Suguestions on a good workhorse-multimedia processor!

[Salamero]

Hey all! I am a mechanical engineering grad student and work with a lot of resources hog programs such as solidworks & pro/e for 3D modeling, MathCAD & Matlab for data analysis and number crunching and program with C++ and visual studio. Above all, I am a huge multitasker and I will often be running four or five programs at the same time. Here is a good example of a set of tasks which I would be running simultaneously: IBM Viavoice (voice recognition-I'mdisabled), Microsoft word, Excel, & Matlab. Or another would be, firefox, solidworks/pro/e, and iTunes!

The two most important qualities that I am looking for in my computer is stability first and foremost, and then speed. Nothing worst than a crash that wipes out all my work. I currently have a P4 1.5 Ghz-512 ram Sony Vaio and Its too slow for me now though its pretty stable.

The computer I am building will need a fast+reliable processor. I plan to add high-end sound and video cards so I can watch and record television as well as listen to all my music from my computer through my receiver and speakers. I keep reading and am not sure what to get. Is hyperthreading the way to go or should I not think twice about it and just get a dual core processor? Will there be a big difference between getting 1 MB L2 cache as opposed to the 2 MB L2 cache ?

I am on a budget so I can't spend more than about 350 bucks on the processor. Please advise me as to best type of processor to get (dual or single) and then and maybe suggestions as to specific procesors. I would appreciate all the advice you guys can give me as I don't have a lot of time to spend reading articles and reviews !!! Help!

SN

 

[Salamero]

Come on! Throw me a bone people!

 

[w00t]

Get a Opteron 165.

 

[Markfw]

Opteron 165 (if you can find it) or X2 3800+, either is fine, they should OC to about the same level

 

[Salamero]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Opteron 165 (if you can find it) or X2 3800+, either is fine, they should OC to about the same level

Can I ask what the differences between the two are? Im familiar w/the 3800 but not the 165.

Also, are the stories of AMD being unstable untrue? I plan to use the cpu for 2+ years.

 

[Meuge]

Yes the stories of AMD being unstable are propagated by Intel PR and crazy fanboys who can't build a system.

Industrial Lights and Magic have switcher over to A64. I think you're safe.

Opteron 165 is the same default 2.0GHz clock, but has 1MB of cache per core, versus 512k for the X2 3800.

 

[Markfw]

The 165 is 1.8 and the 170 (that I have) is 2.0 default. Since he really wants stability, I would say either no OC, or very mild, 2400 at the most, and go for the X2 3800, as it is higher stock clock.

 

[kamranziadar]

Well Opteron 165 is the best buy in any case. Stability is not an issue with opterons you can overclock as far as your Motherboard will let you.

 

[CP5670]

The stability will be the same if your other components are good, although AMD probably has an edge due to the much lower heat output.

Also, if you get a dual core you might want to upgrade to the latest versions of some of those numerical computation programs, if you don't have them already. At least with Matlab and Mathematica, only the most recent (Windows) versions are multithreaded and can benefit from dual cores, even though these types of programs should be perfect matches for dual cores. Sucks for me, as I have older versions of these but don't want to shell out for upgrades, so I'm just sticking to a single core for now.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: kamranziadar
Well Opteron 165 is the best buy in any case. Stability is not an issue with opterons you can overclock as far as your Motherboard will let you.

If you verclock too much, it won;t be stable. My 170 can only do 2550 stable. It ran 2650 for a few hours, locked up. Then 2600 for a week then locked up. now at 2550, its been weeks.

 

[Salamero]

Originally posted by: CP5670
The stability will be the same if your other components are good, although AMD probably has an edge due to the much lower heat output.

Also, if you get a dual core you might want to upgrade to the latest versions of some of those numerical computation programs, if you don't have them already. At least with Matlab and Mathematica, only the most recent (Windows) versions are multithreaded and can benefit from dual cores, even though these types of programs should be perfect matches for dual cores. Sucks for me, as I have older versions of these but don't want to shell out for upgrades, so I'm just sticking to a single core for now.

