Name: rookie79 Date: April 15, 2005 at 10:47:48 Pacific Subject: Best Gaming CPU OS: Win XP CPU/Ram: none
Comment:
I posted this message earlier in the "General Hardware" section of this site, but did not get as many responses as I would have liked. I figure I will post it here to see if I get any other hints.
I am currently building a new computer that I would like to use mainly for gaming. I have decided between 3 AMD 64 processors and an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard. The graphics card for this system will be a BFG 6800 Ultra OC.
The three processors that I am considering are the AMD 64 3800+, AMD 4000+ and the AMD FX-53.
I read a review somewhere that the AMD 64 4000+ is the same chip as the FX-53, except it cannot be over clocked. I don't know anything about over clocking, but I have always read that AMD does not suggest it.
The difference between the 4000+ and the 3800+ is that the 4000+ has up to 1mb level 2 cache, and the 3800+ only has 512kb. I don't really understand what difference that really makes, since I have not found any reading material to explain it.
The 3800+ runs about $166 cheaper than the 4000+, and the 4000+ runs about $193 cheaper than the FX-53. You can see all of these chips at www.zipzoomfly.com
I would like to be able to run high end 3d games at max settings if I could. I play games such as Doom 3, Battlefield Vietnam (and Battlefield 2 when released), and Everquest II.
Any suggestions or helping me understand this stuff better so I can make a more educated decision would be appreciated.
tart (by Dragen) is just jealous, he is telling you to buy his cheap hardware that he has...lol, if you have the cash do what you please with it, no one should be the judge of what one does with their own money.
As for level2 cache, its the cpu's own dedicated ram, it stores frequently used instructions that the system uses often.
You certainly don't need $170,000+ Ferrari to drive to the market...or a home with a swimming pool and a tennis court to throw parties....or your own privite jet to go see your family, but you know what, some people do it anyway, because they can.
I can certainly afford an FX-53 & all the latest hardware to go with it, but I choose not to because I realize it's unnecessary & a waste of money. Just because someone can do something, doesn't necessarily mean they should.
Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 768MB PC3200 Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit WinME/WinXP Pro
LOL, I agree with Jam. BUT, if you're gonna spend that obscene amount of money, you might as well get 1M of cache. That helps significantly with media encoding tasks and what not. Otherwise, you're only buying for bragging rights.
But dude, seriously, look at an Athlon 64 3200 Socket 939 version, stash that extra cash, and upgrade to an FX-53 for peanuts when you actually need it. You probably won't even notice a difference right now in performance for gaming. Spend the money on SLI video cards (or better than what you were looking at), 2 gigs of memory, a couple of Raptor hard drives, ANY of those would make more of a difference to overall system performance. I think any of those are wastes of money, too, but at least you wouldn't be wasting as much, and/or you'd see more of a performance increase.
well if I had the money, and really wanted a kick ass system, id go fx-51 overclock it, get geforce 6800 ultra/radion x900(when it came out) and get the asus delux board. but ur not me, and i don't have the cash. but go with what heropsycho said. but i recomend a 3500(or higher) 939 socket.
p4 at 3330mhz 512mb pc3200 dual channel 80gb wd hdd/40gb maxtor when on linux 8x agp geforce 6200 Audigy 2 ZS dvd and cd burner "im just a kid" and 15 at that
If I had a choice between an Intel Pentium 4 EE or an AMD Athlon 64 FX, i'd go with the AMD Athlon 64 FX, simply because AMD Athlons 64's are better gaming processors then Intel Pentium 4 processors.
Now Since I play more game on a console now then I do on my pc, my next system that I build will have a Pentium 4 in it because I do alot more ecoding, buring, copying etc... then I do gaming on my pc and that is what the Pentium 4 does best.
I would like to revise my last statment, and point out that jam and hero make good points.
More often than not, Those who rush to the conclusion that the fastest and most expensive solution is their best option, typically find themselves somewhat disappointed with their results. That being said I would reconsider spending all that money and go with what Hero suggested in #5. In the computer industery, it is wise to be patient and wait till prices drop to an acceptable level. Instead of going all High-end go sub-high-end, You'll save a couple of hundred. And as a side note over-clocking is almost mainstream these days, so get a good mobo and oc an 3500+ or fx-51, thus saving you an addational cash. I saved about $500.00 from buying the hardware i did and tweaking it and overclocking it to same specs. Take a gander at my sig!
Your tellin me,if you were a multi-millionaire yude buy the 3800+ instead of the FX-53? Bucking Follucks.
We would probably buy both and OC the hell outa both of em hahahah lol ;~)
Rookie79 I think the fx-53 is the better chip of the 3. I would choose either a DFI Lanparty or an MSI NEO4 rather than the asus. It's still early days really with 939 SLI mobo's but they are the leading benchmarkers at this moment in time(as of a few weeks back). A gig of good ram would utilise the dual channel and don't forget you should get a good PSU.
Your tellin me,if you were a multi-millionaire yude buy the 3800+ instead of the FX-53? Bucking Follucks."
A. I'm NOT a millionaire, and I would assume a millionaire wouldn't be posting on this forum. B. I'm not a fan of wasting money. C. It's common sense which is the best processor out of the options he posted in terms of performance. DUUUUH! I don't think he was asking which is the fastest. D. It's NOT obvious which is the best processor for the money. Hardware sites do an excellent job in showing which pieces of hardware perform better, but in my opinion do a HORRIBLE job pointing out what are the best buys. Want proof? Look how many people come in here totally convinced they need to spend $400 on a freaking graphics card or $800 on a processor to play games. If you have that kind of money to blow and you don't care, WHY ASK FOR ADVICE?! Heck, if you make the wrong decision, buy the other part and rebuild it again!
