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Would you consider buying an Athlon 64 now if....

C

Chadder007

Diamond Member
If AMD could get Microsoft to help the 64bit initiative by maybe including a coupon or free upgrade to WindowsXP 64 (with WinXP already purchased of course) when it comes out....would you consider going ahead and buying an Athlon now?
 
Still out of my price range. If I cannot get a full computer with everything (including monitor) for under $500, I don't buy. With $400 processors, that isn't an option.

Other reasons:
1) I get all Windows software for $5 (university agreement) thus this coupon idea has no effect on me,
2) I have no need for 64 bits so even if I did have an Athlon 64 I wouldn't really be interested in Windows 64 at this point in time.

My question is this: what does Microsoft gain from this? They already put at least one year if not more of work into building Windows 64 for AMD, why should they give it away and lose all that money spend on developing it?
 
My hesitation right now is that I don't trust via's chipsets and drivers nearly as much as intel's, so in choosing between a P4 3.2 and an A64 the via chipset con overcomes the speed advantage pro.

Also, if I buy soon I'll probably save myself $125+ and drop down to a P4 3.0C, and there is no matching A64 3000+ with a similar price.

Windows64 doesn't excite me much since I don't run any applications that use over 2GB of memory, and don't expect more than slight speed gains in other applications from being 64-bittied.
 
No, don't really care much about the 64bit OS atm. If the A64 dropped a couple hundred dollars, then I would buy one.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
My hesitation right now is that I don't trust via's chipsets and drivers nearly as much as intel's, so in choosing between a P4 3.2 and an A64 the via chipset con overcomes the speed advantage pro.
Click to expand...

So... I take it you would be more interested in the NForce3, then? 😛 VIA's not the only A64 chipset maker.

Also, if I buy soon I'll probably save myself $125+ and drop down to a P4 3.0C, and there is no matching A64 3000+ with a similar price.
Click to expand...

You don't want to pay extra for the A643000+ over the P4, but you *will* pay extra for a P4 over an AthlonXP 3000+? I'm confused.

Windows64 doesn't excite me much since I don't run any applications that use over 2GB of memory, and don't expect more than slight speed gains in other applications from being 64-bittied.
Click to expand...

Performance improvements remain to be seen, and will likely have a great deal of impact on how well the A64 does in the long run.

And as for me, I'm less concerned with the price than the maturity of the chipset and the lack of an OS (at least a Windows-based OS) that lets it use its 64-bit capabilities. I don't think I'll buy one until I see Windows For AMD-64 (or whatever they call it) on store shelves and functioning well with games. But I'll likely be in line then. 🙂
 
I have an opteron and an SK8V and an SK8N.

The Via chipset is substantially faster than the Nvidia chipset, and has fewer issues. To give you an idea, the Nforce3 in 3dmark2001 scored about 1300, the via chipset was about 90points shy of 1600, everything else the same. That was with a Opteron 142, 1Gb DDR333 and an FX5800ultra.

How is it way to expensive? The motherboards are a little more pricey than a highend P4 board, the cpu was 249bux, i got 1Gb of Infineon REG/ECC for 200bux..
I think its about the best bang for the buck, and its deffinitely going to get better mileage than anything else. And its fun to have cutting edge hardware
 
The nForce3-150 doesn't look too bad to me. 😕

I think the fact that the nForce3-150 has a PCI/AGP lock which is overclocker friendly GREATLY outweighs the slight performance increases the Via chipset holds over it. Could possibly get a A64 3200 to 2.3-2.4 Ghz on the nForce3 but only 2.2 on the Via... I'm willing to bet the nForce3 would be faster.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
The nForce3-150 doesn't look too bad to me. 😕

I think the fact that the nForce3-150 has a PCI/AGP lock which is overclocker friendly GREATLY outweighs the slight performance increases the Via chipset holds over it. Could possibly get a A64 3200 to 2.3-2.4 Ghz on the nForce3 but only 2.2 on the Via... I'm willing to bet the nForce3 would be faster.
Click to expand...


There is more than a slight difference.. Im not sure that the SK8N allows changing the PCI/AGP ratios, i dont remember seeing that. This thing is to the point where a few more mhz on the CPU is not going to make much of a difference. There are much worse bottle necks down the road. Im using a raid array and that seems to make a large diff in over all performance. IF you are totaly bent on performance, you would buy a new vid card everytime one is released, that would make the largest difference in system performance.
 
Originally posted by: synapse02
atleast for games.. otherwise a P3 933 with 512Mb+ of ram should be able to handle any app just fine
Click to expand...

Why pay that much to game when you could get a Console for much cheaper than the cost of the CPU?
 
Give me a good overclocking board like the Abit NF7/Epox 8RDA and we will talk, but not now.
 
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
My hesitation right now is that I don't trust via's chipsets and drivers nearly as much as intel's, so in choosing between a P4 3.2 and an A64 the via chipset con overcomes the speed advantage pro.
Click to expand...
So... I take it you would be more interested in the NForce3, then? 😛 VIA's not the only A64 chipset maker.

Also, if I buy soon I'll probably save myself $125+ and drop down to a P4 3.0C, and there is no matching A64 3000+ with a similar price.
Click to expand...
You don't want to pay extra for the A643000+ over the P4, but you *will* pay extra for a P4 over an AthlonXP 3000+? I'm confused.

...

And as for me, I'm less concerned with the price than the maturity of the chipset and the lack of an OS (at least a Windows-based OS) that lets it use its 64-bit capabilities. I don't think I'll buy one until I see Windows For AMD-64 (or whatever they call it) on store shelves and functioning well with games. But I'll likely be in line then. 🙂
Click to expand...
P4 i865/i875 boards are now on their second or third revisions while A64 boards are still a bit bleeding edge. I'd rather just put it together and go than have to spend a day tweaking to get things running right like NFS4 did.

