P4, A64, XEON or Opteron ...which one??

Hi guys.

My new comp (3 weeks old), has been running awsomely so far. He kicks *** in games for sure. My last 2 PCs were all duals, and i sorta miss the "snappyness". Usually i run

1.Folding
2.DC++
3.Kazaa Lite
4.Mail Client
5.Many Browsers

all at the same time.

The curent PC.

A64 3200+ @ 2.48
1GB Corsair XMS DDR400
120GB Seagate SATA
etc....

runs really great, but then again i just sold it for 1.2K (cost me 700).

So i am looking to build a new one. But i just cant decide. There is so much stuff out now. Here are the things i care about, and dont care about.

Care about
-----------
Snappyness
Speed in Games
I love to OC at least a bit
Multitasking (nothing to great)

Dont care about
-----------
Useless features that come important in 2 years (not one PC lasted me longer than 8 month)
PCI-E
DDR2

So i started to look aroung. The Intels have HT which is a neat feature for mutitasking. They are a bit cheaper too, compared to the 939 solutions. And they get higher OCs in general (but the speed doesnt reflect as high as a OCed AMD). The Athlons on the other hand are darn fast in games, have 64bit (totally useless right now unless you run some sort of Unix/Linux). They come in flavours of 939 and 754 solutions.

The Opteron scales awsomley when running in duals. But a single Opteron 240 (333FSB) cant touch a A64 in games. But its cool for multitasking. Plus a dual is snappy. The Opteron platforms requires ECC and REG. Memory. The XEONs are nice too, but the 533FSB limits them a bit and are no match to the A64 in games. But they have HT and make it damn snappy with its two SMP and two SMTs.

I am so not sure on what to get. There are too many choices right now. I need to make a decision tough. I have been trhrough almost everything already. I been to 3.9GHz P4, A64s, Dual 3.3Gz XEONs etc...but i cant freaking decide what to get. My budget is 1.2K (already got the video card).

Please guys, i need help ones more.

Cheers

I would've held the -64 3200.

I don't think that anything you get will result in a tremendous improvement, or even a noticeable improvement. The improvement when I went A64 (from XP3000/166 to 64 3400) was quite noticeable, but I don't think anything you buy will result in a noticeable improvement.

Thats not exactly what i wanted to hear Why is the truth so hard !!
I mean i can always buy the same PC again, with Corsair XL and a Lian Li case.
How important is this CPU speed anyways. Is a Opteron 240 fast enough for games like UT2004 etc... ?

How important is this CPU speed anyways. Is a Opteron 240 fast enough for games like UT2004 etc... ?

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Point of Opteron n40, where n = {2, 8} is multiprocessing. If you don't want to go MP then don't go Opteron, since there's almost no point unless you need the Opteron uniprocessor feature set (you don't). If you go SMP, almost ALL games won't have a tremendous or even 1% increase in performance because modern games simply aren't coded to support SMP. *shrug* Truth does tend to hurt

There is no definitive graph or mathematical model that shows how video cards vs. CPU frequency vs. ... relate in gaming performance. I for one am slightly surprised that THG or Xbit hasn't gotten its crap together and done this. Suffice to say that, with "sufficient" processor speed, FSB bandwidth/latency and GPU play a larger role.

Well my old 3.3GHz dual XEON showed me that there is no point in SMP for games. But i would buy 2 Opteron 242s. I loved the snappyness of the dual. But i am sure than the Opteron 242 would get beaten buy a A64 3200+ in games.

I am sure that my old 9800 Pro would be the bottleneck on the A64, but will it also be the bottleneck on the Opteron 242 ?

Thanks for the input

I am sure that my old 9800 Pro would be the bottleneck on the A64, but will it also be the bottleneck on the Opteron 242 ?

Click to expand...

Short answer: I don't know.

Long answer: Opteron 242s cycle at a relatively slow 1.6GHz. For what you're doing, I'd stick with Socket 939 Athlon64s, or if you're aware of and tolerate the constraints of Socket 754 (which I do just fine with ) a high end A64 + x800 || 6800.

Well the Opterons arent a killer in Games i think too, and they need REG ECC, to run which makes it more expensive.

Ok here goes another thought.

Abit AV8
3500+
1024MB Corsair XMS3200Pro 2.5-3-3-6
120GB Seagate SATA
MSI CD-Burner
Coolermaster Wavemaster

or

P4 3.2 Prescott
Abit IC7 Max3
1024MB Corsair XMS XL 2-2-2-5 3200
WD740 74GIG 10000rpm
NEC DVD Burner
Coolermaster Wavemaster

Its the same price. Now awsuming i OC the prescott a bit, would them two be a match or not ?

-Florian

I see one key thing missing in both...which video card?

My current 9800 Pro @ 464Core and 361Mem.

A64 3500, mos'def.

I think you'd need a real dually to match the "snappiness" of your other duallies. An A64 3200+ to a 3500+ is hardly an upgrade in any respect.

Well so it might be better for me to go the Intel route again. I mean the HT is no "real" comparing to two actual CPUs, but it will be a bit more snappyer. Plus the Intel option gives me a better HD, better RAM, better DVD-Burner (over CD), than the AMD Platform for the same money.

Now is the 3500+ really faster in the majority of games that its actuall worth mentioning? Or does a 3.2GHz P4 do all current / semi-future games justice?

OK screw this. Time to stick to the man.

Vapochill LS
Lian Li PC60
2x512MB Corsair XMS3200Pro
MSI K8N-T or Abit
Seagate 120GIG
A64 3000+ (or 3200+ not sure)
MSI CD-Burner <-never burned a DVD anyways
465 Watt Enermax PSU

Any tips? (Besided the Vapochill, already had one )

Why not wait about two weeks for the 3000+ or 3200+ socket 939 processors? Especially if you are going to go with a vapochill.

Well i am even more stuck now.

Please go here

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=330460

This really depends on what you wanna spend if you really want something evil build a quad opteron for the ultimate in multitasking, A dual Zeon for unlocked multi's and multitasking, a single p4 for multitasking generally, or a Athlon 64 for gaming that isn't as good at multitasking.

from what it seems like you are doing a p4 or dual would be best for but thats my $0.02. Also for some non essentials a Fortron 530 watt power supply will do you just as well if not better than an Enermax for the same or less money. If you want to consider socket 754(you didn't appear to worried about future proof) you might also look at the new DFI board, people have been getting some amazing oc's out them. If you are trying to save some money I would go with a Samsung drive over a Seagate, my 120gig SATA Samsung is impossible for me to hear and stayes very cool also. Finally buying a Lite on or Sony cd recorder will save you even more money and are great burners.

Just my thoughts.