Comparison wanted please

[knyghtbyte]

ok, in the new year when bank balance permits im building my first system, i just want to know what in the AMD 64 range is equal to the Pentium 4 3Ghz 800FSB with HT, im aware that the P4's have an edge in normal computer use applications when running multiple progs, but that AMD have an edge in gaming.

So i would appreciate if people could please list which AMD model is the equivelant for normal usage and which is the equivelant for gaming usage. I'd prefer people not post from bias point of view, im more interested in actual experience with the chips in comparison, benchmark results are welcome although i havnt currently used anything but 3dMark01/3/5 myself. (im talking about the socket 754 models btw)

I'm not trying to build an uber computer, just a first test build that has at least some punch so i can sell it to my sister to use at her house. Im likely to go for a 2800+ or 3000+ but would like to know where it falls in comparison to the 3Ghz P4 in my Dell 8400. (im also aware the Mobo can affect chips, also OCing them can help, so if possible let me if the 2800+ or 3000+ can hit P4 3Ghz levels with OCing not just for benchmark but to be left running that way permanently)

cheers folks

 

[canadianpsycho]

PR ratings pretty much do all the work for you.

Basically a 3000+ should perform somewhat equally to a P4 3.0.

If you're a hardcore gamer, A64. If you do a lot of things at once, P4.

I just switched from a P4 3.0 running 3.6 to a stock FX-53 (2.4 GHz) and I can tell you this:

-Gaming is faster. 10% and up FPS
-Multitasking is slower. Running a few apps at once make the pc bog down a little. I don't mean running your MSN messenger and checking email. But stuff like extracting large RAR files at the same time and the like

As long as I don't run a few large programs or tasks at once, ther A64 is faster then my OCed P4 rig. Granted, I have 2x the on chip cache, but still... XP boots like nothing. If I didn't have SATA RAID the rig would boot in seconds.

I haven't (and don't plan on) trying a newer P4 DDR-2 rig. I also do not plan on switching to "bleeding edge" Nforce 4 w/SLI. I get good framerates in all games 1280x1024 and am going to stick with what I have, as I'm hoping there won't be a major new game engine for a while now that Source and Doom 3 are out.

 

[knyghtbyte]

cheers canadianpsycho, i was pretty sure the 3000+ was supposed to represent it being an equivelant to the P4 3GHz. My current Dell setup in my sig runs Doom3 and HL2 nicely, altho i think im gonna up my graphics card once the prices on the current top end come down due to the new revision releases.

The computer is likely to get sold on to recoup my building costs, i just want the practice so that later in the year i can think about putting together a tasty rig.....lol

Given that it might go to my sister and her b/f, they will mainly use it for online shopping, emailing etc, occasional photo editing, but i doubt any movie editing, also he will probably play games, but he wont be too worried about the graphics being outstanding, just so long as the framerate is good he'll be happy (currently a console boy, trying to conver him...lol)

how well do you think the rig in my sig compares to this lot once its built, again comment on for gaming and for normal use, help appreciated muchly

MOBO: Abit KV8 (S754) £ 65 (overclockers.co.uk)
CPU : AMD 64 2800+ Newcastle £90 (overclockers.co.uk)
RAM : Crucial 512Mb PC3200 £ 59 (crucial.com/uk)
HDD : Maxtor DiamondMax 80Gb 8mb Cache ATA133 £ 46 (retail version, ebuyer.com)
DVD : AOpen COM5232G 52x/32x/52x/16x CD-RW/DVD £ 25 (retail version, overclockers.co.uk)
GPU : GeForce 6600GT 128MB DDR3 TV-out £140
Case : Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case £ 47 (overclockers.co.uk)
PSU : Antec 350w SmartPower (included in case) £ (overclockers.co.uk)

cost of that lot is £470 give or take a few. By next year i will probably be able to get it slightly cheaper.
How do you think that compares performance-wise to my Dell system which by next year will probably cost around £900 from Dell?

 

[canadianpsycho]

As it always is with PCs, you usually get what you pay for.

I think the rig you're building for your sister will be more then enough, especially if the bf is a console gamer. He'll probably only play the "hot" PC games, and that setup will run HL2, Doom 3 etc. pretty well at 1024x768.

I don't know about the Abit board... Heard some rumblings about it not being that great of an overclocker, but if they are running stock, you'll be fine. If he does start playing hardcore PC gaming, I'd suggest 1GB RAM, and maybe a better gfx card. But as of right now that's a pretty sweet entry to mid level system.

Chances are they'll consider the system pretty quick and good for their needs.

 

[Appledrop]

if you are going to make him play HL2 and the like, 1gb ram is necessary for a smooth game - i found cs/s REALLY annoying on 512 ram, upgraded to 1gb and it was perfect

 

[FlameDeer]

Agree, go for 1GB of RAM will help you in both gaming & applications. PC3200 RAM price by now is very attractive, but maybe will increase not far from now.

 

[knyghtbyte]

Well, to begin with im going for the 512mb just to keep the cost down, they have a kid as well as a mortgage so even the odd £50 is hard to come by, but within 2 or 3 months i can imagine i'd be able to convince them to pay out for it and i'll fit it for them.........

i keep meaning to get HL2 onto my other PC, similar to the one in my sig, but with 512Mb RAM and a 9800XT, i wanna see how it fairs compared to the 8400 im on atm......

 

[whorush]

s754 is single mem channel, 939 has 2. not sure if one stick is cheaper than 2 small ones now, but when i went shopping it was and you mgiht be able to save some that way. otherwise, 939 can access 2 sticks at once, so its worth it for that platform to get 2 sticks.

also, i still dont buy that the p4 w/ HT is faster at day to day stuff than the A64, if that was true, it would have some out in some bench already. but amd wins the standard productivity benches, and indeed most benches in general. i'd like to see some proof of that, doesn anyone have anything?