3700SD and 7800GTX

[Bona Fide]

I'm at a fork in the road here on my journey to build a good computer. Here are my two choices:

1. Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego and Geforce 7800GTX
2. Athlon 64 X2 4200+ and Radeon X850 XT

My computer's primary uses will be gaming and graphic design. Right now I'm leaning towards the 1st combo because of the sheer combined power of the 3700+ and 7800GTX. But I don't want to be left in the dust when multithreaded apps start to go mainstream. Will the 3700+ be able to keep pace when those kinds of apps come around? Bear in mind, I plan to overclock either setup, both the CPU and the graphics card. I think I can get around 2.8 on the 3700+ and 2.6 on the 4200+. And I'm sure I could squeeze some more out of the 7800GTX, as well as get the X850 up to Platinum speeds.

Which one should I go with?

 

[biostud]

What about x2 + 6800GT or wait until 11th of august where the 7800GT is supposed (aka. a rumor) to launch?

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: biostud
What about x2 + 6800GT or wait until 11th of august where the 7800GT is supposed (aka. a rumor) to launch?

Yeah, 3800+ and 7800GT
Middle ground on both parts.
(By 3800+ I mean the new cheaper dual core proc from AMD, not the single core 3800+)

 

[Bona Fide]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: biostud
What about x2 + 6800GT or wait until 11th of august where the 7800GT is supposed (aka. a rumor) to launch?

Yeah, 3800+ and 7800GT
Middle ground on both parts.
(By 3800+ I mean the new cheaper dual core proc from AMD, not the single core 3800+)

I was considering that, but I'm not too sure about when either one is gonna come out. Regardless, I have until the end of the year to decide, so that combo might still work for me. Then again, prices could drop once again by Christmas time

I'm probably going to want the 4000+ X2, if they make one. A 2x1mb L2 cache is oh-so appealing, but I'll settle for 2x512mb. I just hope they can overclock good, since a 3800+ will perform like a 3200+ in games. But if it can overclock like a 3200+...w00t!

 

[Cheesetogo]

the 3700 and 7800gtx will give you the ultimate performance right now in games. Unless you plan on multi-tasking like crazy, I would say forget dual core for now.

 

[Bona Fide]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
the 3700 and 7800gtx will give you the ultimate performance right now in games. Unless you plan on multi-tasking like crazy, I would say forget dual core for now.

The "for now" part is what is worrying me. Sure this will be top performance, but for how long? I need to make this computer last 3-4 years. And I'm sure that by 2009, dual-core will be as ancient as the Pentium III is right now. Single-core will be so obselete that people will be buying them in antique shops. I want to make this as future-proof as possible, because I'm not going to be able to make many upgrades in the coming years.

 

[BitByBit]

The 4200+ X2 and 3700+ are both 2.2GHz chips, with the former having 512KB of L2 per core instead of 1MB. The slight decrease in single-thread performance is not worth sacrificing that second core, IMO. Aside from the obvious multitasking advantage, a year or so from now, you may wish you had gone the X2 route, as multithreaded software should be more widespread by then.
If you intend to build a system to last you a few years, go X2.

 

[coomar]

there was a review where after about 2.2ghz, a64's didn't really increase the fps with a 7800gtx too noticebly, basically 2-3% every 200mhz, a 3800/4000 x2 should be more than enough

 

[Zebo]

7800GTX is the only highend card you should consider. It has way more features, runs cooler, and is boat loads faster than x850xtpe or 6800U. In some cases 2x faster.

Bewteen those two choices I'd have to get 3700 and 7800GTX

Wait for 3800+ Dualcore.. Use that wait time to find a hot deal on a GTX and buy it... I saw one for $474 a week ago.

 

[lopri]

Another vote for the 3700+ & 7800GTX combo.
I'm just comparing CPU prices and GPU prices in general. Think about it as a long term investment. In your case, it might be easier to upgrade the CPUs than the GPUs, since GPUs are more expensive. I could see a sharp drop in A64 3x00+ prices in the future. (Yes I'm seeing things) but I don't think the 7800GTX will price will come down that quick. On the other hand, if R520 arrives as planned, your $400+ X850XT will be quickly obsolete.

 

[MBrown]

Wait for the 4000X2(im assuming it will have 1mg cache per core) overclock it, and then get a 7800gt and overclock that. Thats exactly what im going to do.

 

[Hacp]

I'd have to go with the dual core here. If you can just try to squeeze a 7800GTX into your budget heh. I know monarch is selling one for 507 shipped.