"And if I had a million dollars, we wouldn't have to eat Kraft dinner, but we would!"
"People! Take to the streets and scream, 'BE REASONABLE!!!'"
Thank you all for your comments. I have decided on the AMD 64 3800+ processor.
The main confusion I had was dealing with the L2 cache and what performance difference it would make, one being 1mb and the other being 512kb.
I do more than just gaming, but the fact is that I do alot more gaming than anything else on my computer. I would like to start using some art and rendering programs and try my hand at that, because it sounds interesting. I was hoping to make a system that would perform great in all aspects and applications.
After finding several reviews with benchmark tests listed for the 3800+, 4000+ and the FX-53, I made my decision. It would seem that very few games, and other applications take advantage of the higher L2 cache on the 4000+ and the FX-53. Those that do take advantage of the higher cache only show about a 1% to 3% performance increase, which to me does not justify spending an extra $166 to make the jump from the 3800+ to the 4000+.
I am not made of money, and I do not like wasting it either. But I have always felt that if you are going to do something, you should do it right the first time. I understand that one chip may be cheaper now, and that others will go down in price. But if I ended up buying both in the long run, I may lose money or at best break even. On that note, I dont think that I would ever upgrade the 3800+ to any of the chips currently out on the market. It seems that it will do fine for many years to come.
"After finding several reviews with benchmark tests listed for the 3800+, 4000+ and the FX-53, I made my decision. It would seem that very few games, and other applications take advantage of the higher L2 cache on the 4000+ and the FX-53. Those that do take advantage of the higher cache only show about a 1% to 3% performance increase, which to me does not justify spending an extra $166 to make the jump from the 3800+ to the 4000+."
Did you actually look at the benchmarks between a 3500 and a 3800?! ROFL...
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's a whopping 1.5% (lol, rounded up btw) improvement!
Cost difference?
Athlon 64 3800 $373 Athlon 64 3500 $268
You're paying over $100 for 1.5% difference.
Or let's compare the 3200 to the 3800...
Performance difference = 3% (rounded up).
Price difference:
Athlon 64 3800 $373 Athlon 64 3200 $190
Almost a $200 difference. I don't see the difference here. Heck, having 2 gigs of RAM would help you in your graphics apps more than that CPU would. Throwing the money at a better gfx card would help more for your games.
"But I have always felt that if you are going to do something, you should do it right the first time."
I believe the same thing. You're doing it right by getting Athlon 64 Socket 939. Going that high in clock speed is overkill and in my opinion a waste of money. But it's your dollars, so enjoy what whatever you purchase.
"People! Take to the streets and scream, 'BE REASONABLE!!!'"
The 3800+ is what I have ordered, and I am comfortable with that decision.
As far as the graphics card goes, I will be using a BFG 6800 Ultra Overclocked Edition. You can't get any better than that and still have an SLI system. Although I am only using one card at the moment, I wanted the option of future SLI upgrades.
I will have 1gb ram and will be adding a 2nd gb within a couple of months.
This is the system I will be building:
Thermaltake Shark aluminum case (black) Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE-SFMA 600W PSU Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Corsair Ram 1gb (value ram) BFG 6800 Ultra OC graphics card Plextor 716A Duel Layer DVD writer Western Digital SATA Raptor 74gig hard drive (only one for now) Samsung 21.3" 213T Monitor (Black)
Is it all a waste of money? To some the answer is yes. To me, it is not. Everyone has a different point of view on wasting money. Eating out is a waste of money, but almost everyone does it.
There's no way on earth that can be justified price/performance-wise. People who buy that are buying bragging rights, plain and simple. I choose to have bragging rights in better common sense. :-)
AMD is a better gaming CPU though when compared to comparable CPU's, and again typically cost less comparably, too.
If you overclock that FX 55 and it will crush the 3800+ and it will be justified. My 3000+ is overclocked to 2.6 now and 2.8 when I wanna test it so how can you say that your 3800+ is justified?
Go to PC World and barter the hell outta some spotty student sale assistant, buy a HP T690 and a 17" TFT for just over £900, replace the crappy ATI X600 and pi** poor 300w PSU for an ATI X850 Platinum Edition and a Tagan 420w iX-Eye PSU and you got a bargain....
3.6 P4 Prescott 1 gig Infineon (2 x 512) 2 x samsung 160gb SATA HDD DVD-ROM and DVD-RW shed loads of USB and Firewire ports ASUS Puffer MOBO
.....true theres room for improvement (after all it is a HP of the shelf jobbie) but when it plays Doom 3 on Ultra Quality at 1600 by 1200, who gives a rats a** :)
I REGISTERED WITH COMPUTING.NET AN ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOWSY SIGNATURE!
But a small tip from me, use caution with the board !!!
It is a bit touchy, if the thing doesnt boot the first time, dont worry.
Are you going to use a standard cooler or after market ??
Make sure you update the bios with the latest release from asus before installing any other components or the operating system.
Good power supply, was going to suggest the OCZ but the Thermaltake is dam nice 2.
You may notice a higher temp from the cpu that you would expect, it will setle down in a few days. Dont use the thermal fan speed controll switch it off, you will get better cooling.
The nforce 4 sli chipset gets dam hot when gamin, make sure that little fan is not obstructed in any way.
Tidy up your wiring inside the case, dont just leave it hanging or loose, use sime clip ties and bundle the wiring together, this will maximise the air flow in the case.
Its darn nice board once runing correctly, take your time with it.
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