AMD Athlon 64-bit processors

[[46] pushit [2]]

I am about to buy a new computer. I've saved up a lot of money and I am going all out. Right now I am not planning on building a new computer, as I haven't the time nor the knowledge to succcessfully build one. I am trying to decide between a new Pentium 4 HT (what does HT actually do) and an AMD Athlon 64-bit processor. I know nothing about the "64-bit" craze so if someone could inform me or direct me to an informational site that woudl be awesome. My new computer is for college. Gaming, of course, is second to education (or so I tell my parents), but I want to buy a good gaming rig. For the academic side, I'll only need basic software (Word, Excel, Access). Any help would be awesome. Thanks.

EDIT: I've generally been happy with using Windows, but I was wondering about the advantages and disadvantages of using another OS like Linux. Or using both. How does that work out?

 

[Hunter_8472]

I personally would recoomed u to go with an A64.
They are, for the most part, cheaper than the equivalent Intel models, as well as running cooler and hence being easier to overclock.

Besides that, from what I've seen in various reviews, Athlons are better at gaming than their Intel counterparts, although Intel has the advantage in multi-tasking(Thanks to Hyper-Threading).

 

[nofx]

I think you should use Windows, Linux I've heard people usually have a hard time trying to game with in general.

 

[holydeadpenguins]

You can get one of the cheaper athlon 64 x2 4400+ 518 dollars. Dual core, better performance than the intel dual cores in most programs, and it gives you slightly better performance in games than the 3500+.

 

[Pressure]

You can get one of the cheaper athlon 64 x2 4400+ 518 dollars. Dual core, better performance than the intel dual cores in most programs, and it gives you slightly better performance in games than the 3500+.

Where are you getting the prices on these? The Athlon 64 x2 4400+ isn't even out yet and I doubt it would be that cheap upon initial release. If it is that cheap then cool.

 

[giant384]

no way its that cheap especially for 2 of them

 

[Ennui]

Get an Athlon 64 over a Pentium 4. Especially if you're gaming. Athlons clock slower but have more cycles or something, and are better for gaming. I've seen friends compare a brand new Pentium 4 3.0ghz w/HT and a cheaper Athlon and the Athlon actually got better performance.

If you're doing video editing, etc, I'd go with the P4, but Athlon 64 for teh win.

 

[Asus]

Overall I would recommend an Athlon 64 over the Pentium 4. The only reason I would recommend a P4 is for the HT multitasking element. Not many desktop apps really shine on the P4 over the A64 anymore. Generally you only find enough of them with workstation apps to consider the P4 over the A64. Course you could always buy dual core A64 when they come out for the desktop (first part of june).


For video editing/encoding and photoshop it really depends on what programs (or filters for photoshop) you use. You could make one look better or the other just depending on the filters used in Photoshop or what programs you used going from DVD to Divx, for example. If you use premiere or DVD2AVI then Athlon 64 is the way to go. Use Windows media encoder then P4 will be ahead.

Here's a new review testing Intel's new 3.8GHz (1000$ CPU) along with most of the Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 line. It's missing the A64 3500+ though.

The Business and Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004 tests are helpful seeing how office apps perform. I'd ignore the Sysmark tests as they are synthetic.

Here are some power consumption numbers.

 

[holydeadpenguins]

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2410

They are suprisingly cheap.

 

[Asus]

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2410

They are suprisingly cheap.

That's for sure! 540$ hmm

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

Alright, looks like Athlon 64s are the way to go. I'm not huge into video editing or media stuff, but I'm assuming that the A64 can handle minor stuff. Now, I was thinking of an AMD Athlong 64 FX-55. Is that a good processor? I Think I am going to buy an Alienware Aurora 7500 and configure the specs how I want them. Any adv/disadv of Alienware computers? Anyone have any experience with them.

Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[Ti133700N]

Expensive would describe Alienware's computers

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

Are there any other pre-configed comps that have AMDs with them? Any good websites to check out? I have been saving up for a long time, so I think I am going to look heavily into Alienware...mainly because that seems to be the best company that uses AMD A64.