Officially joined the AMD crowd...

T

TheAcorn

Gawd
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Messages
939
First Athlon rig, ever.

Pretty sweet. I just felt like making a post - This is the first AMD CPU that has ever been my main rig.

Running pretty well. I'm going to see just how far it goes - 2200mhz is a 'conservative' OC - It did it right from the box, I've never posted it at anything slower. :D
 
Originally posted by FiZ
Welcome to the Dark Side ;) .
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LOL! :D We need more Star Wars references!
Congrates! I hope you like your new rig. I'm waiting to see what the 939 sockets bring to the table before I go A64 myself.
 
its bloody quick!

... moving from a P3/933, that is.

It is nice to see that AMD is sticking with DDR400 (400+?) for A64 939, it'll make my (pre-planned... I've been trying to hold out for it since somewhere last year) move to AMD64 that much easier. 939 looks to have some longevity to it.

Next up: Add a 9800Pro, and a 2x40GB RAID 0 and I'll be right up to speed, eh? :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by TheAcorn
Next up: Add a 9800Pro, and a 2x40GB RAID 0 and I'll be right up to speed, eh? :rolleyes:
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A single 74GB Raptor will outperform a Raid 0 array of 2x36GB Raptors in almost everything except 1 single synthetic benchmark whose name escapes me now.
 
Originally posted by Vagrant Zero
A single 74GB Raptor will outperform a Raid 0 array of 2x36GB Raptors in almost everything except 1 single synthetic benchmark whose name escapes me now.
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Really? I am not doubting you, but can you explain how that works?

Since I just bought myself two seagate barracudas for Raid0 it will not make a difference for my current rigs, I still am always looking for what will be the best for my next rig.
 
Originally posted by DocFaustus
Really? I am not doubting you, but can you explain how that works?
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The major difference between the 74 and the 36 isn't the doubled capacity, but the 4.5 vs 5.2 seek times [and all the 'fallout' in other parts of the HDD becuase of it].

In most cases the 5% performance increase of a 2x36 Raid 0 array isn't going to be able to close the performance delta of the the 74s lower seek time as the two links above this post show. Plus, the 74s are running for around 220 nowadays. I'm going to get two of those and Raid'em [more for the bragging rights than the performance boost :D] when the 939s are released.
 
Originally posted by Vagrant Zero
A single 74GB Raptor will outperform a Raid 0 array of 2x36GB Raptors in almost everything except 1 single synthetic benchmark whose name escapes me now.
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Do you have any benches that actually show 2 36GB raptors in RAID0 array vs 1 74GB raptor? The 74GB raptor has better seek times but RAID0 gives alot bigger performance boost then just 5%, especially in areas like OS and Game load times and in encodeing.

http://accelenation.com/?ac.id.217.3
 
Originally posted by TheAcorn
First Athlon rig, ever.

Pretty sweet. I just felt like making a post - This is the first AMD CPU that has ever been my main rig.
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Welcome to the sensible choice. Congrats as well.
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
Do you have any benches that actually show 2 36GB raptors in RAID0 array vs 1 74GB raptor? The 74GB raptor has better seek times but RAID0 gives alot bigger performance boost then just 5%, especially in areas like OS and Game load times and in encodeing.

http://accelenation.com/?ac.id.217.3
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There were a few over at storagehardware.com

Better yet, just goto their forums and ask anyone. As for me, I can't dig around for ya, I've got work in 10 minutes so you're on your own buddy.

But since we're on the topic of benches, can YOU show me some benches [NOT synthetic as they always show amazing performance figures that never translate to practical use] where Raid 0 provides enough of a performance boost to close the delta between the two raptors? Honestly, people look to Raid 0 as if it's the second coming of god where at best it's more akin to a mild overclock.

Here's a good review of the 74. I don't think anyone in their right mind can excpect an array to close that kind of gap.

http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200401/20040126WD740GD_2.html
 
Well what im saying is your read speeds and seek time will be better with the 74GB raptor but i seriously think 2x 36GB raptors are going to be quite a bit faster as far as Write speeds go. Because there is a VERY noticeable difference in boot times and game load times and the time it takes to transfer large files when you have the two drives in a RAID0 array.

I've seen plenty of 74 vs 36 Raptor reviews but i havn't seen any that compare the performance of the 74GB vs 2x 36GB in RAID0. It also helps if they are configured right for the size of files your handling.

And storagereview uses those same benchmarks in the link i posted to compare the performance of the 74GB drives vs others.

