AMD guy may switch BACK over to INTEL!?!?

[imported_KuJaX]

I have always been an Intel guy, but as soon as AMD came out with the Palmino, I switched over to AMD. Ever since, i've been with AMD, but I feel myself wanting to build another Intel system.

Here is my circumstance: I am running a Barton 2500+ with a gig of kingston pc3200 ram and Gigabyte 7n400-l motherboard. It has been running great, but I think i'm going to hand this stuff over as a gift to my mother and start up with Intel again.

I do not game anymore, almost not at all. I do a lot of multi-tasking, and I mean a lot (enough for me to have 4 monitors hooked up). SO i thought I would come back to Intel.

I've been reading about the Prescott 3.2ghz Intel P4. I have been out of the "loop" with Intel products, so what are some good benefits of specific motherboards or specific speed/type of RAM? What about bang for the buck?

I COULD end up buying an Athlon 64 3200 or so, new motherboard, and keep the RAM. It would most likely end up costing less.

I essentially want a processor/mobo/ram that can handle all my programs that I have open at any given time, and give me almost no "thinking time" when going to open something else. I like the feeling of clicking on "firefox.exe" as fast as I can, and it will open up instantanously.

*PM me if you have a athlon 64/mobo or P4/mobo/ram for sale*

 

[w00t]

um u might not want to go with the prescot core they are actually slower than the northwood. see some reviews at the site.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...ts/showdoc.aspx?i=1956

 

[Markfw]

Well, I would go with the 3500 939 pin 90nm Athlon64 and one gig of ram (with as much as you do maybe even 2 gig)

 

[mickles]

Multi-tasking you are probably going to be better off withan Intel due to hyperthreading.

AMD has been noted to perform significantly below the Intel with this respect. Gaming is where AMD has Intel by the balls.

 

[n7]

Meh, the Prescotts have done well in more recent reviews, so i don't think that Northwood > Prescott assumption stands up anymore.

As for Intel vs. AMD, i think a P4 is more suited for your needs, even though many people here will say go for the A64.

As great as A64s are, when you are doing a ton of multitasking like you mentioned, Hyperthreading should be worth it.

 

[sandorski]

What kind of "Multitasking", having 4 monitors doesn't really say anything informative.

 

[TheStu]

Of course if you are multi-tasking... you may want to check out a Mac.. if you have the moolah that is... check out this review

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2232

 

[uOpt]

What kind of multi-tasking?

I started a thread with some measurements about hyperthreading. I found that the effect for normal CPU-bound processes is faily minimal, 10-20% and some slowdown for some single-threaded stuff.

However, I found that running a 3D game in the foreground and a CPU-hog in the background were hugely improved by hyperthreading. I would assume but have not verified that any bus-intensive application would show this, which could mean graphics and video editing shuffling lots of 2D graphics would behave similar.

Last but not least I found that even for single processes/threads the P4 northwood is very competitive for the price when it comes to encoding and compilation - which are the things that make me actually wait. The AMD is only faster for the money for the stuff that makes the computer feel snappier, so to speak.

 

[Avalon]

Dual Opterons.
Just kidding, too expensive, I know

 

[imported_KuJaX]

I generally have atleast 2-3 mozilla/firefoxes open with each having 5-7 tabs. I generally have Microsoft Word and Excel going, Winamp, mIRC, MSN, Yahoo, AIM. I have a career in daytrading/swing trading the stock market, so I generally have 10-20 open charts running real-time gathering data from the market. On top of that, I also take a lot of screenshots with Hypersnap while i'm trading, and uploading them with SmartFTP.

Whats this business about Northwood better than Prescott?

It looks like I may be able to snag a Intel D915PBL Mobo and Intel LGA775 Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHz for $370. I would hate to buy the top of the line P4, because they are just too expensive at this point.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer
However, I found that running a 3D game in the foreground and a CPU-hog in the background were hugely improved by hyperthreading. I would assume but have not verified that any bus-intensive application would show this, which could mean graphics and video editing shuffling lots of 2D graphics would behave similar.

exactly my experience. disappointed in a64 multitasking vs p4c/e

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: KuJaX
I generally have atleast 2-3 mozilla/firefoxes open with each having 5-7 tabs. I generally have Microsoft Word and Excel going, Winamp, mIRC, MSN, Yahoo, AIM. I have a career in daytrading/swing trading the stock market, so I generally have 10-20 open charts running real-time gathering data from the market. On top of that, I also take a lot of screenshots with Hypersnap while i'm trading, and uploading them with SmartFTP.

