Thinking about going P4 need opinions

[Sniper82]

Been a AMD man for a few years now. I WILL be upgrading within the month. I was thinking about going Athlon 64,Nforce 4 board and a 6600gt. Well I am thinking since Nforce 4 is new most all boards are gonna have bugs since their the first versions.

I was thinking should I maybe go with a P4,mobo with PCI-E and a 6600gt instead since the mobos have been out longer and prob more bug free? Thing is I am a newb and know nothing about newer Intel CPU's and mobo chipsets.

I need this to be a bit future proof(mainly on video cards). I won't be upgrading for prob 2 years other than maybe upgrade the 6600gt in August.

Or are the Nforce 4 boards worth dealing with to get Athlon 64(prob 3000+)? This will be a gaming,music,internet and email system.

 

[Rip the Jacker]

Just wait until nForce 4 matures.

 

[SlingXShot]

We all know PCI Express is future proof.

Lately I have been doing a lot of research on 939 socket form with Athlon 64's. AMD will prob release a 3.0ghz Athlon 64, now latest is 2.6 and then the dual core which prob will run slower in most apps for another 1 to 2 years than any single core P4 or athlon. I heard a lot that it is compatible with the 939 socket, however I know for fact that when new DDR form will come, socket change. So I think 939 socket has another 2 year head room MAX.

 

[CheesePoofs]

If you do wait 2 years to upgrade, then when you do upgrade you will have to upgrade everything, so it doesn't make sence to get a future-proof motherboard. If you need to upgrade now, just go with an nforce 3 mobo. They have been out for a long while and are very bug free. Otherwise, wait until nforce 4 matures a bit, then get it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm guessing there will still be new next-generation AGP cards out next year, for the hundreds of millions of PCs that don't have PCI-E. After that upgrade you'll probably want to replace your motherboard and CPU anyway.

It's hard to recommend P4 right now, because the CPUs are so inferior on price/performance and heat output compared to A64. And if you get the flagship P4 PCI-E chipset you're also tying yourself to DDR2.

What speed of P4 were you thinking of buying? If you price it all out, you might be able to get an A64 equivalent with an AGP 6800 or even 6800GT instead of the PCI-E 6600GT you're looking at.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: ItmPls
Just wait until nForce 4 matures.

gotta agree with this advice

 

[flamingspinach]

Intel doesn't have any really good offerings right now - I'd say go with the Athlon64, good choice. The Prescott was a bad move, and the Athlon64 was a lucky break for AMD, who are now pulling ahead in the recreational computing sector of the market. Just wait for the nForce4 to mature a bit.

-fs

 

[Sniper82]

Well when I said future proof I meant having a PCI-E and not be limited to video card selection. Who knows there may be very little support for AGP next time around. I don't even think ATI has a budget AGP card that comepares to the 6600GT? Also what if PCI-E cards are released a month or so before the AGP version(6600GT comes to mind)?

Anyway I will have the money soon to upgrade and if I don't do a good upgrade now it could be a year or longer before I can upgrade again. Its either upgrade within the month or month and a half or not upgrade for several months. Because the money will be blowed on something else. It takes what 3-6 months or longer for newer revs to be released?

 

[uOpt]

I understand what you mean. I just ran into a weird problem where my AMD based on a NForce 250 GB would often disconnect all ethernet devices when I use a bt848 TV in card.

This is REALLY weird because the NVidia GbE and the extra PCI card go down at the same time with lost interrupts, but the GbE is not even on the PCI bus. Very wired. And neither soft reboot nor reset knob gets it back, a hard powercyle has to be.

My i875 board never ever shows anything like that, and neither did my P2Bs, ever. If I could have just one computer that I would have to rely on for everything I would choose Intel. For the chipset, not the CPU.

I don't think PCIe is a bright choice for rock solid and long-term use, however.

 

[dc5]

wait just a little bit more.

 

[MDE]

I'm dumping my P4 3.2C in favor of a Socket 939 3200+. Every Athlon 64 system I've used feels ridiculously fast compared to my P4. I'd go PCIe but I already have an AGP 6800GT and I'm not overpaying for another.

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I'm guessing there will still be new next-generation AGP cards out next year, for the hundreds of millions of PCs that don't have PCI-E. After that upgrade you'll probably want to replace your motherboard and CPU anyway.

It's hard to recommend P4 right now, because the CPUs are so inferior on price/performance and heat output compared to A64. And if you get the flagship P4 PCI-E chipset you're also tying yourself to DDR2.

What speed of P4 were you thinking of buying? If you price it all out, you might be able to get an A64 equivalent with an AGP 6800 or even 6800GT instead of the PCI-E 6600GT you're looking at.

1. PCI haven't even caught up with 2 year old AGP cards, and there are still computers made without an AGP slot. I don't expect AGP to keep up with PCI-E for very long. We've already seen how aggressive the mobo and graphics chipset makers are with pushing it.

