New Rig, Help?

S

Shnorque

n00b
Joined
Oct 12, 2005
Messages
52
OK, so Im new here, and Im sure alot of other users get sick of, what PC should I build type questions, but please stick with me.

So when I was at school I liked to consider myself knowledgable with regards to computers. However I never had any money so I couldnt ever afford to upgrade? Now I have got myself a job and would like to uprgrade the old P4 2.0A. However I havent been keeping informed with all the latest tech and need some help.

Basically all my friends that still know things about computers tell me to get an Athlon. However I hate the Athlons and regard them as cheap rubbish. I am probably wrong but please dont tell me as I like to live in ignorance ;) So I would like some help with choosing an Intel CPU. So here are my questions:

First, which is the better CPU, a 640 or 820. At stock speeds and overclocked (not a big overclock as I would still like a very stable machine). Is the dual-core stuff anygood? I notice that the 820 doesnt have 'Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology', is that important or just markleting hype? Do both CPUs have Hyper-Threading, Or only the 640 as the 820 is dual-core? They are both 64 bit yes? I can get both for about the same price, I live in Australia tho, so comparing prices may be difficult as I assume most other users are US?

Second, what is a good motherboard, again it needs to overclock nicely but still be stable. When I was looking at Athlons people recommended the DFI SLI-D, so something similar in price. I am not intending on using SLI at the moment, however it would be good to have it available if i chose to buy a second vid-card in the future.

Thanks for the help.
 
Shnorque said:
OK, so Im new here, and Im sure alot of other users get sick of, what PC should I build type questions, but please stick with me.

So when I was at school I liked to consider myself knowledgable with regards to computers. However I never had any money so I couldnt ever afford to upgrade? Now I have got myself a job and would like to uprgrade the old P4 2.0A. However I havent been keeping informed with all the latest tech and need some help.

Basically all my friends that still know things about computers tell me to get an Athlon. However I hate the Athlons and regard them as cheap rubbish. I am probably wrong but please dont tell me as I like to live in ignorance ;) So I would like some help with choosing an Intel CPU. So here are my questions:

First, which is the better CPU, a 640 or 820. At stock speeds and overclocked (not a big overclock as I would still like a very stable machine). Is the dual-core stuff anygood? I notice that the 820 doesnt have 'Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology', is that important or just markleting hype? Do both CPUs have Hyper-Threading, Or only the 640 as the 820 is dual-core? They are both 64 bit yes? I can get both for about the same price, I live in Australia tho, so comparing prices may be difficult as I assume most other users are US?

Second, what is a good motherboard, again it needs to overclock nicely but still be stable. When I was looking at Athlons people recommended the DFI SLI-D, so something similar in price. I am not intending on using SLI at the moment, however it would be good to have it available if i chose to buy a second vid-card in the future.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Hmmm first of all to clear thing up the Athlons are not rubbish they thrash a P4 in gaming. The 640 will be better for overclocking i blieve a 640 can hit 4ghz no prob, i got my 640 to 3.6ghz but i didn't want to rise it any higher. Only the 640 has hyperthreading, and the 820 is dual core, the 820 will be better for multi tasking because it has 2 physical core HT is like a simulation of dual core. Both the 640 and 820 are 64bit CPUs. Yeah i live in Australia the price for a 640 is around $350 now unlike b4 when i first got the 640 it was $450 :mad: . if you intend to get the Dual core you must get a 955 chipset. the 640 can use any chipset from 915 upwards. Try this motherboard it will work on both 640 and 820 Abit AW8-MAX

heres there link to the board http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=276
 
delusion_2005 said:
Hmmm first of all to clear thing up the Athlons are not rubbish they thrash a P4 in gaming. The 640 will be better for overclocking i blieve a 640 can hit 4ghz no prob, i got my 640 to 3.6ghz but i didn't want to rise it any higher. Only the 640 has hyperthreading, and the 820 is dual core, the 820 will be better for multi tasking because it has 2 physical core HT is like a simulation of dual core. Both the 640 and 820 are 64bit CPUs. Yeah i live in Australia the price for a 640 is around $350 now unlike b4 when i first got the 640 it was $450 :mad: . if you intend to get the Dual core you must get a 955 chipset. the 640 can use any chipset from 915 upwards. Try this motherboard it will work on both 640 and 820 Abit AW8-MAX
Click to expand...

thanks, that was about the first useful reply i have had after searching every forum i could think of for the past week.

that motherboard doesnt support SLI, no?
 
Shnorque said:
thanks, that was about the first useful reply i have had after searching every forum i could think of for the past week.

that motherboard doesnt support SLI, no?
Click to expand...

Arr nope sorry i didn't realise you wanted a SLI compatible mobo, if you want a SLi mobo then try this Gigabyte mobo http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-8N-SLI%20Royal.htm i am not too sure about this motherboard support Dual core though, but gigabyte mobo have been nothing but great to me.
 
Shnorque said:
Basically all my friends that still know things about computers tell me to get an Athlon. However I hate the Athlons and regard them as cheap rubbish. I am probably wrong but please dont tell me as I like to live in ignorance ;) So I would like some help with choosing an Intel CPU. So here are my questions:
Click to expand...

