Author Topic: Which System would YOU Buy?!?!?! (Read 823 times)

Vermillion · « **on:** January 30, 2003, 02:30:48 PM »

Ok guys, Its income tax return season !!! I've been researching what to buy for a new system and I've come down to two choices. Please vote for one !

System 1.
AMD XP 2800 $395.00
Epox 8RDA+ (Nforce 2 chipset) $122.00
1 Gig Corsair DDR333 2-2-2-5 RAM $340.00
(matched set of 2 512meg DIMMS)
Chaintech BLUE CHIEFTEC Server Chasis
(front USB 2.0 & 450w ps) $100.00

Total = $957 plus shipping

System 2.
Intel P4 2.8Ghz $380.00
Asus P4G8X (Intel E7502 chipset) $230.00
1 Gig Corsair DDR333 2-2-2-5 RAM $340.00
(matched set of 2 512meg DIMMS)
Chaintech BLUE CHIEFTEC Server Chasis
(front USB 2.0 & 450w ps) $100.00

Total = $1050 plus shipping

Additional Items (already have)
ATI Radeon 9500 (Saphire) oc to 9700 Pro
Plextor x40 write CDR
80Gig HD
SB Audigy

Have I forgotten anything? Oh and I think I'm going to order new CH Pro USB equipment too.

So which would YOU buy?!?!?!

Skuzzy · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2003, 03:05:02 PM »

Welp,..the ATI card is going to work better in #2. ATI seems to target Intel systems, or at least, they almost always benchmark better in Intel systems. Don't know why for sure, but am researching it.

I been very curious about the E7502 chipset. Seems to have some nice performance features. I know our servers, which are E7500 based simply scream.
The 02 adds AGP8X support, which works fine with the ATI card.

Both systems seem good choices, so about the only call I could make was based on the video card.

EDIT: Seems ATI is using the Intel SSE2 instructions. Might explain the better performance in Intel P4 systems. Still working.

Mini D · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2003, 03:37:19 PM »

I thought the AMD stuff supported SSE2 now? Maybe its just SSE1.

And Verm.. where did you get the price for the 2800? I didn't see a listing on pricewatch for it.

MiniD

Vermillion · « **Reply #3 on:** January 30, 2003, 03:43:42 PM »

Right off Newegg.com today, all prices were current as of about 12:00PM Eastern time

Skuzzy · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2003, 04:35:20 PM »

You couldbe right MiniD...I didn't think AMD had gotten around to SSE2 yet. I'll have to check on it.

qts · « **Reply #5 on:** January 30, 2003, 06:17:19 PM »

No DVD writer? The new Sony will do both -R and +R

Does the mb support RAID?

Consider going for a dual-processor system (Athlon MP), though it won't help a lot in AH.

If funds permit, get yourself a set of four matched drives and an IDE RAID controller card (if the motherboard doesn't support it) and enjoy the performance of RAID 0+1.

With hard drives as cheap as they are, it is IMHO folly not to mirror drives.

AKS\/\/ulfe · « **Reply #6 on:** January 30, 2003, 08:26:18 PM »

I did a quick search and it appears that SSE2 is not currently supported by AMD (even in XP chips). SSE is(or a deritive of it is).

According to AMD in a comparison between the XP chip and the P4 chip they list this category: "3D Enhancement Instructions -Enables more lifelike 3D imaging and graphics"

And next to it for the XP chip it says: "3DNow!™ Professional Technology"

While the P4 list says: "SSE2"

I also found this: http://ndatech.com/mersenne/archives/digest/v01_0908.txt

Open the page and search for SSE2, I dunno how legitimate the reply to the question is (that SSE2 is not supported by AMD chips yet, and the chip in question is an AMD XP 1600+), but it appears that SSE2 is not supported by AMD chips yet.