2. P4's are not inferior to A64's per se. Perhaps if you look strictly at gaming, then sure. But not everyone games, and not everyone games exclusively. P4's are better at other things.

 

[walkure]

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
2. P4's are not inferior to A64's per se. Perhaps if you look strictly at gaming, then sure. But not everyone games, and not everyone games exclusively. P4's are better at other things.

I have read a number of detailed articles which show that the P4 only out-benches the AMD64's in a very small number of tests, mostly some multimedia creation/processing IIRC. When I started researching all the latest hardware about a month or so ago, I figured that I'd be getting a P4, but the evidence is overwhelming: AMD has the lead for 90% of consumers' computing needs.

EDIT:Here's one of those articles...

 

[coejus]

PCIe is being pushed by Intel, but the AMD side has only a few offerings. AGP is not going to disappear overnight.

If you're going to be gaming, the Athlon64 is the obvious choice. If you don't need SLI, the Gigabyte and Chaintech boards are good choices that won't break you.

 

[Sniper82]

Well I think I will just go with AMD then. I now have to debate if I want NF4 or NF3. I just hate to go with AGP now not knowing what Nvidia and ATI will do next time around. To me is seems ATI has about gave up on AGP as there is no card by them thats on AGP that competes with 6600gt. But I also hate to buy a buggy mobo.

I'm going craaaazzzzzy. Probably ain't gonna be a huge difference in price between one of the higher end NF3 boards and a NF4 board?

 

[ComatoseDelirium]

Im a big fan of the P4 3.0E or up, on the 775 socket, with a pci-e mobo, I think its one of the more.. cost effecitve upgrades, no offense to anyone, but I think the 939's will see alot of tweaking and improvement in the next year or so, especially with the mobos, http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/13-130-465-04.JPG
i just recently upgraded and thats the system I woulda went with, if not for the fact that I got a deal for a new MSI 865 PE mobo socket 478, and a P4 3.0E 478(used) for 200 bucks CAD.

 

[Zebo]

you're crazy. AMD is better than it's ever been and you're thinking about intel? Well intel is pretty HOT right now too hahaLOL

 

[Zebo]

sniper just wait for DFI's boards. They will have 7 out in within two months... All server grade componets..all serious clockers built to last.

here are 5 just on NF4

Text

 

[walkure]

Originally posted by: Zebo
sniper just wait for DFI's boards. They will have 7 out in within two months... All server grade componets..all serious clockers built to last.
[/L]

Can you estimate just how much of a performance increase one could realize using the DFI nF4 SLI versus say the Asus A8N? I can not wait any longer for DFI boards to be available, not to mention at a reasonable price (it has taken the A8N's over a month to even begin to settle down).

 

[Zebo]

I don't like to guess. But knowing DFI and their history it will be well worth waiting. Best NF2 board.. best 754 board by a long shot some say best mobo ever... I'm waiting that's for sure. I was burned too much on NF3 boards had 3 none worked well.

 

[walkure]

Well... I hope the DFI rocks, but if it's not available by next week at a price similar to the Asus, I have to give in and buy that. I've been waiting WAY too long for a new system. 3200+ or 3500+ and 1GB RAM combined with ANY motherboard blow my current setup so far out of the water that I don't think I'll be too disappointed. If a few months from now people are getting 3GHz with their DFI's, maybe I'll gut my system and dump the Asus...

Thoughts?

 

[Zebo]

Well I wish I waited. I've had 5 A64 motherboards between 754 and 939, and all have issue... Then the whole problem of 754 going old on me, AGP going dated, no NCQ, no good sound.... Even the ASUS SLi has issues.
read here about all them... http://forums.anandtech.com/me...3576&enterthread=y


These DFIs will have it all just wait. Built like tank with japanese server board mosfets and caps, better than soundstrom sound, HD NCQ, future with PCie etc.. If you're the type of person to build just every so often whats another month two...

 

[BFG10K]

Well I am thinking since Nforce 4 is new most all boards are gonna have bugs since their the first versions.

I doubt it. Generally speaking nVidia's quality is very good, much better than VIA I'd expect.

 

[BentValve]

An Athlon 64 set-up will kill your current rig...and it you OC it it can really rock and roll.

BUT if your just going to go with a 3000+ and have zero plan of OCing whatsoever then there are some P4 alternatives that will do just as well for around the same amount of money or a little more.


That being said if you do OC and wanted something now and dont need SLI then MSI's K8N Neo2 Ultra is an excellent NF3 Ultra board. Its mature at this point and one of the fastest AMD boards available right now. Even the SLI boards coming out now are not going to outperform it at all or at least by much.
Id also go with a 3200+ because extra multiplier allows higher OCs with less stress on your motherboard.

 

[jvarszegi]

Originally posted by: ItmPls
Just wait until nForce 4 matures.

I've had no problems with my nForce4 board, and I'm using pretty much all of the features. What needs to happen for you to consider it mature?