P4 3.0E, 3.0C or Athlon64 3000+, 3200+?

[Templ]

Hello everyone.

I'm buying a new computer, but i just can't decide which processor is the best for me. I've seen some test, and it seems that athlon 64 performs better when it comes to games and office. The P4 performs better in Divx encoding, 3D Rendering...
The problem is that i use my computer for everything. That is for games, office, photoshop, 3d modelling, divx encoding... So, i'm asking which processor is overall better? If i get Athlon 64 3200+, will i be able to do Divx encoding fast enough? Or if i get P4 3.0, will i be able to play games lag-free?

Now, the second problem is ofcourse money. :laugh:
As you know i'm interested in P43.0Ghz and Athlong 64 3200+. I don't think the 3000+ is good enough for me. The 3200+ is ofcourse quite a lot better in games than P4 3.0,, but it's also more expensive. The P4 costs around $300, and the Athlon 64 is around $410 in our country. So, is the extra performace really worth 110 dollars?

Now, the motherboards. I already know which motherboard to get for P4, but i don't know which one is the best for Athlon 64 3200+. Both the MSI K8N Neo Platinum and Epox 8KDA3+ (this one is hard to get in our country) are low-priced in our country and they both perform very well. The Asus K8N-E Deluxe is also low-priced, but i can't find any tests on the net to see how it performs. Maybe you guys know a thing or two about it?
I'm also interested in the socket 939 based motherboards, but the way i understand it, you need a 939 processor. The cheapest 939 processor is Athlon 64 3500+, but the problem is it's not really cheap. It costs around 700 dollars in our country :Q , so there's no way i'm getting it. I would like to know in what the socket 939 based motherboards are better?

Now, the last thing. If i get P4, which one is better? The P4 3.0 Northwood or the Prescott? I know the Prescott has larger cache. I also know that at 3.0Ghz the Northwood is better in some apps, but not all. Maybe you guys know more?

 

[Vette73]

Well I went form AthlonXP to P4 to Athlon64. So I would get a Athlon64 system.

The prices are coming down on the A64 chips so it is a good time to buy for those that have been waiting.
I would look at a socket 754 3000+ myself. Great bang for your buck price. Put that in a nForce3 250gb board (like the one from Epox, etc...) and you can overclock it very well and get 3200+ performance, or more, easy.

 

[Templ]

Hmm, i'm not quite sure which one is better. Clawhammer or Newcastle?. I know that Clawhammer's L2 cache is higher, but that doesn't really mean that the processor is better.

 

[jiffylube1024]

I'd recommend the 3.0C or the 3000+/3200+ AMD 64. Ignore the 3.0E; the Northwood should overclock quite well and is a faster chip, clock for clock (and a lot cooler, too).

As for a Motherboard, if you go the P4 way, I'd recommend an Abit IC7 series motherboard.

For me, anyway, the choice is between gaming (Athlon 64) and multitasking (P4C). The P4C lets you do more multitasking in windows because of hyperthreading; the A64 is probably 10-15% faster in most games...

What is more important to you, a super-fast gaming rig or a super fast windows/multitasking rig? Either way, you can't really go wrong...

 

[Dman877]

I dunno about that multitasking thing. I went from a A64 3000+ to a P4C 2.8 and really only nitced a small difference in multitasking. When I'm doing something cpu intensive like encoding and also trying to watch tv or surf the net, it still bogs down like the A64 did /shrug. I think HT is a plus but it's really not a big deal in day-to-day computing. I'm sure it helps in multi-threaded apps and whatnot but for general stuff, games, encoding, benchs, it doesn';t seem to help much. Maybe its cuz I have a slower chip though, I dunno.

 

[Vette73]

^

I have to agree with that also.

I went from a P4 to a A64 and really can;t notice much difference. I am sure if oyu benchmarked multi-tasking the P4 might be a couple seconds faster, but not enouhg to really notice or be a large change.


And if you get a Athlon64 try and get the CG core.

 

[Templ]

Hmm, i've heared about CG core. I think it means an improved memory controller. The problem is i have no idea how to find out if the processor has it or not.