64 bit processor for non-gamer ?

[stealthbox]

Im not gamer , i rarely play games on the computer, and im thinking of buying the amd athlon 64 3000+ which is around 150$ right now.......I was wondering if since im not a gamer, if should i go with a different processor ?

I surf the internet alot and and save alot of media files and im a hardcore filesharer, everything from bittorent to emule and kazaa..........also i want to run mandrake linux which right now i cant cause it runs way to slow on my 1.3 ghz intel celeron(it takes twice as much to do the same task than in xp , if not even more than twice)..........I want to know what amd processor is the best for making and operating system as fast as possible for the same money ....... im not looking to save money, i just want to get the fastest processor i can get for the same money that will fit me the best..........

Im thinking maybe i shouldnt get a 64 bit processor cause im not a gamer and cause theres barely any software out there that takes advantege of it .......

At the same time im thinking it would be nice to have the latest technology , and if 2 years from now a amd athlon 64 3000+ will be more up to date..........

Please feel free to post your opinion, thanks.

 

[3chordcharlie]

if you're interested in linux, then 64 bit may be good for you - it has more support for 64 bit than windows right now.

Other than that, the A64 is still an excellent 32bit processor, and you won't go wrong with it.

 

[CheesePoofs]

The fact that the Athlon64's are 64 bit is not the reason they are fast, its just an added bonus to anyone who buys one. There are only one or two games out that use the 64 bit capacity of the A64's, so gamers don't buy them because they are 64 bit, they buy them because they run many 32 bit programs faster than an Intel 32 bit processor does.
I would still go with an A64 if i were you, because they provide the best bang for the buck of any processor out there. Plus, you would be able to get the 64 bit version of mandrake linux, which should run faster than the 32 bit version.

 

[like a fox]

It's not so much that having an A64 now would be a great thing (except for u do get the most bang for ur buck), but rather it will be a nice thing to have in the future when windows/linux have perfected their os's.

 

[stealthbox]

thank you for all youre replies

 

[uOpt]

Linux works pretty much perfectly on AMD64 already.

But there is practically no advantage of running the 64 bit version of the OS versus running the 32 bit OS on the same AMD64 box. A few things get a little faster, but some get slower (rare) and I had to collect a bunch of things that are 32-bit binaries running in my 64 bit Linux (because they use stupid things like flash which are not available as 64 bit binaries and hence force the whole browser chain to be 32 bit).

The advantage of the Athlon 64s is that they are faster for the money for many tasks. The advantage of Intel solutions is that the mainboard and chipsets are often more problem-free than AMD64 equivalents.

AMD did their homework between Athlon XP and Athlon 64 in some areas where they were lacking, though. My processor shipped with a much better ventilator and the whole combo takes a lot less power (idle) than my XP combo did.

 

[bluemax]

I'm not a bit gamer either, but the music software I plan on using needs as much horsepower as I can give it. The A64 is cheaper than most P4's, runs the software better (P4's have weird spiking issues and HT causes crashes) and many music apps are already generating 64-bit extensions.

Yep - in January, my PC build will be Socket 939 Athlon64. No question.

(Though s754 is tempting to save a little cash, but 939 has a better future ahead of it. Dual channel RAM couldn't hurt either.)

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: like a fox
It's not so much that having an A64 now would be a great thing (except for u do get the most bang for ur buck), but rather it will be a nice thing to have in the future when windows/linux have perfected their os's.

HAHA Windows perfected. That's a good one.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski

Originally posted by: like a fox
It's not so much that having an A64 now would be a great thing (except for u do get the most bang for ur buck), but rather it will be a nice thing to have in the future when windows/linux have perfected their os's.

HAHA Windows perfected. That's a good one.

Good point, the day microsoft makes a perfect or even near perfect OS is the day i fall over dead. Im just hoping that XP-64 bit edition runs in the first place, if it runs faster, that will be an added bonus .

 

[ssvegeta1010]

The 64-bit is just an added bonus to a great processor.
Its not like there is a price issue either.
( :thumbsup: to AMD for pricing)

 

[quizzelsnatch]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski

Originally posted by: like a fox
It's not so much that having an A64 now would be a great thing (except for u do get the most bang for ur buck), but rather it will be a nice thing to have in the future when windows/linux have perfected their os's.

HAHA Windows perfected. That's a good one.

I WAS ABOUT TO SAY THAT!