Which cpu for my parents?

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn
Some of you are definitely newish to processors and the talk about them, until A64/Prescott, Intel owned the CPU temp/heat game.

I am getting my 920D soon, so I'll be able to report, although I am not expecting it to be much worse than my OC'd northwood or my non-C&Q 3700+.

Nat

Well, most of here know that the 8xx series are furnaces (I have 2) and the 9xx series are better, but still WAY hotter than A64/X2's.

 

[blckgrffn]

Hotter or just leak more power? I know, pretty much the same thing, but with a decent cooler the chip should run pretty cool...

Also, oc'd A64's can't be much better than a 9xxD chip. 165's at 3.0 have to be giving off quite a bit of heat too...

Bottom line, the 9xxD series doesn't use THAT much more power at idle and load than its AMD counter parts... they did an article on it here a while ago, I'll go grab it and post the pertinent info....

*runs back to main AT page*

*comes back*

Link to the power usage...

30W greater on load and idle, I am guessing with cool and quiet on. I wonder what it is without C&Q enabled? And the 1 meg L2 chips certainly idle with more power...

Bottom line is that I could have an efficient video card and being using less power (and therefore generating less heat) with a PD system than an A64 system. I think that we should show ATI & nvidia our displeasure like we showed Intel about this....

You don't hear near the outcry over this sort of thing in the Video forum

*after rereading the linked page*

So the opterons had C&Q disabled, narrowing the gap down to 20W at idle. Big whoop there, and I am willing to bet good money that most self-built pc's don't have C&Q enabled as it is somewhat a pain in the butt. So the difference isn't that bad.

The 8xxD series did suck pretty bad though...

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Well, most of here know that the 8xx series are furnaces (I have 2) and the 9xx series are better, but still WAY hotter than A64/X2's.

Somewhat of an exaggeration, but certainly a valid assertion.

 

[Tarrant64]

So...bottom line is some processors are hotter than others?

And other than that debate he should just get the X2 since it is better...Right?

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
So...bottom line is some processors are hotter than others?

And other than that debate he should just get the X2 since it is better...Right?

:thumbsup:

As long as we are clear on "processor temp" != "heat dissapation into case"

 

[TuxDave]

Is it too late to say 'dude... get a dell!'

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: cr2250
I can't build a pc for my parents because I wont be here the whole year. Well i was looking at circuitcity and I saw amd x2 and the Pentium D in about the same price range. They all had the same specs except the cpu's. So which one. Right now they have a amd athlon xp 2600+ and they think its becoming slow as hell. They usualy just do web searching and office apps. They also use apps like dvdshrink and nero. They don't game at all. I havent really kept up witht the technology changes since i bought my amd 64 3200+ but i have been trying to search and nothing has yet to come up.

Yea guys.... because he needs a pentium D or an athlon X2 for THAT.

Maybe in 10 years time these reccommendations will be valid. For now OP, just fix the XP that they have, if its got 256mb of ram, up it to 768mb by adding a 512 stick. Itll be cheaper in the long run than buying one of these pretty high end CPU's which are completely overkill for the tasks your parents need. A pentium 3 from 5-6 years ago would suffice.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
So...bottom line is some processors are hotter than others?

And other than that debate he should just get the X2 since it is better...Right?

:thumbsup:

As long as we are clear on "processor temp" != "heat dissapation into case"

OK, let me say that with my X2 3800 with the stock HSF OC'ed to 2.5, it runs 53c load @100% load both cores (F@H). My 805 with the stock HSF wouldn;t even run @ 3.0 with the side cover off wityhout going over 70c and shutting down (the motherboard, and I couldn;t change it) So I got a Big Typhoon, one of the best, if not the best (and huge) HSF's you can buy. Now @3.5 the case cover is one, and it runs 63c full load.

So obviously the 805 puts out way more "heat dissapation into case" as well as processor temp. Stevty has replied numerous (sp) times about his 920, and the bottom line is, the 9xx series still generates more total "heat dissapation into case" and depending on cooling, still runs hotter.

 

[blckgrffn]

Then again, when measuring CPU temps we rely on the diode on the mobo (unless you used a different method). My sandy 3700+ idles in the mid 40's, loads up into the 50's with an xp-90 and a nice fan, according to my mobo. On a different setup, I had a 3000+ venice that supposedly idled @ 50 and loaded into the mid 60's with the same hs @ stock speed and volts, while a 146 opty did the same thing, according to the mobo.

The 805 I used with stock cooling ran stock idles in the mid 30's and loaded to ~50, of course according to the mobo. I am sure that you have run into the same issues (temp discrepancies) across various builds that you have done. THG (I know, I know) has a nice graph of power usage (and therefore heat generation) for the 805, and it ramps up very steeply after about 3.0 ghz. Very steeply.

I am not disagreeing with you that the current Pentiums run hotter. I think that it is abit exagerated, much like how the Athlon XP's were derided versus the intel counterparts back in the day. Yeah, they ran hot... with half the HS the P4's were using. The 65nm process is better and they are within %15 of the system power usage as their AMD counterparts.

Nat

 

[Tarrant64]

Why....

Why are you discussing CPU temps still?

And no, it's not too late to say "dude...get a dell!"

Because that is probably going to land in the price range for just that X2 alone...maybe. How much are those now? The processors I mean...

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
Why....

Why are you discussing CPU temps still?

And no, it's not too late to say "dude...get a dell!"

Because that is probably going to land in the price range for just that X2 alone...maybe. How much are those now? The processors I mean...

Back to the OP, the processor costs are immaterial. The X2 machines tend to be the same price as the 8xx PD machines, and thus he should almost undoubtedly go with the AMD machine, unless the difference is greater than $200 or so (that's my opinion, of course). For the power consumed and heat excreted, the AMDx2 undoubtedly crushes the PD.

