Coppermine vs. Thunderbird

[sps]

I need some help here. I can't decide between a P3 800EB on an ASUS CUSL2 and a Thunderbird 900 on a Abit KT7. They'd both be about the same price for the motherboard and CPU. I know the AMD setup would be faster (how much I don't know), but I'm not wild about the VIA chipset nor am I wild about having a non-Intel processor. Is the speed increase in the Thunderbird worth it? I worry about the stability of a non-Intel chip and the instability of the VIA chipset (I don't really want to wait for the AMD 760 chipset). Alternatively, if I were to decide the VIA chipsets are ok, I'd also look at the MSI 694D Pro with 2 P3 800EBs.

What do you think?

 

[RoadRuner]

they are both very stable. For windows. Branch out into other os's and you're in a whole nother ball game.

Nobody will scold you for having an intel that crashes.

 

[sps]

Thanks. I probably should've mentioned I will be running W2k Pro on whatever platform I decide to go with. Do you have personal experience with the Thunderbird and the Coppermine? What is your take on the VIA KT133 chipset verses the Intel 815E? Would you say that either system could be setup and run trouble free, or is one slightly more reliable than others? The biggest thing holding me back from the MSI 694D and 2 Coppermines is the VIA chipset. Is the KT133 more reliable than the 694? Is it better memory-wise? I've found very little on the net that compares a Thunderbird on a KT133 to a Coppermine on a 815E.

 

[BlueScreenVW]

Here's a good article at Tom's Hardware where an Asus CUSL2 with Coppermine is compared to the Asus K7V:

Comparison (august 28)

 

[Specialist]

I'm running a T-Bird 900 under win2k no problems and very stable!

 

[han888]

for me is coppermine, and i will never buy amd system until the DDR board release! before that i have thunderbird 700 on asus a7v, and i got a lot of problem, finally i sold the system and get my p3-700

 

[sps]

Thanks for the Tom's Hardware link. That article was helpful. I was under the impression that the Thunderbirds were faster clock for clock than the Coppermines. The tests in that article made it look like in general they are about even clock for clock. Anybody else have any comments or experiences they can share that might swing me one way or the other? I should mention that this computer won't be used for gaming. I will primarily use it for graphics (AutoCAD, Photoshop, etc.). I do tend to do a lot of things at once, but I just go back and forth between programs (rarely is something working in the background - save decoding an MP3 or burning a CD, etc.) so I'm not sure if I should be taking a harder look at SMP or not (which would of course rule out the AMD). I want a setup that's powerful and that will not have to be replaced/upgraded for awhile.

 

[formulav8]

Amd is much better at fpu

 

[MikeyP]

With the programs you will be running, the T-Bird will be faster clock for clock due to its superiour FPU. I'd recommend the AMD setup.

 

[sps]

Thanks guys. It looks like I should rule out the single processor P3. What do you think about a dually system though? I could build a single P3 800EB system w/ an MSI 694D Pro mobo for the same price as a Thunderbird 900 system. Then I could plop in another 800EB after a while for only the cost of a CPU. Do you think the dually setup would be better for what I want to use the computer for than the T-bird 900, or am I better off with the T-bird and spending the extra money down the road on more memory rather than an additional processor?

 

[nateholtrop]

Dual P3 systems are no better than dual p2 systems in my opinion but with p2 systems you have more cache space so maybe you want a dually p2 400 system then!!!

 

[Rigoletto]

I don't think right now I would buy a setup unless I had none at all already. I would wait for AMD DDR.
Forget about dual CPUs, you are at the mercy of whether software supports it properly. Even ones that say they do aren't necessarily clever about it.

 

[Mustanggt]

If I were you I would forget the Tbird and do a Duron for now and try to overclock it to 900 little less performace not much though and save $130 bucks. good luck

 

[sps]

Maybe I should even consider a good BX board and try to OC a P3 700E?

 

[Duke105]

You mentioned that you do AutoCAD and stuff like that. Yes, the T-Bird may have a more powerful FPU but keep in mind that programs like these tend to be optimized for SSE. Although check your software to confirm this. If it does support SSE, then go for the Coppermine. If it doesn't support SSE, then go for the T-Bird.