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Technology Roadmap Early 2004?

H

HitMan-sC

Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
987
Well....where should I start? First of all, my dad shocked me today and said that if I wanted to, I could build a computer for myself now. Now, I know playing the waiting game is going to leave you waiting forever, so now I don't know where to start on building a new gaming system, mostly from the processor standpoint. Would anyone care to give the scoop on choosing between: Athlon 64, Prescott, or a current P4 C? My current questions:

1. What do the coming months have in store for processors/chipsets/sockets? Are the current new processors like Prescott too flaky or unrevised to buy right now? Which ones are the smartest choices?

2. Video cards: new cores? when? Will buying a 9800XT right now leave me crying in two weeks?

3. 64-bit processors, apps, and games. This is a big one. What is the current support for 64-bit processors looking like?

If anyone would care to get some of these things straightened out, I'd greatly appreciate it. Right now, I have to get my head to stop spinning and get to researching.
 
i'd say go ahead with the 9800xt.

but wait on the 64 bits.

my theory is the last of generation of stuff is gonna be fairly equal to the latest and greatest. that is, a 9800xt will still be 3rd or so on when the "new" cores come out.

same with the 64bits.
 
1. Both AMD and Intel are moving to new sockets. Don't do ANYTHING until they come out. The C [Northwood] currently outperforms the E [Prescott] with ease. This will most likely change with the new socket [lower temps = better OCing]. Also new Intel Mobos will be coming out at the end of March that Support DDR2, Auziolo [sp?], and PCI Express so I'd wait on those. Sorry if my AMD info is skimpy at best, ask others for AMD info.

2. DON'T get an XT. Dear god don't, it's just a few FPS faster than the Pro and like twice the price. Secondly, once the R420 comes out it will drive the older gen prices down.

3. 64-bit is a non issue right now. I don't expect it to really kick off until next year.
 
Agree with the above. Go to newegg and buy a 229$ 9800 pro. This is one of the best values I've seen in a long time. And almost every pro will OC to XT speeds or better. There is no reason whatsoever to buy an XT.

And like they said, wait on a CPU untill new socket platforms are out.
 
The Athlon 64 family will presumably be shifted over to Socket 939 entirely. It's not exactly clear whether or not Socket 754 will continue to feature processors that would interest enthusiasts. I would recommend waiting for Socket 939, coming this March or April. The Pentium 4 family will move entirely over to Socket 775, also referred to as 'Socket T.' The ETA on this transition is March or April, last time I checked. Frankly I think there's no justifiable reason to buy a Socket 478 Pentium 4 system at this point, though I'm not sure if Prescott's problems will be fixed by a socket change alone. Nonetheless, it's the safest bet as far as Pentium 4s go.

On the AMD side of things, the new chipset lineup will be the SiS 755, the NVIDIA nForce 3 250/250Gb, and the VIA K8T890. Each chipset has their advantages, but I'm not going to exhaustively compare them here. Basically, ETA of these chipsets are, again, the March-April timeframe. The SiS 755 is already available, but motherboard support is lacking at this point. It should get better. For the new Intel processors, the i915 series (Grantsdale) and i925 series (Alderwood) will complement the new socket change. Again, there are lots of features to compare, but the big technologies that will be introduced are DDR-II and PCI Express. AMD chipsets will probably also see PCI Express implementations in the spring as well. The VIA K8T890 is rumored to support both PCI Express and AGP/PCI, as is the Intel equivalent, the PT890.

And guess what? March-April will also bring new GPU families from ATi and NVIDIA. The codenames are R420/423 and NV40, respectively. There isn't much known about either GPU family, except that they will bring new levels of performance that are definitely worth waiting for. Rumors have suggested a doubling in memory bandwidth, and a marked increase in not only clock frequencies but also internal optimizations. By then, XGI and S3 may have more refined products as well.
 
Just hang out and wait for now...the current set of video cards from nVidia aren't much better than the ti4x00 series, and there really aren't any DX9 games worth playing on the 9x00 radeons...

As for CPU's, anything above a 2.5 ghz p4 will run any game on the market just fine...
 
Hmm.....first time a thread like this has actually generated recommendations to wait. Sure, all next-gen stuff will be out this spring, but isn't new technology usually followed by a whole bunch of revisions? Perhaps I will wait this one out, though...
 
