• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Disappointed coming from P4 to A64 3500+

ScottFern

ScottFern

Diamond Member
Ok, here is my rig

MSI Neo2 Platinum Mobo
A64 3500+ winchester 10X250 = 2500Mhz
OCZ 2 X 512mb Pl. Rev2 PC3200
BFG 6800 GT
WD 74gb raptor

I don't know what it is, but I felt like the i875 chipset along with Hyperthreading overtook the A64 in multitasking and general computer use. I understand all the talk of the glory of A64 and the hype and I even bought into it and purchased $723 worth of "upgrades" but now I am left disappointed and frustrated. Where did I go wrong?

My old P4 ran at 3.3Ghz (Northwood) and I feel as if it outperformed my 3500+. Please believe me, I more than anyone want to believe this was a good upgrade but I can't deny my gut feeling that the new pc now feels somewhat less spectacular than before.

HELP!?

Anyone possibly interested in:

A64 3500+
MSI Neo2 Platinum
OCZ 1GB Platinum Rev2 kit
Stock HSF

Can I just return this all to monarch computers because I am not satisfied?


 
Upgrading from a 3.3ghz P4 to a 3500+, although better, isn't much of a noticeable upgrade really.

And yes, most P4's still beat the 3-00 equivalent series A64s in multitasking, the only time A64 beats P4 in this is with the FX55 vs 3.46EE.
 
Maybe I am doing something wrong? I don't know, but I can't believe it was hyped this much and such a letdown.
 
I came from the 3.5ghz p4 on an i875 mobo as well...The multi-tasking I agree...However my drives run faster and the overall desktop ffels snappier. Plus I benched many of my apps and this 2.6ghz is faster then the 3.5ghz..IN dvdshrink the p4 was faster with deep analysis, w/o it it was not...In TMPGenc the P4 was faster with HT and a hair slower without it, other apps the A64 is faster depending on if multithreaded or different codecs being used....In Cad apps I run my A64 wins half and loses half....IN games they all go to the AMD (prior testing done when I still had 5800U)....

fact is HT was everthing for the p4c...without it the whole p4 is a pile of shite IMO...It gave me 15-22% gains in certain apps and the multitasking was very nice...Without it this A64 would beat it in everything across the board. HT is the great leveler Intel needed to stay respectable with the bloated pipeline and higher mhz, lower ipc architecture they hedged their bets on....

I will wait another month or so and go after a nother winnie and see if 2.8ghz-3.0ghz is in my grasp...The leads will be all gone by then based on interpolation of the scores...

It was not a big speed increase for me as well...However mine was about switching over and getting ready for the next thing....I am waiting for amd dual cores which will IMO will kill the INtel smithfields if they are prescott cores. I also did the upgrade for reason of heat. I have half the fans running and run cooler, and thus quieter....
 
Originally posted by: ScottFern
Maybe I am doing something wrong? I don't know, but I can't believe it was hyped this much and such a letdown.
Click to expand...


Who hyped it?? Ppl have always said multitasking go or stay P4 and for video encoding and editing apps go or stay P4....I haven't seen much else said...

Rumore has it 2500mhz would be about a 4000+ and or a 4.0ghz P4 in a Overall review on apps used....This is still pretty true. The problem is the 3.3ghz with HT in some apps acted like a 3.8-4.0ghz p4 on its own....depending on the optimizations for HT...some have it some dont....ppl will have varying results based on apps they use...
 
If you upgraded from a 3.3Ghz P4 to a 3.5Ghz P4 you probably would feel a big performance increase either (only if you ran benchmark programs would you see any increase.

The big advantage with the A64 archetecture over the P4's is with gaming. Play Far cry and HL2 on your 3.3G P4 and your new A64 3500 and you should feel the differance!!
 
Yeah I must say that if you thought that an A64 would give you better multi-tasking performance than a P4 w/ HTT then you weren't paying attention. But I'm not quite sure how a half a millisecond difference in opening the sixth program you want to have running concurrently is really that big of a deal. The only time that the P4 is a better choice than the A64 is if you're doing extensive encoding etc. If you are one of those people and went A64 then you just didn't do the research. But if you're not, if you play any games, the performance increase will be insane. What makes AMD a better choice IMO, besides price of course, is that in the benchmarks that it wins, specifically gaming benchmarks, it beats intel by a HUGE margin. In contrast, the benchmarks that go to Intel are often small, or at least a lot smaller than the 10-20% margins that the A64 wins by in gaming benchmarks.
 
Well heat for me was never an issue even OC'd 500Mhz on my P4 my idle temp was still 30-32C and under full load never reached past 49C. My A64 idles alot hotter, however I am running stock HSF.

Did you move to the A64 in part because of 64bit software/OS? Is it that soon to realize this is a priority? In addition, I am very disappointed with my OC I am only 300Mhz over, but I am not sure what this is due to expect the CPU itself. I have an 470W PSU along with a good OC mobo and OCZ platinum rev2 is some of the best OC ram out. Any help with my OC would be appreciated.
 
Originally posted by: ScottFern
Well heat for me was never an issue even OC'd 500Mhz on my P4 my idle temp was still 30-32C and under full load never reached past 49C. My A64 idles alot hotter, however I am running stock HSF.

