4 3.4, p4 2.8, etc... It's 'nice' until you try something faster and see what you are missing and an xp1700+ is OLD SCHOOL :p
 
Of course. I'm planning on taking a big jump with the X2 this year. But that wasn't the point, the point was that you don't have to be handicapped by running tough apps.
 
Dillusion said:
Is that a Palermo or Paris core? I have a 3100+ in my spare rig, wondering if i should OC it.
Click to expand...

Palermo, I hit 2430 with little temp change, although it gets a little unstable above 2390, but I think that is a motherboard limitation. So far I am really impressed witht the speed and stability, and my OCd temps are still lower than my stock temps with my 530j :(
 
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