Tough Choice, 1 system must go :*(

[rcf84]

Tough choice for me today i have 2 kick ass systems but 1 must go :*(. Seems my parents have thought i didnt needed 2 systems. So my aunt was looking a system and they said they could have $1000 w/o asking me first.... So i have to Pick the Dual Tually Rig or the Xp1700 system. Well im going to Load the system im keeping and selling a stripped down pc for $1000 for aunt .

Xp 1700+ Comp: *everything maxed*

Athlon xp1700+ 1.47ghz
ECS K75SA (SiS735)
valcano 7
2gb's pc2100 ddr cl2
(2)40gb ata100 7200rpm 2mb *Raid 0*
12x10x32 CDRW
16x DVD
ATi Radeon 8500 Retail
SB Aguidy MP3+
6 USB 2.0 ports PCI

p3 sys im selling:

Single P3 1.26ghz *selling other one to make up $$$*
256mb PC2100 ddr cl2
<A HREF="http://www.aopen.com/products/server/dx37plus-u.htm" target="_new">Aopen DX37 Plus-U</A>
20gb ata100 7200rpm 2mb *Selling scsi3 harddisk to make up $$$*
32x CD-Rom
ATi Radeon 32mb DDR
Sound Blaster Live! Value
-------
Dual tually *maxed*

Dual P3 1.26ghz (512k)
3gb PC2100 ddr cl2
<A HREF="http://www.aopen.com/products/server/dx37plus-u.htm" target="_new">Aopen DX37 Plus-U</A>
2x valcano 7
40gb ata100 7200rpm 2mb
36gb Scsi3 10,000rpm 8mb
12x10x32 CDRW
16x DVD
ATi Radeon 8500 Retail
SB Aguidy MP3+
6 USB 2.0 ports PCI

Xp 1700 im selling:

Athlon Xp 1700+ 1.47ghz
ECS K7S5A (SiS 735)
40gb ata100 7200rpm 2mb
32x CD-Rom
ATi Radeon 32mb DDR
Sound Blaster Live! Value

---------------------------------

This is too tough for me.... I'm etremely happy with both systems and had no problems with both of them... Simple question is what do i keep the intel sys or the amd sys ??? I hope you can help me here.

I invented ctrl-alt-del but Bill [Gates] made it famous - Dave Bradley IBM PC designer

 

[Matisaro]

THe amd sys will perform faster in the majority of apps, clear choice IMO.(also you can make more money striping the intel rig)

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[eden]

Also Duallies can perform lower in non-dual apps, and as well as not all apps support Duals, so the XP would overall stay above the performance a Dual enabled P3 would give.

--
For the first time, Hookers are hooked on Phonics!!

 

[digikid]

Seems like the best solution would be to go for the "upgrade parents", or perhaps the "deem aunt obsolete and discard" option.

I feel bad for you. Have your aunt buy a fresh machine!

<font color=blue>gnintsakgnirkskir ksron</font color=blue>

 

[AMD_Man]

I'd keep the beefed up dual Tually and sell the AXP. With 3GB of RAM, and a SCSI hard drive, it's hard to let go, IMO.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[eden]

Why couldn't he transfer the SCSI? What's his aunt gonna do with one anyway!

--
For the first time, Hookers are hooked on Phonics!!

 

[jclw]

I can't believe you'd even think of keeping an XP-1700 over a dual Tualatin-1.26. Esp one with 3GB and SCSI.

"Also Duallies can perform lower in non-dual apps, and as well as not all apps support Duals, so the XP would overall stay above the performance a Dual enabled P3 would give"

Are you joking? Do you own an SMP system? Have you ever used one? Are you implying that some applications do not work at all on SMP systems? You might not get the same framerates in Q3 or whatever but the game will still be perfectly playable - and all desktop applications will fly. The smoothness, responsiveness, and stability of an SMP system cannot be matched by any uni-processor system.

- JW

 

[kief]

UGH
I fell sorry for you =( It s a harsh choice as both systems have good points. Maybe keep the AMD system and use the cash you make by selling the other CPU and drive (id keep da scsi though) to get a faster XP CPU! If you dont upgrade the system the dualie would be my choice, but its maxed out, no CPU upgrades.....

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[eden]

Hmm nice point, he could use the money towards an MP model, so that any person who had doubts about him selling a dual, will know he'll get an even better one!
Whaddya think of that now JCLW? Better strategy = better bang for buck.

