I know this question gets asked a lot, but I cannot find a comparison for what I am looking for. I am going to build a Windows Media Center PC and my friends are badgering me to go to AMD. I know I am not the first to have trouble making the leap, and I am hoping for help making me feel better before I do (because right now I am not sure I can).
I realize clockspeed is not the ultimate factor is overall performance, but the MB I have found for the P4 HT is the ASUS P5WD2 Premium, which supports 800 MHz (1066) FSB and 800 DDR vs the Athlon MB Asus A8N-SLI Premium which supports 1000 MHz and 400 DDR.
The P4 I will be able to use 800 MHz FSB, the Athlon supports the 1 GHz FSB, but the RAM only supports 400 as opposed to 800 from the Intel.
Another feature I like about the Intel MB is that is supports Intel Matrix RAID Technology which will allow using Raid 0 and Raid 1, allowing protection for data and performance for apps.
My primary functions for the PC will be the TV option (recording shows, watching TV via the tuner), editing and creating home DVD's, organizing music.
I have never been much of a PC gamer, but I think I may get more into it with this PC (I'm also trying to decide on the Video Card, not sure if I want to spend $400+)
With this information in mind, I desparately need suggestions/information that will help me make the decision. With the entire infrastructure in mind, which system would be best for my primary functions?
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I start with an off-topic: when I stopped participating on EE (about one year ago) this was the most asked question (AMD or Intel ?) :)) I come back and see that nothing changed :)
Ontopic: You will only get subjective opinions here. I am personally an Intel fan for so many and already-told-a-thousand-ti
>>What I can add, is that for watching TV and recording/mastering the image you won't need such "rocket" computer<<
i would agree with kronostm,,,
be both of the motherboards are really spendid.
ASUS P5WD2 Premium based on i955X has all the add-ons ,the only drawback if any,could be a better/newer BIOS-update,regarding optmal explotation of its hardware
ASUS A8N SLI Premium based on nForce4 chipset is also a superb motherboard,SLI support,better nForce chipset cooling due heatpipe,drawback :OCZ ram modules make some compatibility issues with the motherboard,,,
the geforce 6600 GT or better 6800 GT is a good start for a gamer,if you like to play games in the future.
cu
Well I am currently an IT student and will be taking a .NET course next semester, I have some to spend ($2000), and want to make sure I have more than sufficient power over the next couple years of college. I realize this is quite powerful, but I would prefer too much than too little a couple years down the road. I may be installing multiple OS's on this machine for learning purposes (we get a great deal at the U), I have a laptop that I do a lot of work on now, but wanted a desktop for more power and storage. I am starting this as a Media Center PC though, is this still too much power? I am not sure how much I will need for future college courses, I am not sure what will be needed for running Server software (Win 2003, I realize this is more than the minimal requirements).
OK,chas ,
i'm also an IT-student and i can tell you for sure that you'll never need more then a system with an amd athlon xp 2600+ ,512Mb ram and a common ide harddrive;as far as programming with java you can do all the stuff with jcreator regarding applications and applets development,for c++ you'll need dev++ and nothing more,as far as web development and databases you'll never need more than mysql or oracle under a linux distri and i don't think the uni will be happy ,if you're an mfc fan;see university development is everything but using commercial products,cuz it's all about science and science means struggling,if you can follow me.so you'll need nothing more than around 300 bucks for a desktop pc,cuz in this way you'll get the chance and challenge to fight all the years to show ,that money can't buy or explain the wish for development.
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it's other thing if you want to go the way of learning all kind of microsoft products and their add-ons ,playing with emulated systems,and using other standard userfriendly heavy products,just to know how they work,which is also not a bad thing,cuz it's a practical experience,no doubt.
in such case,let's make things clear:
the two motherboards are splendid,but you want to use microsoft's products and there is Intel,second-
Asus motherboards work better with intel products,this asus-amd board which you have suggested is a superb one,but if i were you ,i would choose the standard combination:asus+intel+gef
check out on the net which motherboard has better ram management:not only clock speed ,but regarding upgrade,flexibility of ram modules combiantions and ram to cpu combinations-compatibility
note that ,this is only my opinion and i can tell you at this moment,in a year you'll miss the chance of these (current) days,when people are testing the AMD's innovation of 64-bit cpus;the wish for upgarding and optimizing will be always chasing after you among your IT-studying,it's all up to you.
nice time!
Thank you both for your help. I wish there was a way to calculate how fast or how much horsepower is needed (as well as for future apps/games/os). I am wanting to do a lot of messing around, optimizing, and learning with this PC. I know, I have a lot of problems not going overboard, which is basically what both of you are saying.
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by: chasdkirbyPosted on 2005-08-21 at 09:52:23ID: 14719461
Oh, and the RAM I have selected is Corsair:
ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) - Athlon
XMS 2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) System Memory - Pentium