AMD Athlon 64 3200+ vs 3000+

[Addikt]

Well I just read this article and they did quite a few different benchmarks to showcase the ability of the 3000+ as the first processor in the Hammer line.

The article can be found here: http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q1/athlon64-3000/index.x?pg=1

Well it compares the performance of the 3000+ to the 3200+ and I was quite surprised as it seems that the additional 512MB on the L2 cache have almost zero effect on performance. Now I am wondering if I should go with the 3200+ or the 3000+ since the 3000+ runs so close to the 3200+ and is $100 CDN less. Input anyone?

 

[Markfw]

Thats what I did.....

 

[Addikt]

How good is the 64 with regards to overclocking...I am thinking just save the $100. In the back of my mind though with the release of the new chips with 1 MB cache, I am wondering if program designers will change their production scheme to incorporate this difference and THEN 1 MB on chip memory will have some advantages.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: Addikt
How good is the 64 with regards to overclocking...I am thinking just save the $100. In the back of my mind though with the release of the new chips with 1 MB cache, I am wondering if program designers will change their production scheme to incorporate this difference and THEN 1 MB on chip memory will have some advantages.

AMD has decided to take all of it's Socket 939 Athlon64 line to 512KB, exceot for the FX series, so I would just get the 3000+. As far as overclocking, given the right board and memory, you can get somewhere around 2.2GHZ-2.4GHZ on air and a lot higher on things like phase change or dry ice cooling. I would wait until May to get a board, when you should be able ot get a nForce3 250GB board for Socket 754, which will be a lot better for overclocking. The Shuttle AN50R is the reigning favorite among extreme overclockers at the moment.

 

[Addikt]

Well, do you guys think that a 480W antec PSU (comes with Sonata case) would be good enough to run a 9800 Pro and Athlon 64 3000+? Also the Sonata only has 2 fans but they are 120mm fans, is that good enough?

 

[JBT]

I should be more than enough

 

[Addikt]

correction =/

380 W PSU

 

[Markfw]

I think you will find that the Sonata comes with a 380, but thats fine....

 

[Addikt]

Yeah, sorry I made a mistake about that...the Sonata comes with a 380W PSU. That was the one I was talking about, but stated it incorrectly as a 480 which is way more than enough. What Watt PSU do you use Mark?

Killer name BTW.

 

[jdogg707]

The 380W PSU is an Antec TruePower PSU, which is known to be an awesome product. If you plan on having lots of hard drives and possibly upgrading to one of the new generation of video cards, I would suggest 400W+, but whatever you get, make sure it is from a quality company and has good outputs. A bad PSU can make even the fastest system have problems.

 

[Addikt]

Well I am going to have 2 Hard drives a Raptor 36 Gig and my other Seagate 120Gig@7200 8mb cache, but I think I make up for the power drain by only having 1 optical device.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: Addikt
Well I am going to have 2 Hard drives a Raptor 36 Gig and my other Seagate 120Gig@7200 8mb cache, but I think I make up for the power drain by only having 1 optical device.

Optical drives will not use the same amount of power as a hard drive. Wiith only two hard drives you'll probably be fine, but I would look at upgrading if you want to start adding more hard drives or next-gen video cards.

 

[Markfw]

I have an Antec true power 430, it came in my Antec 1080awg. Not a pretty case, but I need a big one for all my drives. About ready to add 500 gig to it(2x250 SATA raid 0), to make 790 gig total.
And I already have 2 hds, and two opticals, and all my PCI slots filled. The only thing I don;t drain is he USB ports, nothing in them but one card reader. Printers are all network printers. (TCPIP standalone)

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: jdogg707

Originally posted by: Addikt
Well I am going to have 2 Hard drives a Raptor 36 Gig and my other Seagate 120Gig@7200 8mb cache, but I think I make up for the power drain by only having 1 optical device.

Optical drives will not use the same amount of power as a hard drive. Wiith only two hard drives you'll probably be fine, but I would look at upgrading if you want to start adding more hard drives or next-gen video cards.

The 380W is PLENTY. Running on my Sonata's PSU:

2 36GB Raptors (RAID0)
1 80GB 7200RPM hard drive
2 optical drives (CD-RW, DVD+-RW)
XP 2500+ @ 2.3GHz
GeForce FX5900 @ 475/950
PCI 802.11b card
ATI TV Wonder VE

All voltages are solid, stable, and spot on.

 

[mitchafi]

What do you store on that thing mark...that's alot of of space.

 

[Markfw]

Right now I'm only using about 200 gig (downloads and pictures for years) and quad boot 98SE, Win2k, XP and 64bit XP. I am about ready to start converting my VHS collection to DVD, and I don't want to run short on space, or delete things for a while until I am sure all is well. I have a nive DLT 7000 to back up all up (SCSI of course)