3500+ vs 3.4ghz

[NiTeHaWk4787]

Hey, I know I said I was going to order sometime about 2 weeks ago but I just havent gotten around to it lol. I'm actually still debating whether or not I want an AMD athlon 64 3500+ socket 939, or an Intel Pentium 3.4ghz (non EE) socket T. Their both generally the same price so that isn't an issue. I'm leaning towards the AMD because i love the MSI Neo Platinum2 board but I'm just looking for some suggestions. Thanks in advance!

[Killer_Typo]

amd, because with a good water cooling system, you might be able to overclock it to a faster speed...though safely overclocking is such an oxymoron its not really funny. lol. Seriously though, i like Pentium, but i also like AMD for the sole fact of overclocking :-D

right now i have an old AMD 800Mhz clocked at about 961Mhz, not a major jump, but the mobo cant higher a higher clock frequency before it no longer boots.

[NiTeHaWk4787]

Well pretend like I'm not getting water cooling lol. An upgraded heatsink is a definate though one of those 50$ heatpipe ones looks real nice, especially with a 140cfm 120mm fan and a baybus =D I'll save a few bucks by getting an OEM AMD if I stuck with that I'm not sure if Intel distributes OEM's.

[Killer_Typo]

Well pretend like I'm not getting water cooling lol. An upgraded heatsink is a definate though one of those 50$ heatpipe ones looks real nice, especially with a 140cfm 120mm fan and a baybus =D I'll save a few bucks by getting an OEM AMD if I stuck with that I'm not sure if Intel distributes OEM's.

lol hehehe, water cooling is a bit expensive yes. though i do like pentiums because of their reliabilty. i have always used them on my main machines, and amd's are all on my scrap machines :-P

[NiTeHaWk4787]

It's not that their expensive, well they are, but i dont care about the money I just dont want to worry about something popping off and everything dying and I dont want to pay for the non-conductive fluid lol. If I got the 3.4, this is definitely the mobo to go with right http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=925X_Neo_Platinum-54g&class=mb

[Killer_Typo]

It's not that their expensive, well they are, but i dont care about the money I just dont want to worry about something popping off and everything dying and I dont want to pay for the non-conductive fluid lol. If I got the 3.4, this is definitely the mobo to go with right http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=925X_Neo_Platinum-54g&class=mb

i like the mobo, looks nice. but have you also looked into a processor that supports HT (hyper threading) or did the CPU you choose already support it?

[NiTeHaWk4787]

The 3.4 supports it.

[Killer_Typo]

The 3.4 supports it.

im a big P fan myself, so i would tend to lean towards it, but i also hear that AMD's make great for gaming, so i would decide on this. whats the main purpose for my machine, does windows support one processor better than another, and which processor offers better flexability. Also look for benchmark tests, look for machines that used each of the processors, and see what kind of performace they were able to achieve, im sure all of this will either help you decide, or make things a wee bit harder :-P

[Catweazle]

For the most part, everyday computings tasks will run better on the Athlon64 than on the Pentium. If you intend to be spending most of your time doing one of the more specialised computing tasks that hyperthreading actually BENEFITS, then the Pentium might be a better choice, but for most things you'll ever do hyperthreading doesn't actually bring any realistic benefit or performance boost. If it's for games or general computing, then the Athlon64 is definitely the best choice. If it's for heavy duty database number-crunching or perhaps computer aided design, then the Pentium might be a better choice. Horses for courses really, and if the tasks are quite specialised then perhaps a more workstation oriented choice such as an Opteron would be preferable to both ;)

The overclocking and water-cooling issue I'd reject. I think it's been put forward incorrectly. From the reports I've seen, it seems to be indicated that, despite the undeniable heat issues of the Socket T Prescotts, they actually overclock BETTER on average than the Athlon64s.

[NiTeHaWk4787]

Well to be quite honest, I'm spending this much because I want to be able to play all the upcomming games and not have to upgrade for a while. Video editing as well. I wont be using it for huge number files or anything like that, mostly just games and editing as well as everyday internet and typing tasks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/NiTeHaWk4787/processorsselected.bmp

Thats just a really basic comparison, I mean, you cant exactly compare CPU's on Quake 3 results lol, but still the AMD preforms better. For some reason it made the picture really small, but the 3500+ with a MSI board got 240 FPS and the 3.4 got 234 FPS.

I was thinking this heatsink for the AMD http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/cpu-tri-12.html
any other suggestions? I was also considering this http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-108-037&depa=0

[Catweazle]

For gaming the Athlon64 is better than Pentium. If your video editing tasks are going to be 'heavy-duty' then a high powered Pentium might just be a better choice, but overall it sounds like an Athlon64 solution might be your best option.

That Thermalright heaysink, coupled with a quiet-running 120mm fan looks quite ricey and I'd imagine it'd also be very efficient, but unless you plan to overclock the thing I can't for the life of me see the need to replace the stock heatsink/fan unit. Unless you're choosing your heatsink purely for appearance (Window case) then simply replace the provided thermal interface material with Arctic Silver 5 or Shin-Etsu thermal paste.

[Killer_Typo]

i guess now its a question of, Do i edit video more, or do i play games more...and if i do them about the same, will the pentium offer me enough of a performance boost of the amd with the video editing that its worth getting.

honestly though with ur rig ur gonna get, i wouldnt see how it wouldnt run all the new games perfectly, so either way, i would go with Pentium, because im a fan of them.

[Catweazle]

I would go with the Athlon64, because with Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed, it's by far the most secure platform to use. That in itself is enough reason to make the choice an easy one. Add that to the fact that Athlon64s have less heat problems than the newer high-powered Pentiums, and you get a scenario where brand loyalty needs to be called into question.

Upcoming Pentiums will have hardware security features like the Athlon 64s, but current models don't.

Future Intel processors will almost certainly be based on mobile processor technology, running at lower clockspeeds and eliminating some of the thermal problems, but for now AMD has most certainly demonstrated why "less gigahertz is better".

And coupling a hot-running processor with a high-powered 3D display card is where the problems are most likely to show up ;)