To keep Dual XP2000+ or XP2100+ @ 2.3ghz

[pepsimanz]

Need to sell one of my two main rigs, so I need some opinions on which one is actually faster and/or which one is better to sell (value-wise)/keep:

I have a
Tyan MPX with 2x XP2000+ (overclocked from 1600+) with 1 gb of pc2100 registered ram
and a
Epox 8RDA+ with XP2100+ tbred, currently running at 2.3ghz (11.5*200FSB, around XP2850 rating) running 1gb of dual channel DDR400 ram

Here are the things I usually do with my main computer.

Video editing (Adobe premire)
DVD remuxing, encoding, decripting, burning (instant copy, dvd2one, ifoedit, CCE, etc..)
Video encoding/decoding (TMPEGENC + divx)
mp3 compression

I don't play much games and I have another system dedicated for entertainment (AIW card, games, web surfing), this system I am keeping is mainly for work. Any opinions???

You can look at my rigs from the link below.

 

[TerryMathews]

First rule of thumb: SMP is great for work, not so great for play. If you've got a dedicated gaming machine, keep the SMP box unless you can come up with a good reason not to.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: TerryMathews
First rule of thumb: SMP is great for work, not so great for play. If you've got a dedicated gaming machine, keep the SMP box unless you can come up with a good reason not to.

I agree, keep the dually.

 

[fhetw]

Video editing (Adobe premire)
DVD remuxing, encoding, decripting, burning (instant copy, dvd2one, ifoedit, CCE, etc..)
Video encoding/decoding (TMPEGENC + divx)
mp3 compression

keep the duals and sell me the 2100+

 

[pepsimanz]

Thanks for all the opinion, at first I was convinced that the SMP system will defintely be better for me as a workstation. However,

I just ran some test and for DVD2one and instant copy (which is not SMP programs), the single cpu 2.3ghz system is about at least 10-15% faster.
This is understandable since, again, the two programs are not SMP tuned, so the dual cpu system only utilize one of the 1.67ghz (2000+) processor.

But, when I used TMPGENC, which is supposed to be SMP aware, I get about the same result. Which makes me wonder:

Even if the software is taking advantage of the two cpus, maybe the 38% increase in pure clock speed, a 200FSB and DDR400 memory bandwidth of my single cpu system will actually outperforms my SMP system even for work applications?

The above question makes me think twice before selling my single cpu system and keeping my dually.... another thoughts/insights?

 

[TerryMathews]

The more CPU intensive threads you're running, the more efficient the dually is going to be. It's a workstation, not designed for just tackling one task at a time (unless that task is inherenly parallel).

You can always get faster procs for the dually. For general non-gaming use, it will be a better machine.

Plus, consider that the 760MPX is EOL. If you sell it now, and change your mind later you'll have to pay the inflated prices on E*Bay to get another. You can always get the latest single proc stuff hella cheap.

 

[TerryMathews]

Something else I just happened to think about, a lot of MPX BIOSes are not optimized for memory transfers, but that is something you can correct yourself.

Download CPU-Z. Then, go here and follow the guide for tweaking your system using wpcredit. Check your BIOS first, and toggle as many of the features as you can on in there. Test the settings, then use wpcrset to have Windows set them on every load. Works great.

I gained 100MB/sec memory bandwidth on both Sandra benchmarks just from adjusting the CAS latencies on my A7M266-D. TRAS on my system defaulted to 6 in turbo mode, runs fine at 2. TRC defaulted to 8, runs great at 4.

Don't give up on the MPX yet, it can be a nice performer when tweaked. Mine managed to break 10,000 3dmark01s with a 128MB GF4 Ti4200 and a pair of XP2100s running at around stock clock speed. Not too shabby, and in line for most 1.7GHz Athlon systems.