2flyabove

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Nov 4, 2003
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W/in 4 months I will need two new systems. I trade stocks for a living and use mutiple programs at same time. On system A I will need 4 monitors to handle my charting feeds & trading platform. System B will be used only for email, chat, and news feeds-- 2-3 monitors.

I've been waiting for the P5 to emerge for prices to drop, but even if it was available, I'm not sure what cpu to get for system A. I don't think I need the latest thing, but want something smokin' fast. Does it matter if I choose Xeon or a P4? I like the new AMD, but since AMD is going to change the chipset I don't want to go that way now.

I can wait about 1 month before making a decision. Any advice about getting future system B now and use it as system A...get just enough to make it run, then in 3 months (when P5 arrives and new AMD chipset arrives) revert sys A to sys B, then get new sys A with newest cpu and memory? After all, if sys B is going to run email, chat, then no need for bang-out system.

New setup will have XP Pro, wi-fi or lan connection, run on same broadband connection together. And w/in 6 months will have 3 systems working together.

At this time I'm borrowing a friend's Shuttle X, but will return it soon.
 

Vapor

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Jun 11, 2001
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Neither company will have the same chipsets at the end of next year. P5 will not be out (unless Prescott is P5) until later next year (June as a paper launch, at the earliest). For system A I would recommend a 3.2Ghz P4C and 1GB of PC3200 RAM. For the graphics card, I don't know of a card that supports 4 monitors, but there probably is one out there. For system B I would get a 2.8GHz P4C and 512MB of PC3200 RAM. For the graphics card I would get a Matrox P750, which supports 3 monitors (max res 1280x1024 for each monitor) or 2 monitors (max res 1920x1440 for each monitor). Abit IC7-Max2 would be great for your Systems.

RDRAM = (ENEMY)^2
 
G

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What vapor set.. The FX will change sockets somewhere next year, but the Athlon 64 won't as far as we know. A A64 ought to be a pretty future proof machine, and the 3400+ will be out in a week or so, so that is gonna be a "smokin' fast" machine, probably the fastest desktop platform bar none (including FX51 and P4 Extreme Edition). Having a 64 bit capable machine can't hurt either..

If you want to go the Intel route, I don't see the point of getting a single cpu Xeon; its slow FSB's negates the extra cache for most apps. A P4C would make more sense, and its currently priced pretty low as well.

If you would consider a dual CPU machine, you could also have a look at a dual Opteron. With its hypertransport interconnects, integrated memory controller which doubles the memory bandwith for dual cpu's, it sets a new benchmark for SMP systems. Opteron is not likely to change sockets any time soon either, unlike Xeon.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =
 

Vapor

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I don't know if the 3400+ will be better than the FX51. Same clock speed, just the 64 has a 64bit memory controller while the FX51 has a 128bit contoller if I'm not mistaken. Additionally, the FX51 uses registered RAM, which would make it faster at the 2+DIMM level, something that appeals to me (but not most others, sadly). I must admit that the 3400+ should be majorly kickass (and I'm pro-Intel).

P4C or P4EE would be your best singlecpu Intel options--the P4EE being faster and MUCH more expensive.

For a dualie, Opteron is definitely the best option.

However, all the AMD systems are negated by one factor: immaturity. Though I do not think that there are any major problems with the technology out right now, there is always the chance. If you can wait 2-3 months, wait for the AMDs to mature and see if Scotty is released.

RDRAM = (ENEMY)^2