A64 is faster than P4 3.2 C, but an XP 3200+ is significantly slower than a $269 P4 3.0C for gaming. My point was that I don't want to pay $395-425 for a CPU and there is no A64 3000+ at $269 to compete at that price/performance point. The Barton 3200+ at $323 is a horrible buy for gamers, it should be priced at most $191 to match the P4 2.8C.





 
Nope. For once, my PCs seem to be at a good level. The only thing I might like is software upgrades. And RAID 5 arrays. The software might happen, RAID 5 won't. But no 64-bit CPU's for awhile.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
My hesitation right now is that I don't trust via's chipsets and drivers nearly as much as intel's, so in choosing between a P4 3.2 and an A64 the via chipset con overcomes the speed advantage pro.
Click to expand...
So... I take it you would be more interested in the NForce3, then? 😛 VIA's not the only A64 chipset maker.

Also, if I buy soon I'll probably save myself $125+ and drop down to a P4 3.0C, and there is no matching A64 3000+ with a similar price.
Click to expand...
You don't want to pay extra for the A643000+ over the P4, but you *will* pay extra for a P4 over an AthlonXP 3000+? I'm confused.

...

And as for me, I'm less concerned with the price than the maturity of the chipset and the lack of an OS (at least a Windows-based OS) that lets it use its 64-bit capabilities. I don't think I'll buy one until I see Windows For AMD-64 (or whatever they call it) on store shelves and functioning well with games. But I'll likely be in line then. 🙂
Click to expand...
P4 i865/i875 boards are now on their second or third revisions while A64 boards are still a bit bleeding edge. I'd rather just put it together and go than have to spend a day tweaking to get things running right like NFS4 did.

A64 is faster than P4 3.2 C, but an XP 3200+ is significantly slower than a $269 P4 3.0C for gaming. My point was that I don't want to pay $395-425 for a CPU and there is no A64 3000+ at $269 to compete at that price/performance point. The Barton 3200+ at $323 is a horrible buy for gamers, it should be priced at most $191 to match the P4 2.8C.
Click to expand...

It wasn't a problem with the platform, it was the stupid ass FIC motherboard. I ditched it for an Asus K8V and that thing rocks. Worked right out of the box.
 
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: synapse02
atleast for games.. otherwise a P3 933 with 512Mb+ of ram should be able to handle any app just fine
Click to expand...

Why pay that much to game when you could get a Console for much cheaper than the cost of the CPU?
Click to expand...

because of all the titles available to the PC. The multiplayer experience. Satisfaction in making an upgrade..

I am by no means a hardcore gamer, but im pretty sure Tron2.0 Warcraft3 Everquest are not on any console to name a few. When was the last time you had a deathmatch like CounterStrike with 30+ guys on a console?

 
Originally posted by: NFS4
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
P4 i865/i875 boards are now on their second or third revisions while A64 boards are still a bit bleeding edge. I'd rather just put it together and go than have to spend a day tweaking to get things running right like NFS4 did.

A64 is faster than P4 3.2 C, but an XP 3200+ is significantly slower than a $269 P4 3.0C for gaming. My point was that I don't want to pay $395-425 for a CPU and there is no A64 3000+ at $269 to compete at that price/performance point. The Barton 3200+ at $323 is a horrible buy for gamers, it should be priced at most $191 to match the P4 2.8C.
Click to expand...

It wasn't a problem with the platform, it was the stupid ass FIC motherboard. I ditched it for an Asus K8V and that thing rocks. Worked right out of the box.
Click to expand...
Good to know if I can talk myself into spending the extra for the performance boost over a cheap 3.0C. Maybe I'll go really crazy and pair an A64 with the Asus 9800 XT 🙂

Have you tried the onboard sound with games, or did you put in a soundcard (your rig still lists the FIC board).
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Originally posted by: NFS4
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
P4 i865/i875 boards are now on their second or third revisions while A64 boards are still a bit bleeding edge. I'd rather just put it together and go than have to spend a day tweaking to get things running right like NFS4 did.

A64 is faster than P4 3.2 C, but an XP 3200+ is significantly slower than a $269 P4 3.0C for gaming. My point was that I don't want to pay $395-425 for a CPU and there is no A64 3000+ at $269 to compete at that price/performance point. The Barton 3200+ at $323 is a horrible buy for gamers, it should be priced at most $191 to match the P4 2.8C.
Click to expand...

It wasn't a problem with the platform, it was the stupid ass FIC motherboard. I ditched it for an Asus K8V and that thing rocks. Worked right out of the box.
Click to expand...
Good to know if I can talk myself into spending the extra for the performance boost over a cheap 3.0C. Maybe I'll go really crazy and pair an A64 with the Asus 9800 XT 🙂

Have you tried the onboard sound with games, or did you put in a soundcard (your rig still lists the FIC board).
Click to expand...

I'm using the onboard SoundMax audio. Sounds pretty good although I hear pops every once in a while when I play MP3/WMA files. I know it's not my speakers so maybe it's a driver issue?
 
Just purchased the parts from NewEgg for my new 64 3200+ system. MSI Motherboard with VIA chipset, 1GB GEIL PC3500 RAM, FX5600 Ultra w/ VIVO and dual SATA 120GB drives for Raid. I know it will be faster than my P4 1.6 with GF 5200!
 
I just put together a high end Pentium 4 3.0GHz over 4 months ago. It would be a big waste of money to buy one now for me.
 
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