AMD or Intel for 1) noise, 2) stability, 3) performance, 4) features?

[kudukudu]

I was thinking of going with an nforce4/AMD rig and was thinking of something like this:

antec P180 case
Seasonic S12 500 or 600 watt suppply with cable extender (deal with P180 and A8N issue)
Asus A8N-SLI premium
samsung spinpoint drives
video card with a heat pipe
etc.

I wanted to go with the Asus board since they are the only one to have a silent heat pipe for the chipset, but I am concerned about the maturity of the nforce4 chipset and the issues being posted about the A8N-SlI premium such as the folllowing:

Official DO's and DONT'S for Asus A8N-SLI (Premium)

I realize that even the best products in the world have lots of postings about all of their problems and that if you tried to purchase only products that had no negative postings you would never buy anything, but it seems that there are a disproprotionate amount of posts focusing on the idiosyncracies of nfroce4 (e.g. active armor not working).

I am interested in a machine for gaming, video editing and general use. My criteria in order of importance are:

1) low noise - this sucker needs to be silent. Loudest things should be the slow moving 120 mm case fans
2) stability - I want a machine that is rock solid and won't have strange reboots, crashes, etc.
3) performance - I am willing to sacrifice a bit on this front and don't need the absolute fastest possible rig. For example a 6600GT video card would be acceptable to me.
4) Features - I don't require a chipset that has every possible bell and whistle, especially those that look good on a datasheet, but that you end up turning off because all of the kinks haven't been worked out (e.g. nforce4 active armor). I will end up buying a fully loaded board with whatever chipset/cpu option I go for and will expect it to have firewire, RAID, etc.

I understand that in terms of heat production and performance AMD is the clear winner with CPUs, but from an overall solution perspective which include chipsets and motherboards, I think the answer is less clear.

If my top 2 criteria are silence and stability, should I be considering an Intel based solution rather than an nforce4/AMD based solution? Note that I have no intention of over-clocking.

 

[RampantAndroid]

AMD Athlon 64s runn cooler than the P4 prescotts (hence why intel was pushing the new BTX format...and its foundered)

I've not heard anything wrong with stability on A64s.....just avoid MSI mobos....

A64s give the best performance for their speed (effeciency) and thus generate less heat.

features depend on the motherboard...some mobos are feature laden, but have no tech support and are problematic (my MSI K8N neo2 plat for example) and others are less feature laden/no BS and VERY stable...while getting 24/7 US based support (my new BGF nforce 4)

The nForce 4 have up to 8 SATA ports with added in controllers, most have firewire along w/ onboard audio.

But really, being a feature junkie is asking for it, as features don't mean quality...esp with Taiwanese based companies.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
I've not heard anything wrong with stability on A64s.....just avoid MSI mobos....

Just because you had bad luck with your MSI, or didn't know how to configure it doesn't make them all bad :roll:

Asus has been very questionable IMO with their A64 mobos.

Abit AN8 Ultra would be recommendation for a silent passively cooled s939 PCI-e mobo.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: kudukudu
I am interested in a machine for gaming, video editing and general use. My criteria in order of importance are:

1) low noise - this sucker needs to be silent. Loudest things should be the slow moving 120 mm case fans
2) stability - I want a machine that is rock solid and won't have strange reboots, crashes, etc.
3) performance - I am willing to sacrifice a bit on this front and don't need the absolute fastest possible rig. For example a 6600GT video card would be acceptable to me.
4) Features - I don't require a chipset that has every possible bell and whistle, especially those that look good on a datasheet, but that you end up turning off because all of the kinks haven't been worked out (e.g. nforce4 active armor). I will end up buying a fully loaded board with whatever chipset/cpu option I go for and will expect it to have firewire, RAID, etc.

If my top 2 criteria are silence and stability, should I be considering an Intel based solution rather than an nforce4/AMD based solution? Note that I have no intention of over-clocking.

Both platforms should be stable. Silence is a different issue. It is easier to make cooler components quieter from using fewer/slower fans, so AMD wins this one.

1) To do this, you'll need an AMD CPU and a passive heatsink such as that huge one made by Scythe.

2) Machine should be stable regardless of CPU brand as long as it is put together properly, all the proper drivers are installed and all the parts are functioning properly. It is just as easy to have an unstable Intel system as an unstable AMD system.

3) You don't need to sacrifice on CPU performance. You will need to sacrifice a bit on video card performance because the fastest cards run hot. My suggestion would be an ATI X800XL video card. Gigabyte makes a passive one using that video GPU. The reason I mention that one is it uses a 110nm process and consumes less power than most other GPUs that fast, indeed it does not even need additional power that most other cards require. Less power draw = less heat output = easier to run passive.

4) Just have to find the right board, as long as the chipsets are passively cooled.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
I've not heard anything wrong with stability on A64s.....just avoid MSI mobos....

Just because you had bad luck with your MSI, or didn't know how to configure it doesn't make them all bad :roll:

Asus has been very questionable IMO with their A64 mobos.

Abit AN8 Ultra would be recommendation for a silent passively cooled s939 PCI-e mobo.

It isn't just mine. Many friends who got this board have had the same issues....all the BIOSes MSI has released since version 1.6 have been screwed up....giving errors in hex and whatnot....some of these problems can be found on these forums, some on other forums.....MSI is not know for being very good. That's the generaly opion everyone I talked to who has owned one has said.

Asus can be good...they can be bad. Many people (myself included) have trouble getting a hold of their tech support.....I guess they go by whether they like your name or not....

 

[mechBgon]

First of all, the guy who posted that "official" thread was having problems that resulted from his own newbitude. IMHO he should not be posting "official" anything, unless it's "Official: I am a newbie!"

My thread might interest you regarding quietness. The video clip was mainly posted to illustrate that SCSI is not scary-loud anymore, but the spec list might interest you. Without the SCSI drive, and with the Seasonic PSU (or a full-passive PSU like a Phantom) that would be one alarmingly-quiet box.

As it is, if I walk into the office and my monitor is turned off, I basically have to look at the computer and see if the LEDs are lit or not. After a while the TruePowerII gets warm enough to make a little noise that I can hear if I sit down, but I have to be listening for it. Granted, offices are not always as quiet as all that, either.

 

[Steeldragonnyc]

(mechBgon) Amen to that brotha....

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
I've not heard anything wrong with stability on A64s.....just avoid MSI mobos....

Just because you had bad luck with your MSI, or didn't know how to configure it doesn't make them all bad :roll:

I've had multiple buggy MSI boards. I also have one that's been running fine for two years. I've never had such bad luck with Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, or even ECS.

 

[Andres3605]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
.....just avoid MSI mobos....

I have own many MSI motherboards including my current computer without a single problem.