building another Seti box, opinions please

[JeffnNetti]

Hello, i am going to build another seti box this weekend and am wondering which would be better... my local shop has a intel p4 1.6a for $150 or the xp2000 for $135. which is going to crank out the most WU's ??? i will be buying new ram and motherboard as well so either choice will cost about the same i guess.

thanks in advance.

 

[SkyHook]

Purely Informational

I have a P4 1.6A running at 133 FSB on an Abit SD7-533 which uses DDR Memory. Stock Vcore, good temperaturs and rock solid, I have been getting 7-8 WUs per day consistantly, even thou it is also the machine here on my truckpatch that gets used for everything else as well. It is the machine I am using right now to access this website and does all my other daily stuff. I can't speak to the AMDs, but I'm sure you will hear from their users as well. The 1.6A's are sweet little chips and most will do 150 FSB without much trouble, I just settled at 133 because it required no fuss and was very reliable.

SkyHook

 

[Yodums]

The Intel will crunch abit faster. However, is it going to be with DDR or RD?

 

[KenCo]

Re: Purely Informational

I have a P4 1.6A running at 133 FSB on an Abit SD7-533 which uses DDR Memory. Stock Vcore, good temperaturs and rock solid, I have been getting 7-8 WUs per day consistantly, even thou it is also the machine here on my truckpatch that gets used for everything else as well. It is the machine I am using right now to access this website and does all my other daily stuff. I can't speak to the AMDs, but I'm sure you will hear from their users as well. The 1.6A's are sweet little chips and most will do 150 FSB without much trouble, I just settled at 133 because it required no fuss and was very reliable.

SkyHook

I also have a 1.6a. The only potential problem with them is that for some of us they crunch the low AR units REALLY SLOWLY(7-8 hour range is not uncommon for mine). If it weren't for the low AR's (which there seems to be lots of these days) I would be averaging 7 or 8 unit per day on that machine. But because of the low AR's I'm averaging 5 or 6. The 2000XP should average around 7 at stock even with the low AR units.

(I'm using DDR 2100 though, that might be making a big difference).

 

[lonewolf1983]

both end up being about the same
you will need good ram on that p4 box, p4's thrive on memory performance.
ive not had a single WU take anything like that long, im using pc2700...

both will do about 7-8 a day, the p4 overclocked,and the Amd at stock...

 

[LandShark]

at the end, they "should" be 'bout the same with the P4 being "slightly" faster depending on how high u could run ur memory with.

my 1.6a @ 2.45 (4:5 memory ratio) ave. 2:5x/wu. highAR 2:15 lowAR 3:15-3:20

XP unlocked (10x166) ave. 3:0x. highAR 2:40-45 lowAR 3:20 or so.

keep in mind that, for a P4, DDR i assume u r using, u'll need a VERY GOOD memory!! 'cos running the memory at 1:1 is really a joke for a P4!! expect/try to run the memory to 4:5.

 

[JeffnNetti]

i know almost nothing about intel these days hehe. other then the celeron 733(which is junk) i have crunching seti i have not had an itel since my old p233... what is RD ram ? is that rambus ?

i should probably just stick with AMD as i already know the ins and outs of em but wanted to hear your expert opinions

thanks alot guys.

 

[mjones73]

Yes it's Rambus.

I'd suggest a 1.6A too, my 1.6A benchmarked at 3 hours, 28 mins using the benchmark test and averages 7-8 units a day also. My specs are in my signature.

 

[taloah]

Did you notice the TYPO in you signature. It says Gainward T1200 instead of T4200. Just though I would let you know.

Video: Gainward T1200 w/128 MB DDR - Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy OEM

 

[JKooL]

I think he means TI-200.... ?

-Joe

 

[SkyHook]

KenCo?

I'm not sure why you would be having trouble with Low ARs, I've attached a representative sample from the recent past of my P4 1.6A @ 133 FSB with 4:5 memory settings on PC2700. As you can see there is some increase on LAR WUs but nothing as enormous as you seem to be experiencing.

SkyHook

 

[rogerdugans]

I wish I had a P4...

I do have a couple of fast XPs- they do right about 8 wu consistently.

I'd say they are pretty close to equal.

Two options:

Go AMD since you know it better so you may get better results.

Go Intel so you can learn about the other sweet chips available right now!

If I was doing it, and starting a fresh new system, I'd go Intel.

 

[JeffnNetti]

well the wife is being very kind considering this computer wont even be used for anything except Seti hehe she "approved" my getting either a XP 2100 or an intel 2.0 or so.
kinda funny i know atleast a little bit about every AMD motherboard made in the last couple years but i dont know the first thing about any intel boards going to do some reading about intel.

thanks for the info guys

 

[mjones73]

taloah - that's supposed to be TI-200, let me fix it up.

 

[taloah]

Sorry I knew it didn't look right I just couldn't guess what it was intended on being.

 

[KenCo]

Re: KenCo?

I'm not sure why you would be having trouble with Low ARs, I've attached a representative sample from the recent past of my P4 1.6A @ 133 FSB with 4:5 memory settings on PC2700. As you can see there is some increase on LAR WUs but nothing as enormous as you seem to be experiencing.

SkyHook

Yeah, I can't even begin to imagine why. I know a lot of people here don't have the slow low AR problem with the 1.6a (LandShark never misses the opportunity to remind me how fast his 1.6a does low AR WU's ), although I've read a couple of posts from others who've experienced it. I'll try to figure it out this fall. It's too hot to fool with it right now and I don't have any spare parts to swap in and out anyway. Maybe it's this MSI 645 ultra Mobo. Maybe it's the Kingston DDR 2100 valueRAM. Or maybe I just got a bad processor. I'm fairly certain it's not the configuration. I've tried everything possible with the bios. I've re-installed windoze. Anyway, this fall when I it's cooler and hopefully I can afford some new parts I'll figure it out.

 

[TC]

I've always been a bit puzzled by the low AR problems being reported with P4's. I've never seen any unusual slow down with mine. I pulled up an angle range graph of my 2.4B P4 @ 2.4 with a range from 0 to .417. The difference in time is no more than about 15 minutes.

 

[LandShark]

yup, it's very hard to understand/believe why some people are having long processing time w/ low ARs on their P4 rigs??!!

i've never experience that kinda problem. well, w/ those 0.0xxAR, it doesn't increase time 1-2 hrs in PIIIs/Athlon T-birds, etc. but not XP nor P4 tho.....

i've have a little chat w/ GregM, and w/out any further hard data (system setup), i would only say "well, it might be the memory speed......."

first, we all know P4s LOVE memory bandwidth as TC had proven it. and being all are 1.6a @ 2.4/150FSB, but @ 150MHz memory speed or @ 200MHz memory speed (if u have 3:4 ratio) WILL make a big difference!!! especially in SETI time since SETI also love memory bandwidth too.

JMHO