Did you move to the A64 in part because of 64bit software/OS? Is it that soon to realize this is a priority? In addition, I am very disappointed with my OC I am only 300Mhz over, but I am not sure what this is due to expect the CPU itself. I have an 470W PSU along with a good OC mobo and OCZ platinum rev2 is some of the best OC ram out. Any help with my OC would be appreciated.
Click to expand...


Thise idle temps suck and even on a stock copoler...I am at 31c idle and I am no where near a monster hsf..probably a half step up from stock...Actually my idel temps are not what improved by getting a aftermarket hsf, it was the idle to load swing that was helped by 8c.....I idle 31-32 and load at 49-50c.....

I did matter iof fact switch to see if I could test some of the 64bit CAD apps..I am currently doing some research on that...May need to dual boot a LInux to really see sopme advnatges there cause winbloze really sucks....


IO think temp may be holding you back cause you should be under 40c...If you idle 49c you load near 70c...not good....

Those P4 temps seem low..Probably running an Asus right???
 
yep, it was an asus.

How do the chipsets compare head to head? I think the sata controller on the nForce3 mobo is better with my raptor drive?
 
I agree on the sata controller!!! Hard to compare other things. Sound is better I think on this board. I didn't have onboard lan on the other, memory is a moot point, etc...

The Asus mobos were famous for reporting the lower temps...Why I do not necessarily believe my very high reporting abit temps the asus was the extreme the other way..truth probably lied somewhere in the middle...
 
So you are using onboard sound? I heard rumors that using an Audigy on an OC'd A64 rig is a bad idea and limits your OC???
 
Originally posted by: ScottFern
So you are using onboard sound? I heard rumors that using an Audigy on an OC'd A64 rig is a bad idea and limits your OC???
Click to expand...


I stopped using creative products many moons ago.....I dont need 5.1 sound or anything so basic onboard audio is sufficient for me....Some may need more, but since the days of pci issues with those bastards...I dont use them and oc....
 
what are your A64 temps? Mine are 27C to 36C with stock cooler I'm not O/Cing right now. as far as your O/C There are 2 things 1 temps is killing it 2 some like mine just are not great O/C'er's I can only get to 2.6 at moderate voltages 1.525 For the speed that I have, and what I need I have opted to remain at stock. so far there is no game that I can not run and get well over 60FPS and all apps are great.
 
Do this to see a real speedup:

- any scripting language (perl, python etc), including php

- compiled dynamic languages like Common Lisp with CMUCL

- link a monster C++ dynamic library and/or compile C++ code gone insane with template expansion

- mysql benchmarks indicated my AMD64 beats the crap out of my P4, too, but I ended up not entirely trusting the benchmark

Just "using" the CPU the P4 is pretty good, and for some things like media encoding and normal code compilation it is at least price/performance comparable.

For the real McCoy the the other way round compare what happens if you play a 3D game in the foreground while you record a video (encoded) in the background while you have hyperthreading on. Still miss my thread on this, anybody found it? 🙁
 
Idle is 34C reported from CoreCenter. under load it goes to 50C. This is a stock HSF with AS5. My 3dmark03 score is 12751.

 
I was in the same situation as you, but for a slightly different reason. My first PC from Monarch was a P43.4 Prescott. It ran hot from day one and would overheat and shut down even with the side panel off when playing HL2 or Doom III. Monarch was unable to solve this "mystery" so they offered to build me an Athlon 64 3500+ system. I had a DVD drive issue that was resolved, but in video encoding with DVDShrink my P4 and my brother's P4 3.2 Northwood spanks the crap out of it.

With the P4 I could rip, and encode Braveheart (main movie to 70%) deep analysis and smooth quality settings in 36 mins total. With my 3500+ doing just the encoding the best I can get is 35mins, without deep analysis. I only get about 3.3-3.4Mbp second where on my P4 and my brother's P4 it's about 8Mbp second- about 2.5 times faster.

But that's just one app. Photoshop, Paintshop pro, are both faster with the AMD. I haven't tried Premier yet. And of course it plays 3d games great. At present I'm OCed slightly to 2425, and it still runs nice cool and quiet compared to my P4.

My: 3DMark 05 4658, CPU 5181

My Brothers 3Dmark05 2370 (9800pro), CPU 4367 (3.2 Northwood)

Overall I'm quite happy with the system, plus I have an upgrade path for the next 2 years (at least) where with the P4 you're already at the end- no upgrade potential except for a larger L2 cache- WHOOPIE!!
 
Definite side grade but in games..

however...run some benches for us.

superpi 1M, some sciencemark molcular dynamics... some UT2003@10x7 Flyby/botmatch...

I'll tell you right away if something is hosed. Mayby a disk in in PIO mode.. maybe mem is fluxered... need data.
 
Lol, feel the same way.

I use my P4 2.8c @3.5 photoshopping/etc with tmpenc plus 2.5 running in the background with some other apps.

seems like i only touch my 3200 winchester when i play cs:s, ut2004, etc.
 
Originally posted by: Ackmed
Play a game, and you will notice the difference.
Click to expand...

i dunno.. hi settings games avg 5-10% fps faster than my p4. nothing noticeable for me unless running a benchmark..


 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top