• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Ultimate Machine

I

imported_goku

Diamond Member
Since I'm still unsure of when to build my sister's comp, I have choosen a time frame of now and Feb 2005. This system is suppose to be a multimedia desktop with video encoding more in mind than gaming, but she will still be playing games like doom III (all because of guys online). I was thinking of getting a Dual Xeon (not sure about speed yet) since it's intel based and I think intel would be a better choice. Or I guess I could do an AMD Opteron based computer. So yes video encoding is a little bit more important in this case but at the same time it should be really good for games (haven't decided on video card yet). I'm wondering if sticking with a P4 1 Processor would be a bigger hit for video encoding than 2 Xeons for gaming. Agian I am very unsure. (This is going to be PC based and not apple base, just to keep in mind).
 
what about dual xeons? Got any articles comairing Xeons and opertons? I guess I should say this is a video work station (includes photoshop) and gaming should be a bonus. I hope I can stick in the 8X AGP video card we just bought for her (AIW 9600XT agian not the best for doom III).
 
Your sister needs a duel server chip rig for some encoding and gaming? and then your going to stick an ATI 9600 in it? LOL 😕
 
Pentiums in dual CPU configs do not work as well as an OPteron as they are so memory bandwidth limited.

Go Opteron, but P4 isn't bad by any means.

-Kevin
 
Eh it's really for encoding and gaming should be a plus, meaning that if she can't game it's her problem. I read the article and said that it's better for video encoding no? I'm wondering if this is worth it/is it goanna be that big of a deal or not. We will get the first processor and purchase the second later. If she gets *more into special effects than she is now than the video expasion will help a lot.
 
What's your budget ??? Dual anything is very expensive !!! about $3000 just for cpu, mobo, & memory.

Also what is she using now ? Any experience w/ someone else's pc (at work/school) ??

You also have to consider disk storage, scsi , ide, raid ..

Regards,
Jose
 
The motherboard isnt too expensive, we can always purchase raid configuration drives later, I can purchase 1 CPU first and 2nd later. We have like all the parts really, just need case + psu motherboard cpu, ram. Thats really about it right? I have all the other accessories at home. She currently has a 1.5GHZ Pentium 4 which normally seems fine but I guess it has a poor motherboard or something because a 1.4GHZ Celeron Powerleap adapter on a BX board beats it in si-soft sandra tests....

Edit: Also the Powerleap adapter with bx board beats it in general speed like load programs and what not. Just building a system that will last a while, I will make sure that she doesn't buy anything new for a long time. She will have to spend some money and some from dad, I will be able to build this machine when I visit, just getting everything ready.
 
I'd find someone w/ a 3Ghz system Amd or Intel and see what it's like first before you go w/ a dual setup. A dual amd opteron sys will cost:
Tyan K8w $240, 2 - 250 Opteron ($849ea.) $1698, 4 x 512mb pc3200ecc ($115ea) $460 = $2398 total mobo/cpus/mem

How much are you willing to spend ??

You may find that getting a top of the line A64 processor is better for you. I'd get a 939 system based on the soon to be released NForce4 chipset w/ pci-e. ie

Mobo approx $175 + 2 gigs of mem (2 x 1g) $500 + A64 3500 939pin (2.2ghz 512k cache) $319 OR a FX-53 (2.4ghz 1mb cache) $827

This system would cost approx $994 - $1502 depending on which processor you'd choose.... Personally I'd choose the A64 3500 system.

This would also have a pci-e graphics slot, which agp is being phased out and pci-e is the future.

Regards,
Jose
 
Yea infact the system (In my sig) performs relatively well but when I checked out the benchmarks it showed the the XEON systems outperformed the AMD 64 in Video Encoding/rendering. See in those tests they were compairing them and it was really only a matter of a few seconds faster which I normally wouldn't care about but when you encode video thats a few hours long or your using a high compression scheme, then that few seconds can equate to 1-2 hours more than it should. I'm tired of her complaining so thats why I am building this high end system, it should last her quite a while before she will actually NEED to build agian. The ASUS PC DL board looks like a nice option but because it's so outdated, I am hoping they will release a PCI Express version with 800MHZ FSB support. If in january or febuary they dont have any boards I'm looking for, I will just get the ASUS PC DL Board and up the FSB so it the processor will be running at appropriate speeds.
 
Well see those benchmarks. If AMD loses by a few seconds, how long are they running the encoding test? IF its a few seconds in a 15 minute clip, that'll add up no more thana minute in the entire process since movies don't usually last longer than a 120 minutes~
 
Don't forget about dual-core cpus next year, it might make you change your mind.

Why are you configuring one now if you're not going to build it until next Jan-Feb?
 
Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Don't forget about dual-core cpus next year, it might make you change your mind.

Why are you configuring one now if you're not going to build it until next Jan-Feb?
Click to expand...

Exactly, and one nice feature of the Nforce 4 based AMD boards is that they will be duel core compatible, just update the bios and drop in the new duelly! The socket 939 is going to be around for a while.
 
Ugh problem is she so damn impatient but at the same time I want some future proofing. If I was going to build the system, I would build exactally next year same time maybe june or april. I am planning now since January is kind of the cut off and I am doing this so I say "Here I got a system for you, I will build it so dont go buying any new computers with out letting me know or I will strangle you!" The only real reason why I am doing this is because back in 2001 she bought this stupid sony vaio system which is socket 423 and is more difficult in upgrading than a damn mac. So if I build her a system this time, eventually when the board becomes too old I will just stick in a new board. I'm also hoping this system will beable to last a long longer since I'm building it.
 
Well you have the choice of Dual Opteron's 250's for $2400 or a A64 3800 for $994 or a FX-53 for $1502 ...

If you must have Xeon w/ their lower shared memory bus, then look at the Asus NCCH-DL which is a agp canterwood/hance rapid based mobo
http://forums.2cpu.com/showthr...1bb&threadid=52272
3.2 1mb cache Xeons $460 ea.

Also Intel has problems w/ Tumwater chipsets (pci-e)

There are several reviews all over the net that show how superior Opteron's are compared to Xeons.
Check Anands comparisons & tomshardwar.com for some info.

Some extra info on professional workstations, look at what they are using: http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_16275.html

Regards,
Jose
 
I know I know opterons are better but not for video performance. If I was going to build a server, then I would get a 4 Processor operton then agian thats only if I had tons of money lying around. http://www.pricewatch.com/m/mn.aspx?i=3&f=1 look at the Xeon 2.8 800FSB, they got one from intel for $240! I plan on overclocking these puppies and I'm wondering if there are any HSF that would be overclocking friendly that will fit on the Xeon socket. Thanks for the info on the newer ASUS board, and I'm thinking of staying with an AGP based board because the PCI Express boards are far away from being stable unless they can released a second generation board by february then I will stick with this board.
 
Other than cache size I don't think Prestonia based Xeon's (not EMT64) are different from P4 Northwood's. The reason Xeon's are workstation/server chips is that Intel only puts
64bit/pci & dual sockets on the Xeon platform. You do know that putting 2 Xeon's cuts in half the memory thruput for each xeon. That's why they are far behind Opteron's.

If you do want a P4 chip 768pin mobo w/ 64bit pci, then look at the supermicro p4sct. (no overclocking), otherwise get the newer asus mobo that will let you overclock some.

Also pay attention to which Xeon's you get, ppl have had sucess w/ 2.4 MO stepping oc'd to 3.0 just by going from 166 to 200 fsb. Some get even more, but check the thread for
their best xeon chip recomendation.

As far as the 2.8 (800fsb) chip its already at 14 x 200 which means you'll have to find some really good ecc ram .

Regards,
Jose
 
Yea but I heard the PC DL asus board doesn't require ECC ram. I dont think I will need ECC ram for a video editing workstation just because. 768pin P4 mobo? Never heard of that! Yea but if I am able to overclock the 800FSB version, then I will beable to get FSB of upwards 250MHZ which would be huge performance yeild. Agian does anyone know of some quality fans for the xeon platform? Remember than the opteron is way out of my budget, there isn't that much money to spare. Where can I find this thread about the best Xeon processor.
 
goku,

if you want my experience, i currently own and maintain a dual xeon 2.8 system with 2 gb of RDram and a Compaq Smartarray 5300 SCSI Raid controller using 3 36.4 gb 10k SCSI HD's HT enabled. on paper looks like a killer system, for certain types of applications tho, this system crawls. in my opinion, the deep pipeline kills performance, particularly when you have many threads running.

where it really sux the most is when running terminal services. it can't seem to deal with a virtual user very well. my amd64 3200+ runs terminal services better than my duallie does.

 
Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
goku,

if you want my experience, i currently own and maintain a dual xeon 2.8 system with 2 gb of RDram and a Compaq Smartarray 5300 SCSI Raid controller using 3 36.4 gb 10k SCSI HD's HT enabled. on paper looks like a killer system, for certain types of applications tho, this system crawls. in my opinion, the deep pipeline kills performance, particularly when you have many threads running.

where it really sux the most is when running terminal services. it can't seem to deal with a virtual user very well. my amd64 3200+ runs terminal services better than my duallie does.
Click to expand...


So in your experience a AMD with its onboard memory controller and hypertransport bus will fair better? (I'm not disagreeing).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top