Even though a benchmark is synthetic, it doesn't mean that doesn't translate to actual performance. Synthetic benchmarks are optimized for certain aspects of processors, video cards, hard drives just like an actual real life application is.
 
Originally posted by Vagrant Zero
A single 74GB Raptor will outperform a Raid 0 array of 2x36GB Raptors in almost everything except 1 single synthetic benchmark whose name escapes me now.
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Yeah?

But I *want* a RAID array. :p

I'm fine on storage for now, really, so the vidboard will come before the drives, and buying 2x 36GB raptors, for me, is just out-of-the-question budget-wise. Buying a 74GB Raptor, now, is also out of the question, budget wise. I think my RAID 0 plan is going to fit better for myself and my budget.

Notice I use the word 'budget' a lot....
 
Originally posted by TheAcorn
Notice I use the word 'budget' a lot....
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36 raptors go for 112 on newwegg. That's 224 to get 2 and raid em.

74 raptors go for 215 on newwegg. That's 9 bucks cheaper for better performance. Also there's a $20 mail in rebate on it. That's 29 bucks cheaper. Not bad for better performance.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-200&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-160&depa=0

Now if you WANT Raid 0 merely for the bragging rights just say so, it's your money, I'm not going to critisize you on how you choose to spend it. Just don't try to justify it with reasoning like my budget even though the 74 solution is cheaper since other people might read that misinformation and believe something that isn't true.
 
budget... implies under $175 USD.

2x Seagate 7200RPM 40GBs - $112
IDE Raid card - undecided - $50 or so.

It'll be fast... enough. Though, I might spend more on drives, like 2x 120GBs later for massive storage, and maybe a Raptor 74GB (and SATA card) for a bootdrive, pretty much.
 
Originally posted by TheAcorn
First Athlon rig, ever.

Pretty sweet. I just felt like making a post - This is the first AMD CPU that has ever been my main rig.

Running pretty well. I'm going to see just how far it goes - 2200mhz is a 'conservative' OC - It did it right from the box, I've never posted it at anything slower. :D
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Congrats. Welcome. As you can see from my sig I go with both platforms. The mobile is awful enticing. I went with A64, but for the bang for the buck, mobile athlon is an excellent choice...
 
The raptors smoke any other SATA drive. If you are going to go SATA go with Raptors otherwise why bother? The speed difference is negligible between other SATA and say WD SE HD's. Though for a budget conscious person who just wants SATA drives, you definitely throw out some good choices...
 
The SATA drives out now except for the Seagate 7200.7 drives and the Western Digital raptors aren't really SATA drives. They are IDE drives with an IDE to SATA bridge built onto them. SATA performance for those kinds of drives are actually a little worse then normal IDE ATA/100 drives most of the time. I know my 2500JB outperfroms the 2500JD usually.

As far as RAID0 performance goes it depends on what you do. I use a workstation for gaming, encodeing, and heavy application work in 3ds max and photoshop and there is a big difference between a non RAID setup and a RAID0 configuration if you actually know how to set one up right and choose the right block size for the size of files your working with primarily.

RAID0 gives a good performance boost in write speeds. The reason most people say they dont notice it is because the read speeds are nearly the same and for instance the 74GB raptor will have a faster read speed then 2x 36GB raptors. Write speed will be a good 20-30% faster though. You'll start to notice the RAID0 performance when you go to working with large files or loading heavy games. But normal desktop usage like the average joe does it doesn't make much of a difference.
 
The SATA drives out now except for the Seagate 7200.7 drives and the Western Digital raptors aren't really SATA drives
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The Raptors are not native SATA either, they use the Marvell translator chip just like the Hitachi, MaXtor and Samsung SATA drives. The 7200.7 series is the only true native SATA drive currently, but it is also slower than a SATA-translated HGST 7K250 with the same platter density.
 
Originally posted by Juan Sanchez
Wow bigs switches for you. From Intel to AMD and from Nvidia to ATI.
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Eh, the vidcard is an old one, really. I go for best buy, at the time.

And clearly, ATM, the AthlonXP-Ms provide the most punch for what you spend, especially if you invest a little extra on a new HSF. And DDR400 can still be used on Socket939 as well... I have to get 1GB at some point anyhow, though.

If an Intel-based solution is ever providing the best performance for the dollar, I'll do it, and the same goes for nVidia. But the 9800pro for about 2 bills is too good of a buy to pass up. In fact, its probably happening next week.
 
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