Whats this business about Northwood better than Prescott?

It looks like I may be able to snag a Intel D915PBL Mobo and Intel LGA775 Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHz for $370. I would hate to buy the top of the line P4, because they are just too expensive at this point.

I don't think HyperThreading is going to matter much doing that, what you need more is lots of ram. Though 1gb is probably plenty.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Avalon
Dual Opterons.
Just kidding, too expensive, I know

Not really, I built one for less than a FX55 cost.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: Avalon
Dual Opterons.
Just kidding, too expensive, I know

Not really, I built one for less than a FX55 cost.

Too expensive for his needs, is what I meant.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Avalon

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: Avalon
Dual Opterons.
Just kidding, too expensive, I know

Not really, I built one for less than a FX55 cost.

Too expensive for his needs, is what I meant.

The way he talks I'm not so certain. Take his quote

I do not game anymore, almost not at all. I do a lot of multi-tasking, and I mean a lot (enough for me to have 4 monitors hooked up). SO i thought I would come back to Intel

Now that sounds like a candidate for dually to me. Unless all his monitors are junk I doubt he is strapped for cash. Dual Xeon might fit his needs better than the Opterons though. Looking@the overclocks people are getting with them I'm almost regretting I picked the Opteron myself....

 

[iversonyin]

The question came down to this:

How effective is HT when it come down to multitasking compare to A64? (with price in mind)

Can a P4 2.8gig-3.2gig HT blow away a A64 2800+ when it come to multi-tasking?


The author also mention having 4 monitors hook up to his computer. So would it be better for him to go PCI e (intel) at this time?

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: iversonyin
The question came down to this:

How effective is HT when it come down to multitasking compare to A64? (with price in mind)

Can a P4 2.8gig-3.2gig HT blow away a A64 2800+ when it come to multi-tasking?


The author also mention having 4 monitors hook up to his computer. So would it be better for him to go PCI e (intel) at this time?

depends on the kind of multitasking. from his description of how he uses his pc, i doubt "blow away" would apply. nothing he's described is particularly cpu intensive; not sure if he'd notice a difference regardless of which cpu he chose.

if you do cpu intensive tasks, such as encoding in the background while playing half-life2 in the foreground, yes, the HT will "blow away" the a64.

 

[Avalon]

I dunno DP. It seems as if he doesn't have enough for a dually system if he's aiming for a $370 bundle and says the higher end P4s are too expensive. I could be wrong.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Avalon
I dunno DP. It seems as if he doesn't have enough for a dually system if he's aiming for a $370 bundle and says the higher end P4s are too expensive. I could be wrong.

Nah, you are probably right=wants caviar on a tunafish budget

 

[RussianSensation]

Tom's Hardware Video #5: P4 Head-to-Head - 3.6 GHz w/o HT VS. 3.0 GHz w/HT

Multi-Threaded performance tested under 3 Scenarios

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Avalon
Dual Opterons.
Just kidding, too expensive, I know

The slower models aren't too bad.

 

[Megadeth2]

Go Prescott. The Prescott performs slightly faster than the Northwood brother.

 

[Fingers]

Sounds like you should spend your money on the best Hard drive you can find and a lot of fast memory. That's where your multitasking benefits will best be seen.

 

[imported_KuJaX]

I have a

15,000rpm scsi 18.4 scsi hd
and two
10,000 rpm asata wd 30 giggers for a total of 60 gigs @ raid 0

I have a gig of Kingston pc3200 RAM. I use to run a dual athlon mp 2200+ with a gig of eec registered ram, but for some reason I didnt like how it worked out.

 

[Megatomic]

Hey KuJaX, here's my take on it. If you feel so strongly about the situation that you'd ask us our opinions on the matter, then you probably really want to make the switch. I say go for it, if I wasn't involved in the closed WinXP-64 beta I'd have tried out a 925x/Prescott rig rather than my new A64 (which rocks for the way I use my computer). HT does make a difference to the multitaskers and certain types of media encoding really do benefit from the P4 architecture. But honestly, either choice will be a huge upgrade from what you're currently using.