EDIT: Verm, here is the link to the AMD XP/P4 Competitive Comparison:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_756_3734^3759,00.html
-SW

Skuzzy · « **Reply #7 on:** January 30, 2003, 09:43:33 PM »

Thanks SWulfe. That explains at least part of the difference as to why the 9700Pro does better in Intel P4 systems versus AMD systems then.

Mini D · « **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2003, 12:25:34 AM »

I know SSE is supported on newer AMD processors. I was thinking SSE2 was with the newer chips for some reason. It kinda makes me chuckle when people scream what a hoax it was.

MiniD

mrsid2 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 31, 2003, 12:46:26 AM »

SSE2 is not supported yet because Intel doesn't give out the license. Nobody else can use it, AMD has tried to match Intels move by creating 3DNow! and pro. Latest models have SSE since Intel finally released the technology.

I think the upcoming new core, Hammer, will have SSE2. I'm personally waiting for the 64-bit cores for my next upgrade.

If I had to choose between the two systems, I'd take the nforce2 no questions asked. It's packed with extra features, dual lan, firewire, vga, tv-out AND you can forget getting the audigy because Nforce APU matches it in performance anyway and costs nothing. Futurewise it's probably also a better option, Intel is known for screwing the upgrade path with socket changes, chipset anomalities etc.

Therefore in comparison the nforce will come in much cheaper. Too bad you already invested in creappytive product.

bloom25 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 31, 2003, 02:04:57 PM »

Either system would be a great system.

As mentioned above, the nForce onboard sound matches the Audigy in features (exceeds it actually - it does realtime Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding in hardware) and on well designed boards has equal sound quality. That would make the AMD system $150 cheaper without that Audigy. Unfortunately, since you have it already, you won't get that cost savings. The AMD system is a bit faster overall. (Though not by any significant margin.)

Your Intel system uses the new Granite Bay chipset, which is a plus. Like the nForce 2, it supports a dual channel DDR memory interface.

I don't honestly know what system to advise you to get. The prices (considering you already have the Audigy) are roughly equal and so is the level of performance overall. The nForce 2 is a rock-solid platform (though I would prefer the Asus A7N8X Deluxe over an Epox board, but only because I've used it myself and know it's a good board). The Intel Granite Bay chipset is new, but Intel chipsets are generally quite stable.

Vermillion · « **Reply #11 on:** January 31, 2003, 03:38:39 PM »

My Opinon was generally that the two systems were equal as well.

FYI the Granite Bay boards use the same onboard sound chipset that the Nforce 2 boards does, so thats a moot issue between them. It also has serial ATA RAID, on the motherboard, but its unlikely I would use that. And writeable DVD is still too expensive for my tastes.

Bloom, you said that the AMD system was slightly faster. I had thought that the comparisons I have read showed benchmarks between the Granite Bay systems and the Nforce2 systems slightly in favor of the Intel products of the same rating (2.8Ghz versus 2800+). But roughly the same. I could be wrong.

My last 2 systems have been AMD, but I was leaning towards the Intel system this time. I guess that I'm slightly peeved at AMD for doing the "premium" price thing for their upper end processors now, so I was kinda of the opinon that if I was going to pay a premium price, I was going to get "the real thing"

Skuzzy · « **Reply #12 on:** January 31, 2003, 04:29:29 PM »

I think both systems would be fine. But the ATI card will run better in that Intel system.

Matter of fact, you got a good balanced system there with those choices.

Vermillion · « **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2003, 05:28:18 PM »

I definitely wanted stability as well as speed. My current system has become incredibly unstable lately with spontaneous reboots, and lots of partial win2k system crashes (like explorer.exe).

So I decided to spend a little more than I normally would and make sure there were no "bargain bin" parts in this system that might cause that.

I have to wait a week for the Intel motherboard to come in at Newegg, but I think I'm going to order that system then.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2003, 05:37:03 PM »

Welp, if you go with that ASUS Intel board, I would like to hear some feedback about it. Been eyeing it myself.