You may want to reconsider your Athlon bias. I recently switched and have no regrets. The current generation of cpu are fairly evenly matched. Both in terms of performance, and quality. One thing I have noted in reviews of 64-bit stuff is that the Athlon does seem to have a performance edge. That may just be an artifact of the users currently trying out 64-bit programs, i.e. gamers and early-adopters.

Shnorque said:
First, which is the better CPU, a 640 or 820. At stock speeds and overclocked (not a big overclock as I would still like a very stable machine). Is the dual-core stuff anygood? I notice that the 820 doesnt have 'Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology', is that important or just markleting hype? Do both CPUs have Hyper-Threading, Or only the 640 as the 820 is dual-core? They are both 64 bit yes? I can get both for about the same price, I live in Australia tho, so comparing prices may be difficult as I assume most other users are US?
Click to expand...

The 820 doesn't have EIST because 2.8, its stock speed, is as low as the feature goes. The 830 and 840 do.

HT is not available in the P D 800 series, it is in the P D EE 800 series. But then they have two cores so, in effect that have a more powerful version of HT. As to which cpu is better - you really have to define your needs and anticipated usage before deciding this. The 640 will be faster at any one task, but the 820 may provide a smother experience and will certainly have higher throughput.

From what I've read both cpu overclock reasonably well.

Shnorque said:
Second, what is a good motherboard, again it needs to overclock nicely but still be stable. When I was looking at Athlons people recommended the DFI SLI-D, so something similar in price. I am not intending on using SLI at the moment, however it would be good to have it available if i chose to buy a second vid-card in the future.
Click to expand...

As pricy as they are, I'm a big ASUS fan. Great quality & features. But you do pay for what you get.
 
delusion_2005 said:
Oops my bad this mobo 100% support Dual Core.
Click to expand...
gigabyte website said:
Due to nVIDIA's chipset limitations, Intel Pentium D 820 CPU's dual core mode is not supported on this motherboard and will only work in single core mode.
Click to expand...

Which is OK, I think I will get the 640 now anyway.
 
I am not a big AMD fan either, the only reason to buy a single core AMD CPU is if you are a gamer-whore. However, the X2 series is quite a bit faster than the dual-core Intels, if just thanks to memory architecture.

Right now there is very little reason to by an 800 series CPU. The 600 series is superior to the single core Athlon offerings in anything worthwhile (media rendering, video processing, etc) but if you are a heavy multi-tasker, the X2 is the way to go. If only you didn't have to go with a shit chipset from nVidia to do it...
 
NulloModo said:
the X2 is the way to go. If only you didn't have to go with a shit chipset from nVidia to do it...
Click to expand...

When you refer to the shit nVidia chipset you are talking about NF4 correct? If so, that is the chipset I will be using anyway?
 
Shnorque said:
When you refer to the shit nVidia chipset you are talking about NF4 correct? If so, that is the chipset I will be using anyway?
Click to expand...

Eh, I'm sorry then.
 
Intel_Inside said:
Intel users unite! :D
Click to expand...

Lolz Hell yeah man the power of intel :D, the only reason i can see for a user to get a A64 processor are those people who games crazy, i would personally get A p4 due to HT which make multi tasking a breeze but ofcourse it would be as good as X2. Window just seem to be alot snappier with p4.
 
NulloModo said:
I am not a big AMD fan either, the only reason to buy a single core AMD CPU is if you are a gamer-whore. However, the X2 series is quite a bit faster than the dual-core Intels, if just thanks to memory architecture.

Right now there is very little reason to by an 800 series CPU. The 600 series is superior to the single core Athlon offerings in anything worthwhile (media rendering, video processing, etc) but if you are a heavy multi-tasker, the X2 is the way to go. If only you didn't have to go with a shit chipset from nVidia to do it...
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why is the nVidia chipset shit?
The only logic I've seen is that since nVidia doesn't make the cpu's, it is impossible for them to make a stable chipset, a la Intel and their CPU's.

What's the difference, though? With Intel, I'm sure they have different engineers working on CPU's and chipsets, just like nVidia having different engineers from AMD's. nVidia and AMD work so close together that it might as well be considered a "2nd party" chipset or even a first party chipset, due to it's outstanding support for all the K8's. Hell, nVidia is a co-founder of the Hypertransport Consortium, which goes to show how connected they are to AMD.
If you have another reason to call the nF4, a chipset I've heard zero complaints about, then go right ahead. I've heard more complaints about Intel chipsets than nVidia;s AMD ones (things like only being relevant for 6 months and all of that fun stuff.)
 
robberbaron said:
Out of curiosity, why is the nVidia chipset shit?
Click to expand...

I would also be interested in hearing this, i was a litttle concerned about using the NF4 chipset at first. I would, however, like the ability to use SLI at a later date, and have read some good reviews about the NF4 Intel boards?
 
Shnorque said:
I would also be interested in hearing this, i was a litttle concerned about using the NF4 chipset at first. I would, however, like the ability to use SLI at a later date, and have read some good reviews about the NF4 Intel boards?
Click to expand...

There are multiple known issues, amongst them are the SCSI + SB cards one, google it and find more.
 
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