AMD or INTEL

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
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So I have a choice before me....
AMD 64 3700+

or

INTEL D 820

I do mostly gaming, coding, and photoshop...

Which would you choose?
 

Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
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Well coding is about as taxing for the CPU as solitare, photoshop may benifit from the dual core CPU, but i've never really done anything in photoshop that takes all that long to render/alter anyway. Gaming the AMD would thrash the intel.
 

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
Originally posted by: 1ceHacka
Playing BF2 and CS:S...would you have a noticable difference in these two cpus?

What resolution? I've got a northwood 3.0 ghz and a x800xl and Half life 2 flies. Don't know about BF2. Only have a 17" monitor for now, so maybe that is why since i play at 1024X768.
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
1,583
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Honestly if thats all ur budget allows i would pick dual core, also the 920 is better than the 820. Dual core is great and i mean it sweet being able to run everything at once and never have lag. Also the diff in games will not be that great as games are mostly gpu limited now anyways. Also some games i noticed run much smoother with dual core. Also in multithreded apps even the lowly 820 beaten the fx 57 in some things.

Those who say that dualcore does not matter, either havent tryed using one or really dont need one. Also i got sick of having lag everytime i got a msn message :p.
Regreted changing my p4c northwood to single core A64, in multitasking it was night and day, but with my dually its all good now :)
 

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
565
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I only have a 1.8GHz P4, 1G Generic Ram, Radeon 9600Pro AGP now and I can run CS:S at 1280x1024 with frame rates of 40-60....so i know i would fly in CS:S. I just want something newer finally.
 

Luckyboy1

Senior member
Mar 13, 2006
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Pick a dual core AMD. Many around here go for the Opterons.

Try and remember that GHz in of itself is not the end of the world. AMD chips get just so much more done per clock cycle. They also have a much shorter path to and from the chip... pretty sad to find out that electrons can be so slow as to be a choke point, but there it is!... and that short path ads efficiency.

If financing allows, I'd go for a system that was DDR2 vs. DDR and one that supports SATA2 vs SATA and I'd also get a crossfire capable mommaboard.

Remember, the motherboard is the foundation on which everything else is built... actually, the power supply is, but that subject not withstanding, the mommaboard will dictate what technologies will be supported and how far you can go with that design, so if you build on a foundation of mud, don't be surprised to see the whole mess sinking before your eyes!
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
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Originally posted by: 1ceHacka
I only have a 1.8GHz P4, 1G Generic Ram, Radeon 9600Pro AGP now and I can run CS:S at 1280x1024 with frame rates of 40-60....so i know i would fly in CS:S. I just want something newer finally.


Yea the diff will be phenominal, if its the original p4 willamette then even a celeron d 2.4ghz will fly compared to it:p

But yea if u can affor the 3800+ x2 if will be faster, also assuming ur using ddr u will be able to reuse the ram, and the gfx card, unless ur planning to upgrade graphics.

With intel u will be stuck with ddr2 and pci express gfx card to buy.

For dually amd u can get an el cheapo mb like the asus a8v with the dually. My boss at work is running a 3800+ on a asus a8v, and its overclocked to 2.4ghz and working fine. EDIT: he had to get a bios update to get it working, was quite funny the system would start, it would not show anything but a message on screen unrecognised cpu and then would shut off.
 

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
565
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As of now...my only financial options (if i want a good video card) are to get a single core amd or this dual core Intel. I am a college kid on a budget. :)
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
1,583
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Originally posted by: Luckyboy1
Pick a dual core AMD. Many around here go for the Opterons.

Try and remember that GHz in of itself is not the end of the world. AMD chips get just so much more done per clock cycle. They also have a much shorter path to and from the chip... pretty sad to find out that electrons can be so slow as to be a choke point, but there it is!... and that short path ads efficiency.

If financing allows, I'd go for a system that was DDR2 vs. DDR and one that supports SATA2 vs SATA and I'd also get a crossfire capable mommaboard.

Remember, the motherboard is the foundation on which everything else is built... actually, the power supply is, but that subject not withstanding, the mommaboard will dictate what technologies will be supported and how far you can go with that design, so if you build on a foundation of mud, don't be surprised to see the whole mess sinking before your eyes!