Socket 775 isnt really a socket, its a land grid array or LGA for short.

Right now is still a good time to buy, but I'd say wait til fall if you want something noticeably better in every area in terms of performance. There will be quite a few shifts to new technology in every major area over the next few months, then of course waiting for the market and companies to get everything ironed out and working well. I'll be waiting til november before another system overhaul.
 
Originally posted by DJDishwateR
Socket 775 isnt really a socket, its a land grid array or LGA for short.

Right now is still a good time to buy, but I'd say wait til fall if you want something noticeably better in every area in terms of performance. There will be quite a few shifts to new technology in every major area over the next few months, then of course waiting for the market and companies to get everything ironed out and working well. I'll be waiting til november before another system overhaul.
Click to expand...

Then I'd have to wait until fall until things become more mainstream. I think I'm going to go ahead and build now. Now, my processor choice lies between the P4C and the Athlon 64.....any suggestions?
 
If you OC [seriously, not just 200-400 mhz] then go with the P4C. If you plan to run at stock then go with the A64.
 
Originally posted by Vagrant Zero
If you OC [seriously, not just 200-400 mhz] then go with the P4C. If you plan to run at stock then go with the A64.
Click to expand...

^
agreed! but i think it comes down to the fact that the A64 will run your games much better. the new beta version of XP is out with 64 bit technology. i haven't heard much about it, but it might be worth looking into.

i don't know if this makes any difference to you, but i'm getting an A64 setup this or next month. like you said originally, if you start waiting you'll always be waiting. plus i would rather not wait and buy something that has been out for a while then somehting that is brand spankin new.
 
Why do you say the A64 runs games "much better"? I'm sure if I buy a 3.2C and run it at, say 3.5GHz, it would still totally kick ass. By the way, I'm new to overclocking, so I have a lot of reading to do.
 
a P4 will run games well, but the A64 is supposed to be killer when it comes to the gaming aspect. i will try to find some info on that
 
Perhaps the Athlon 64 FX is the one that kicked ass in benchmarks, but the plain old Athlon 64 is supposed to be more "vanilla", if you know what I mean.
 
no no they are both killer in games. Here is the article you should look at. it deals with A64 FX, A64, P4, and P4 EE. more specifically read the paragraph titled The Good for the point i am trying to make
 
Yarr.

It doesn't matter which processor you buy! If you're buying high-end, expect high-end performance. I guarantee there will be no noticeable difference in gaming between the two platforms.

I believe 64-bit processing is currently useless. Without a 64-bit OS or 64-bit applications, emulating 32-bit can only hurt performance. Although, remember my above statement. I'm sure 64-bit will be more future-proof, but I'm also sure that that future is one or two generations away.

Buy any P4C or Barton and be very happy, for a year and a half, then upgrade when you're bored. Save your dad's money.

I bought a 3.0C last week. It runs fine. Am I worried about it not being fast enough? No, because when I find it's lagging behind in Quake 5, it'll be time for a new system anyway.
 
i seriously doubt intel is going to be ready to shift to a new socket by april/may, more like q4 of 04 or q1 of 05 before things are out in volume and at reasonable prices. until then, prescott cpu's (p4 E's) will not be competitive with the already established C cpu's, as they have a much longer pipeline. They probably wont offer any performance advantage until they get to 4ghz+, and that is if they dont melt first. its going to take a lot of work on their part, probably at least a few steppings and the transition to LGA and the new 9-- series chipsets.

on the amd side, 64 bit processing is sucking at the moment. the 64 bit beta of windows gives you about a 10% improvement in office type stuff, but a 10%-50% decrease in performance in gaming. clearly not worth it. AMD has serious issues, and its going to take a while before drivers and games are released in 64 bit compilations that are truely optimized for 64 bit extensions. This will take at least a year to a year and a half, realistically. Naturally, intel has a chip in the pipeline with 64 bit extensions, as they are not going to be left behind, so that should come out thereafter.

My suggestion:
stick with a p4 C on an 865 chipset right now. most bang for your buck. upgrade to 64 bit computing in 3-4 years when things are more ironed out, which should be accompanied by pci express and other such new technology.
 
So, it seems like the Pentium 4C is the way to go right now. Which one (not the 2.4c, I want a higher clock speed) would you suggest buying in terms of decent overclocking?
 
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