Myself, I wanted the cheapest dual core possible right now, and scored a killer deal on a 920D barebones kit (processor, Intel 955 board, 2*512 Corsair DDR2 533, Seagate 7200.9 160 gig SATA, and an Artic cooling heatsink for $270 shipped) which is less than what any AMD dual core costs right now. It was a no brainer!

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
So...bottom line is some processors are hotter than others?

And other than that debate he should just get the X2 since it is better...Right?

:thumbsup:

As long as we are clear on "processor temp" != "heat dissapation into case"

OK, let me say that with my X2 3800 with the stock HSF OC'ed to 2.5, it runs 53c load @100% load both cores (F@H). My 805 with the stock HSF wouldn;t even run @ 3.0 with the side cover off wityhout going over 70c and shutting down (the motherboard, and I couldn;t change it) So I got a Big Typhoon, one of the best, if not the best (and huge) HSF's you can buy. Now @3.5 the case cover is one, and it runs 63c full load.

So obviously the 805 puts out way more "heat dissapation into case" as well as processor temp. Stevty has replied numerous (sp) times about his 920, and the bottom line is, the 9xx series still generates more total "heat dissapation into case" and depending on cooling, still runs hotter.

Undeniably true, to what extent is the question. The X2 is the best processor between the two, but when it comes down to what your dollar buys you, the PD is sometimes better. Which is why I am guessing you have two 805's...

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
So...bottom line is some processors are hotter than others?

And other than that debate he should just get the X2 since it is better...Right?

:thumbsup:

As long as we are clear on "processor temp" != "heat dissapation into case"

OK, let me say that with my X2 3800 with the stock HSF OC'ed to 2.5, it runs 53c load @100% load both cores (F@H). My 805 with the stock HSF wouldn;t even run @ 3.0 with the side cover off wityhout going over 70c and shutting down (the motherboard, and I couldn;t change it) So I got a Big Typhoon, one of the best, if not the best (and huge) HSF's you can buy. Now @3.5 the case cover is one, and it runs 63c full load.

So obviously the 805 puts out way more "heat dissapation into case" as well as processor temp. Stevty has replied numerous (sp) times about his 920, and the bottom line is, the 9xx series still generates more total "heat dissapation into case" and depending on cooling, still runs hotter.

Undeniably true, to what extent is the question. The X2 is the best processor between the two, but when it comes down to what your dollar buys you, the PD is sometimes better. Which is why I am guessing you have two 805's...

Actually he has (1) 805 he got as a combo deal at fryes and (1) 820...

Both of them at stock cooling were abysmal.....

To OP...trust me...I build Intel and AMD systems for family members regularly and no way in my right mind would I build an 8xx series P-D...i would feel more comfortable with the 9xx series, but would tend to lean towards the X2's for reasons of...easier to cool, and better performance of the 2 you have listed...

Have you ever seen you family members clean the fans??? I haven't so I want reliable with headroom...not on the cusp and 6-12 months down the road when the temps hit 90's in Oregon they have issues...no thanks....tech support for family members is hard enough...


Edit: I say get a core duo system from Dell and wash your hands altogether of it...let Dell tech it....

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Duvie




Actually he has (1) 805 he got as a combo deal at fryes and (1) 820...

Both of them at stock cooling were abysmal.....

Sorry, misread his post I had decent luck with the 805 I purchased, installed, and stress tested...

 

[Hellotalkie]

I ya i forgot that the p4 was in a antec aria (sff) and also overclocked the hell out of it (3.6). But i figure some p4's produce more heat than amd. Thats just my opinion

 

[thescreensavers]

x2 ttt

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: cr2250
No spyware, I know that since I did remote desktop and it was fine. I think it needs a ram upgrade. Right now it has 256 or 512. I remember xp doesn't run to well with 256ram.

i think there computer is fine. i worked of a sempron 2400+ (256 mb ram) doing far more (tons of encoding, playing rts's on the IGP, learning/playing with linux). i think there slowdown maybe due to a slow hdd (check if its 5200rpm) and fragmentation. also install spybot ,adaware , avg. even my opteron 165 got sluggish before i actually used those programs.

otherwise if you've got money burning a hole in your pockets then ofource the x2 4200 (that cost far more than pd 820) will be faster. and 1 gb of ram will do wonders.
but for there usage i doubt there'll a significant difference.

 

[mhahnheuser]

Originally posted by: zsdersw

Most pentium proccessors are known to get hot and overheat. I had a 2.6 and would have to worry about heat problems most of the time.

That's misleading at best, completely false at worst. What does "Most Pentium processors" mean? If you had to worry about heat problems most of the time with a P4 2.6 (in other words, a northwood P4) you weren't doing something right.

Celeron's and P4's are all prone to overheat. Block the exhaust fan for a minute or two with a dust cover and watch the warnings come up on the screen. I fell over backwards when I first saw a celly do it, frightened the crap out of the poor users.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: mhahnheuser

Originally posted by: zsdersw

Most pentium proccessors are known to get hot and overheat. I had a 2.6 and would have to worry about heat problems most of the time.

That's misleading at best, completely false at worst. What does "Most Pentium processors" mean? If you had to worry about heat problems most of the time with a P4 2.6 (in other words, a northwood P4) you weren't doing something right.

Celeron's and P4's are all prone to overheat. Block the exhaust fan for a minute or two with a dust cover and watch the warnings come up on the screen. I fell over backwards when I first saw a celly do it, frightened the crap out of the poor users.

yeah do the same to a amd processor and you'll get the same result. proves nothing