CPU Poll

[P4Man]

I saw the cpu poll at Aces', and was suprised AMD owners outnumbered intel owners roughly 4 to 1. I was wondering if this forum would give a similar result, so please <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=39525#39525" target="_new"> vote here </A>

First poll is what cpu you have now.
Second poll is what you expect to purchase for your next machine.

I'm very curious..

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

 

[juin]

It the same everywhere.There much more AMD base produce.Even nvidia outsold Intel in chipset

Just to show dad

 

[Crashman]

Tom's tends to gather a more experienced crowd. Right now if you want the best PC possible, it's going to have to be Intel...unless the K8USA is really as good as they say. And prior to the K8USA, there could be no good argument against Intel being at the top end.

But AMD garnered a lot of followers back in the day when THEY were on top. Many of these fanatics refuse to buy anything Intel. They HATE Intel because they see them as "the man" or "the establishment" and they see AMD as some sort of rebel with a cause. Those types of people don't care if the XP3200+ was always slower than the P4 3.2C, in fact they'll argue you're lying if you say it.

It looks like with the advent of better A64 board, AMD will once again be on top for a while. How long that last depends on both companies ability to introduce faster product in a timely matter.

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[trooper11]

I dont see how you can say at this time, intel has the better performing chip. Thats not exactly true. If your refering to video encoding then your right, Intel still holds the lead. If your talking about gaming or compiling or some other sort, then it would be the Athlon 64 that leads across the board. I dont include the P4EE or the Athlon FX in this since they are both at a different level in price to be considered mainstream chips. It is odd that you see more ppl owning amd chips then intel like that, but as has been said in the past, amd has a hold on the 'enthusiast' market such as would be anyone using forums such as this lol. Of course you go into the general public and you see the shift.

 

[Crashman]

I didn't say they have the fastest chip.

What's really going on is that Intel's 865 and 875 chipsets are far better than VIA or nVidia's current A64 chipsets. Since A64 boards based on better chipsets are nearly impossible to find, Intel is the current king of high end PC.

You see, a PC contains a lot more than just a CPU. Until better boards are available for A64 (or the K8USA proves itself), the best platforms by far support Intel processors. And the motherboard is a huge part of what makes a PC a quality unit.

To be at the top of the high end, you need more than just speed, you need quality. I'm sure higher quality boards are on there way for the A64, which is why I'm sure AMD will be back at the top soon.

And AMD still holds the value crown with it's XP series processors on the very high quality nForce2 chipsets.

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[juin]

agree

Just to show dad

 

[Snorkius]

I don't think most of those people are fanatacs/fanboys. I'm sure that the main factor in the higher numbers of AMD owners is price and the (past)possibility to unlock the multiplier.


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[P4Man]

What is wrong with current A64 boards in your opinion ? I know you have a profound dislike for VIA, and having owned half a dozen of VIA boards in the past (both P3 and Athlon), I understand it, but it doesnt seem warranted anymore. If you're not an overclocker, it seems there is nothing wrong with current A64 chipsets from VIA, or is there ? KT133 and Apollo Pro was utter crap, KT133A was bad, KT266 was mediocre at best, KT266A acceptable, KT333/A rather good IMHO. I see a trend there... also keep in mind designing a chipset for A64 is a lot easier, its just a AGP bridge and a southbridge.

And if you still insist on a non VIA board, there are boards with AMD chipsets or nForce3 even though its not the top performer.

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

 

[Flinx]

Hi,

I see lots of people mentioning performance here. Does nobody consider price or price/performance? There is also overclockability to consider, especially here.

I see business as having deeper pockets, after all they can write off the cost.

Personally I not interested in paying a premium for the latest processor. I'm happy with something more modest...the trailing edge of the leading wave. The good products have survived. The bugs are out the production line .. the product relatively clean. The price good or affordable.

The market seems to be set up to for skimming. That is price the product at $X. Sell 5% of the market. Drop the price to $X-$X% and skim another 5%. I don't have to be the one to buy at $X. Some people can make money at $X and thats good for them.


The loving are the daring!

 

[P4Man]

You are, of course, correct, but I think everyone buying a new machine takes P/P into consideration, with the exception of maybe one or two ORB contenders or people who just want to have the fastest (I guess usually for no other reason than having the fastest).

If people wouldnt consider P/P, everyone would be buying P4EE's and A64FX's after all, just aint happening

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

 

[Crashman]

Yes, if you don't mind not overclocking the VIA chipset might be your choice. If you don't mind the performance penalty the nForce3 might be your choice. If you don't mind buying a low end board to get a top quality chipset, the SiS 755 might be your choice. But at the top end people are less likely to favor those kinds of comprimises. Still waiting on new boards, and there's always the K8USA raved about at OCWorkbench.