So you think dual core is unnecessary at this point? I have the latest Matlab & Solidworks.
Do you think the P4's w/HT would work better for multi-tasking?

 

[Salamero]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: kamranziadar
Well Opteron 165 is the best buy in any case. Stability is not an issue with opterons you can overclock as far as your Motherboard will let you.

If you verclock too much, it won;t be stable. My 170 can only do 2550 stable. It ran 2650 for a few hours, locked up. Then 2600 for a week then locked up. now at 2550, its been weeks.

Just to be clear, a AMD 3800 @2.2Ghz runs as fast as a 3.8Ghz P4. Right?

 

[CP5670]

So you think dual core is unnecessary at this point? I have the latest Matlab & Solidworks.
Do you think the P4's w/HT would work better for multi-tasking?

You'll still get big boosts wth a dual core on the CAD/rendering programs and with any multitasking (a dual core is a no brainer for the type of stuff you are doing), just not with the math programs if you have slightly older versions. I think the latest Matlab takes advantage of dual cores, but I'm not entirely sure.

The HT will help a bit in some cases but isn't comparable to a dual core.

 

[Salamero]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
The 165 is 1.8 and the 170 (that I have) is 2.0 default. Since he really wants stability, I would say either no OC, or very mild, 2400 at the most, and go for the X2 3800, as it is higher stock clock.

I could just buy the the 165, OC to 2 Ghz and save $100 while maintaining stability. Right?

 

[Markfw]

The 165 is more than the 3800 X2 last I saw. I was suggestiong getting the X2 3800 and OC to 2.4 like an X2 4800 and save $600 ! At 2.4 it should be rock steady.

 

[Zebo]

Opteron 165 - no brainer. AMD's dual cores simply own intel in 3D modeling, MathCAD, Matlab and visual studio. Sometimes by double!!!

Up to 2200Mhz is'nt even OCing IMO. you won't even bump voltage to get there and chip can handle it easy... Most can handle 2500Mhz. Also with the Opteron 165 you get a much much better heatsink than with 3800. Has heat pipes and is very quiet, silent if you have a motherboard with thermal monitoring. For example I set mine up to turn on fan at 40C..hardly ever turns on and when it does it only does so at about 700-1200 rpm.. which is silent.

 

[Salamero]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Opteron 165 - no brainer. AMD's dual cores simply own intel in 3D modeling, MathCAD, Matlab and visual studio. Sometimes by double!!!

Up to 2200Mhz is'nt even OCing IMO. you won't even bump voltage to get there and chip can handle it easy... Most can handle 2500Mhz. Also with the Opteron 165 you get a much much better heatsink than with 3800. Has heat pipes and is very quiet, silent if you have a motherboard with thermal monitoring. For example I set mine up to turn on fan at 40C..hardly ever turns on and when it does it only does so at about 700-1200 rpm.. which is silent.

I think you're right. Sounds like the 165 is the best option. OCing it to 2.2Ghzs would put it on par with the 3800s clock while keeping it stable plus the added cache.
I have always been an Intel guy. I guess there's a level of "saftey blanket" effect from owning one. AMD's rap was that it was unstable and incompatible with certain software. I guess that was true way back when they first came out? Hopefuly its all bullcrap cause I'm ready to go the AMD route!

 

[theMan]

there are no problems with amd anymore. also, the opty 165 is getting really expensive right now. its more than the 3800+. if you dont plan on doing hardcore overclocking, just get the 3800+. it will almost surely get to 2.4ghz, and if you get to 2.5, you will have a 4800+ right there.

 

[Salamero]

Originally posted by: theman
there are no problems with amd anymore. also, the opty 165 is getting really expensive right now. its more than the 3800+. if you dont plan on doing hardcore overclocking, just get the 3800+. it will almost surely get to 2.4ghz, and if you get to 2.5, you will have a 4800+ right there.

Since I use such resource intensive programs, would I not benefit from the extra 512kbs of L2 cache on the 165? Or is the difference insignificant?

 

[Markfw]

Check out some benchmarks of the software you use. There may be a difference., but I really doubt that it is that much.