Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Originally posted by: Duvie
Now hold on there...not all business apps just more so when lame-arse sites run sysmark and content creation 2002 versions...many of the apps in 2004 version of the software are optimised for the p4 hence is why in some of the reviews it is better....
Also my 3.5ghz p4 with HT enabled beats an athlon 3000+ oc'd to 2.3ghz...I get 2 work units done in 3 hours versus 2 for them in ~4 hours....
So not just multimedia....some rendering, some number crunching, etc...
Just keep it honest and don't exagerate so much....Gaming is cut and dry and the others not so much....
I would recommend to ppl to get the 1mb cache version anyways and stay away form the 512 version as the 3200+ price has come way down, if they are into the number crunching.....
Duvie I agree with you a p4 system is a superb all-around machine, I have one myself. However you should consider that the expectations of getting a 3.5ghz out of a 2.6 are somewhat optimistic as the average range is somewhat below that range. I know that SETI delivers better performance under p4 and some other programs do as well due to optimizations to hyperthreading. In fact, the future as more programs become optimized for hyperthreading, so will the improvement in speed of the p4 cpu. On the other hand, it can be argued that the performance improvements that can come from the introduction of the 64-bit OS are also significant. Also even if Athlon loses out of some benchmarks to p4 by ~10%, it wins the gaming benchmarks by a healthy 10-25%. I'd live with losing 10% all around because less than 10% is unnoticable by the human eye, but an improvement in all games by just simply changing the platform is nothing short of astounding. Imagine if you could buy new synthetic oil for your sports car and any sports car would benefit in acceleration from 0-60mph. Obviously the oil will not improve its slalom speed and handling characteristics. But it is a real difference you can feel.
Also older benchmarks were more biased towards the pentium design and thats is why athlon beats p4 in both content creation 2004 and business winstone 2004. The fact that it also beats pentium in most mathematical calculations shows to me that its a "faster thinker", that's why in chess, mathematica and superpi the athlon system dominates again. I think what you have to realize is that there are more computer users who play videogames than use decoding and converting of formats to mp3 and what not because all of this is now readily available in comparison to the past where you had to do the work. I mean now you can simply tape onto a dvd disc. If overclocking is not an option I do not see at all how p4 can compete at this point, because not only is AMD all around faster but it is cheaper. If overclocking is a viable option, then you should be prepared to overclock way past 3.2ghz or otherwise it is not worth it. Also remember, 2.6@3.2+ is a snappy system but a 3000+ at 2.2 will make it into a 3400+ (yeah yeah - the 512 cache which accounts for 2-3% loss in performance). Even with that in mind the 3400+ easily beats p4 in 90% of the benchmarks simple as that. Not only that, you can pick up a Sis 755 top notch chipset motherboard for the athlon for a mere $90. With the athlon you can also just get 1 stick of 512mb of ram further helping to decrease costs and the trouble of having to think about getting a 3200 or higher ram to meet the ratios in case you decide to overclock. This is nitpicking from my point of view, but personally if any computer task (other than seti and folding) took me longer than 30 min I would simply do it overnight. In that case it woudl not matter if it takes me 5 or 10 hours to render or encode/decode because it will not affect me anyways. On the other hand with the athlon you'll get faster performance in Microsoft Office, Powerpoint, Internet explorer, opening of the general interface and small programs, and to top it off faster gaming performance. Now most of these probably occupy a larger portion of the computer user's tasks. To add credentials to my opinion, almost every review i've read other than Tom agrees the Athlon 64 is a better processor. The only question is when to upgrade? Wait for the new sockets for both intel and amd processors, or buy them now? At the time of me building my rig, p4 seemed to be the better choice. It was cheaper, faster and allowed for better overclocks and performance. But I am an enthusiast and I acknowledge the changes in the marketplace as they arrive, and I believe that the Athlon 64 is better overall, under the assumption that the user will apply the generalization of my description above (business/office and videogame applications). In the end, it is what you use your processor for that matters.
) But if its a total new system then i agree with RussianSensation the Athlon solution seems like a better choice..
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