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[Crashman]

I assembled my last system a few months ago just so I could make use of this free RAM...and for that review I had to use a certain motherboard, and that motherboard only accepts P4's...And I need all the performance I can get for video encoding.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[trooper11]

Well its true its more thent he cpu determines system performance, but I have to say the k8t800 has proven itself well as far as feature set and realiability goes. Ive tested several motherbaords using this chipset, including gigabyte and asus, and they all preform without hiccups. In the perfect setup, id like ot have the performance of the sis 755 with the feature set of the via k8t800. In the end though, it comes down to the numbers, which baord can allow the cpu and other components to perform to their limits. Its obvious Intel leads in video encoding, just like there are areas where an amd system out performs p4 systems. If your talking about high end refering to video encoding and such, then your right, its p4.

 

[Crashman]

No, I'm refering to a complete package. As in, one someone who doesn't want to work on their own computer but doesn't mind installing their own software, ie a professional, would be likely to purchase based on quality, followed by performance. Something most people who could afford to drop $3k on a complete system would be likely to buy.

Anyway, I'd rather have the features of the SiS 755, with the performance of the SiS 755, and the stability of the SiS 755. It seems the 755 tolerates better RAM timings than other chipsets, even though the memory controller is on the A64 CPU. So I guess it doesn't have to make sense so long as it works.

Several companies are introducing 755 chipset boards. They all seem to be dragging their feet. Another alternative is ALi, and OCWorkbench says the K8USA is nearly perfect, but I'd have to see the board in use by many people over a longer period of time before I'd trust ALi again (and it's not like I haven't been stung by Soyo before).

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[Spitfire_x86]

My Gigabyte GA-5AA (Ali Aladin V) was pretty good. It was stable, worked fine for little more than 2 years and died a sudden death.

----------------
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<b><A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig & 3DMark score</A></b>

 

[trooper11]

well forma ll ive read, the sis feature set isnt as up to date as the k8t800. if indeed they improved ont he sis chipset to include more up to date features then yeha definitely they should release a complete system using it. i cant wait to see how boards develop using sis 755, its still a bit early to gauge things seeing as both it and the ali chipset just recently came out. I agree with you taht the 'professional' wont be as ocncerned with extra features like usb and firwire as much as they are with a stable baord to do what they need to do on a consitant basis, thats what I look for whne I purchase my next system, but as far as consumer point of view, evne those that spend 3000 can be non professioanls, and will lean towards boards with a wider feature set then how stable it might be doing certain things.

 

[endyen]

While I tend to agree with Crashman, that the 865 and 875 chipsets are superior to the amd64 chipsets, they have 1 clear disadvantage. They donot support socket 754 chips. Any of the available 754 boards is clearly preferable to any of the socket 478 boards, because when coupled with a cpu they perform better.

 

[Crashman]

Yes, but ALi later hurt their reputation on the MAGiK 1 by comming up with a chipset that had to be revised several times before it worked right.

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[Crashman]

Well, from what I've read the 755 has a more complete feature set the the K8T800. The northbridge for example has an AGP lock. And SiS's latest southbridges include an SATA RAID controller and LAN controller onboard.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[pauldh]

I totally agree with the point Crash is trying to make about the P4C chips being the current highend way to go. I won't argue that A64's gaming performance is great, and the XP2500+/NF2 is still the best Value. But IMO it is tough to beat an 865pe with a 2.6C-3.0C P4. Overal great system for just about anyone, including the enthusiasts.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[Crashman]

The high end is mostly about getting the fastest processor that will work with the "best" board, that is, the board comes first, then you find the fastest CPU that will work on it.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[trooper11]

well i can see your point, but if oyu look at overall perforamnce, there is no one chip or system that dominates in every area, or even in a majority of areas. At least I havent seen any review or articles that would state that, unless youve seen something I havent. I totally agree that an intel system is a great system and has its strong points, but so does the athlon 64, so niether can claim to be the be all end all high end system of choice, it comes down to where your focus is. If a person just prefers intel or amd so be it, but IMHO both could be considered a great high end system with thier respective chip and board.

 

[speeduk]

Well I just put my new A64 rig together a few weeks ago on my K8T 800 MSI mobo and its running overclocked @ 213mhz fsb fine with cheap memory 1:1.

It now performs faster than a 3400. I would take this over any intel setup at the moment, even the 4ghz overclock ones because most of the time my setup still beats them in gaming which is what I do most of the time. Even as an overall system the A64 isn't a bad processor to recommend.

If you live anywhere warm or dont like running high temps then the 40c load temp @ 1.56v is nice too......

Also this rig is a lot more stable than my barton nforce 2 setup which was about 99% stable so the via mobos (even overclocked a bit) are fine.

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7523662" target="_new"> MY A64 System </A>

 

[P4Man]

Still not many votes (comon people, submit the poll !), but some interesting results nevertheless:

Some 55% of the voters currently own an Athlon K7 while 26% have a Pentium 4. Athlon 64 is not popular yet, with only 3 owners (4%).

But some 60% expect their next cpu to be a A64/FX (not taking into account those not expecting to upgrade or not decided), while only 8% (!) expect to buy a P4.

Now, forums like these do not represent the market in general by any stretch of the imagination, but it still looks like Intel going to have a rough year.

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

 

[HardWareBoss]

Your are right about Mobo being a big part of a PC. Quality.