Thats sertainly true but there are a few older mainboards which are cheap but work well like the asus a8v deluxe, or the msi neo 2 or whatever its called.
 

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
565
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Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
Originally posted by: 1ceHacka
I only have a 1.8GHz P4, 1G Generic Ram, Radeon 9600Pro AGP now and I can run CS:S at 1280x1024 with frame rates of 40-60....so i know i would fly in CS:S. I just want something newer finally.


Yea the diff will be phenominal, if its the original p4 willamette then even a celeron d 2.4ghz will fly compared to it:p

But yea if u can affor the 3800+ x2 if will be faster, also assuming ur using ddr u will be able to reuse the ram, and the gfx card, unless ur planning to upgrade graphics.

With intel u will be stuck with ddr2 and pci express gfx card to buy.

For dually amd u can get an el cheapo mb like the asus a8v with the dually. My boss at work is running a 3800+ on a asus a8v, and its overclocked to 2.4ghz and working fine. EDIT: he had to get a bios update to get it working, was quite funny the system would start, it would not show anything but a message on screen unrecognised cpu and then would shut off.


Unless I found a used X2 I don't have the funds to do that. On newegg the X2 3800 is 295...but I am getting the P D 820 and a ASUS mobo for 230...
 

F1shF4t

Golden Member
Oct 18, 2005
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well from what ur going now either one will be a huge diff, so just get the 820 and be happy with it.
Edit it will perform alright in everything, and fact thats its a dual core it should be a very smooth working comp.
 

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
565
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Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
well from what ur going now either one will be a huge diff, so just get the 820 and be happy with it.
Edit it will perform alright in everything, and fact thats its a dual core it should be a very smooth working comp.



Well during this summer and working, hopefully I can find some extra money to get an AMD X2 as well and just have both rigs... :) Maybe I will just start selling drugs...or robbing banks...they do it all the time in movies... :p JK
 

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
565
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BTW...I keep reading contradictory reviews about the 6800GS and the 7600GT...Some say he 6800 is better and others say the 7600 is better...any first hand experience?
 

mikester

Member
Aug 8, 2005
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If you can get the 820D and a mobo for $230, I say go for it. That's a nice deal for a budget dual-core system, and it will still work very well for you. Yes, the X2 will be faster, but it will cost you another $150 by the time you buy a mobo.

I have a 830D at work and an X2 3800+ at home, both with 2GB of RAM. When I run the X2 at stock speeds, I would say they are about even in performance. Overclocking the X2 to just 2.4 GHz (which most of them can do without breaking a sweat) makes it noticeably faster than the 830D. But, they are both still great machines to use. You can't really go wrong with any dual core IMO.
 

imported_rod

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2005
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Just remember, with the 3800+ you can use your existing DDR RAM, but the Pentium will require you to buy new DDR2 ram.

RoD
 

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,281
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Argh.

There's nothing worse than having to recommend the Pentium D 8xx series...

But yeah, if it's only between those two, i'd go with the dual core.

If you can though, try to scrape up a bit more for the much superior X2 3800+
 

1ceHacka

Senior member
Mar 3, 2006
565
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Originally posted by: n7
Argh.

There's nothing worse than having to recommend the Pentium D 8xx series...

But yeah, if it's only between those two, i'd go with the dual core.

If you can though, try to scrape up a bit more for the much superior X2 3800+


Is the x2 really that much superior? I was reading reviews of the d 820...and they had people OCing to around 4GHz? I know its not all about the ghz, but still a dual core at 4GHz is fast. Also for the mobo i am getting with it...MOBO It just says DDR2 667 for the RAM...what is that in PC speed?
 

Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
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The 820 has been known to OC well, but only on expensive Asus motherboards (as far as i know).

The RAM speed is PC 5500 or somthing, i just think in terms of DDR2 667. It's a different technology to DDR RAM, completelly incompatible. The 2 is very significant.
 

Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
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DDR2 667 as you said. You could get any DDR2 RAM and it'd work, but there's no real point in you getting DDR2 800, the price premium is ridiculous.