What AMD proc to buy

[Twistah]

Ok, I'm in the market for a new system. Now I pretty much have al the stuff I want listed, except for the processor. I'm in doubt of buying a Athlon 4000+ San Diego core or a X2 4400 Toledo.

Basically what I need advice about is this. The X2 is ideal for multithreaded software, but as imo there's not that much of that around that I'm currently aware of, and don't think an enmasse shift to multi threaded will occur in the coming say two years, I'm wondering about processing power of single threaded software of the two procs when compared.

So basically; is the price premium of the X2 really worth it when compared to a 4000+?

oh and btw, I'm not an overclocker, so suggestions of buying a 3500+ and oc-ing it to 4000+ are pretty much lost on me 😛

Thnx in advance for your help.

 

[Matthias99]

If you don't multitask heavily or run multithreaded programs, stick with the cheaper, faster single CPU. At least IMO. Perhaps decribing more about how you use your system would help.

Personally, I would recommend stepping down at least a speed grade or two unless you really need a very fast CPU; the 3700+ or 3500+ (even at stock) is not that much slower than the 4000+, but is a *lot* cheaper.

 

[munchow2]

I think it is safe to go with the X2 but you really should know what kind of user you are.
If you already do multitasking on your computer, which you are, you have to gauge how much multitasking you are doing. A single core AMD just doesn't cut it for my purposes eventhough it provides better gaming framerates so I opted for HT. You have the choice for X2.

 

[Twistah]

I'll mainly be using the comp for music production and gaming.......also some photoshopping will be done once in a while (heavy use of filters on img's of about 4000x4000). So all in I expect to put the processor under some severe strain occasionaly.

As far as Multitasking is concerned......I'm not much of a multitasker in terms of playing games while zipping 1gig files and rendering images in 3dsmax......The most multitasking the comp will see is running winamp with multiple ie screens opened, and perhaps some small other apps that won't strain the proc too much......so all in all, multitasking probably won't be the decisive factor in chosing which processor to buy.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Twistah
I'll mainly be using the comp for music production and gaming.......also some photoshopping will be done once in a while (heavy use of filters on img's of about 4000x4000). So all in I expect to put the processor under some severe strain occasionaly.

Adobe Photoshop is multithreaded (at least the last few versions are; not sure when that support was added). So the X2 would probably be considerably faster there. 'Music production' is pretty vague; if you are doing a lot of audio encoding/transcoding (or CPU-intensive multitrack editing), a multiprocessor system might also help (or at least let you do other things at the same time without slowing down the encodes/edits).

But you'd want a lot of memory as well; if your budget is tight, it might be better to go with a slightly slower processor and lots of RAM for heavy Photoshop work, or working with big audio files.

 

[munchow2]

Single core AMDs tend to get taxed quite easily when running multithread/multitasking. X2 should solve this and since you seem to have the funds to buy it and ability to use that computer for somewhat advanced functions (meaning, not buying a computer to use word), I'd highly recommend an x2 4200 or whatever you can afford.

 

[Twistah]

thnx munchow2, that cleared things up a bit more.

Matthias99: Programs ill be running for producing: Cubase, Kontakt, Project5 and some softsynths like Absynth.

About memory, I was planning on getting 2gig of OCZ/Geil memory. A little voice in the back of my head is whispering to go with 3 gig, but I think that might be overkill (suggestions?).

Budget is not so much a problem. With that I mean, I plan on buying a computer that is fully loaded for the future, not that I want to throw away money on stuff I don't need. So if spending like $150-$200 more on a piece of hardware of which I can be pretty sure I'll be utilising the capacity, I will make sure the budget will accomodate the extra expense.