Opinion.. P4@4ghz OR A64@2.4+ ? ?

[AMDScooter]

In a bit of a dilemma here. I have a new MSI K8n Neo Plat NF3 MOBO and A64 3000 on the way. The plan WAS to set it up as a seperate box for some DivX encoding duty and to try out as my first A64 setup. But after looking at the MSI board closely and the prelim. OC'ing results I am wondering if I might be better off using it with all the components currently in my Vapochill rather than my P4@4Ghz. My desktop Vapo system is mainly used for gaming. Most benchmarks point to the A64 3400 & 3700 stomping the stock P4 3.4 and EE's in almost all gaming, but my P4 is running at 4Ghz. I'm sure I could get at LEAST 2.3~2.5 out of the A64 3000 in the Vapo. Which do you think I should go with... please put any BIAS toward AMD aside here, I lubbs AMD too but I wanna know which is gunna give me the best FPS. Input from someone who has had both a fast P4C and A64 setup would be optimal.. TIA..

Scoot

 

[Acanthus]

If the northbridge doesnt overheat then the A64 would be the fastest on vapo.

 

[myocardia]

For gaming, it's not going to matter much, since a 9800 Pro isn't anywhere near fast enough. You'd have to have at least an X800XT for the video card not to be the bottleneck.

 

[AMDScooter]

For gaming, it's not going to matter much, since a 9800 Pro isn't anywhere near fast enough. You'd have to have at least an X800XT for the video card not to be the bottleneck.

An X800 Pro is on the short list for my next upgrade soon. Assuming the GPU will not be the limiting factor... which would you go with??

 

[oldman420]

i agree the cpu is not as important as gpu for good fps.
buty for gaming i would always choose a 64 bit vs 32 bit also the a64 has the northbridge right on the die

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: oldman420
i agree the cpu is not as important as gpu for good fps.
buty for gaming i would always choose a 64 bit vs 32 bit also the a64 has the northbridge right on the die

i think you mean the mem controller right on the die... not necessarily the northbridge.. (unless the northbridge only controls the mem then you're correct)...

what vapochill is it? PE? XE? LS?

and what stepping is the 3000+... CG or CO?

I think that the 3000+ should do at least 2.5 to 2.6 under phase change.

In that case,for gaming purposes, the A64 is faster to begin with... and will only make it faster.

3.0C @ 4 ghz with a 9800 pro i could pull off 20.8K on 3dmark2k1 (synthetic i know).
3200+@ 2.6 ghz with a 9700 (yes 9700) pro i could pull of 22.8k on 3dmark2k1 (synthetic i know).

then again... can your eyes tell the difference between 85 fps and 78 fps?

but then again... you can run higher resolutions with the faster system (combination of video card and cpu)....

people talk about running games at 1600x1200 on an A64 but not being able to on an AXP... so yeah...

 

[AMDScooter]

The Vapo is the PE unit in my siggy. I won't know what stepping the A64 3000 is until it gets here. If I can get >2.6 out of it I'm in there. I play BF1942 DC at 1600x1200 4xAA/8xAF and will take any spare frames I can get my hands on.

 

[charloscarlies]

If it's for gaming I would think the A64 would be the better choice. It shouldn't be a problem getting 2.4-2.5 with your Vapochill, and the A64's ramp pretty well with clockspeed. Either would make for a great system, but I think the A64 @ 2.4-2.6 ghz would edge out the P4 just barely.