--
For the first time, Hookers are hooked on Phonics!!

 

[shmeggegie]

*AHEM* and I quote:

"Software support is a sore point in dual CPU operation. Very few applications work perfectly with two processors. What good is the best dual platform if the software isn't there to take full advantage of it?"
The quote was from an article here called: "3.2 GHz Athlon Power: Dual Boards From ASUS and MSI "

Honestly, anyone who tells you that dualie boards perform better no matter what is biased, but they do have certain benefits, and the only question you need to ask yourself is, "What do I use my computer for?" Do you do a lot of 3d modeling and redering? Stick to the dualie. Do you game mostly? Stick to the Athlon. Without proper multi-threading support, any game will perform more poorly with a dualie board. As will most apps. The board has its place, though. If you do heavy graphics work, mostly. You should know what you want to keep based on what board you use most of the time, normally, anyway. Does the dualie box just kind of sit there, most days, waiting for you to rip a movie or something? Or does the Amd box normally collect dust? I do feel bad for you, though, and hope you're happy with whatever decision you make.

 

[jclw]

I think we all know how the writers here feel about SMP systems. Just remember that when they write sentences like "Software support is a sore point in dual CPU operation. Very few applications work perfectly with two processors." that they are only expressing their opinions and not facts.

Everyone open up their task managers and see how many proceses are being run. Right now I'm running 29 processes of which five are applications (iexplore, winamp, acad2000, yahoo, and the task manager itself). On an average day I can easily push that past 50 processes. With a uni-processor machine that's 50 processes per processor, on a DP machine that's only 25. I can also bring an application to the foreground and have it run solely on one CPU, and use the second CPU to run the other 49 processes.

If you're running a program and it locks up, often one CPU is still "alive" so you can ctrl-alt-delete into the task manager and terminate the offending process.

Do I think the dual Tualatins will game faster then the XP? No. Do I think they will game fast enough? Yes. Unless of course all you care about is benchmark scores and FPS numbers in the corner of your screen.

- JW

 

[shmeggegie]

I wish I could say I DID know how the writers here feel about SMP systems. I am, admittedly, a new visitor to the site, however, So I will grant you that the quote I posted was biased, unless some other frequent visitor claims it's not. However, I'm a bit confused by your task manager point. My understanding was that both processors were not automatically being used equally at all times. Is there a reference you can link to that will explain otherwise? Further, if a program locks up on a single processor system, you can still ctrl-alt-del out of it into task manager and terminate the program, so I'm not sure I follow you on that one. Now, (because I'm actually planning on building a dualie AthlonXP system soon) if there's a way to allocate what processes are run on which processor, is that done by Windows? Where? (Because under certain circumstances, I'd really like that ability) or is it done by 3rd party software?

I suppose, in regards to the current forum topic, I'd still maintain that it depends on what he uses it for, and that dualie systems are not necessarily ideal for any circumstance. Regardless of the opinions of the writer, the benchmarks in that article speak volumes devoid of interpretation.

 

[Zlash]

If you're running a program and it locks up, often one CPU is still "alive" so you can ctrl-alt-delete into the task manager and terminate the offending process.

That's called Win2k/XP.


<font color=red>:</font color=red> <font color=white>:</font color=white> <font color=blue>:</font color=blue>

 

[mbetea]

if you use the dual rig for any kind of smp work, i don't see how there would be any kind of choice. those p3 chips are beasts. though, those via boards are another story. i'd pawn that board off and go for a serverworks.

I run duals because i multitask between notepad, outlook express and winamp :lol:

 

[MeTaLrOcKeR]

Well rcf84....I know ur XP Box benchmarks faster, and im pretty sure even though u have that dual system, that the Athlon XP is at LEASt on pace with the Tully's for Ripping a video.....CPU architectire is MUCH mroe advanced on the XP...the GTL+ bus protocol is old now for the Tully......anyways....id go witht he XP system.....run the FSB @ 150 if u have too! =) but yea, id throw in that SCSI drive there.....keep that system.....ud make A LOT mroe money off the Intel rig...and than u gotta remember that u can Upgrade ur XP rig later when the T-Bred comes out....ur pretty much at max with the Tully system.........tough choice, but in the end ud be better off with the AMD.. =)

-MeTaL RoCkEr

My <font color=red>Z28</font color=red> can take your <font color=blue>P4</font color=blue> off the line!

 

[Matisaro]

JCLW< 1 axp 1700+ will out perform dual 1.23ghz tuallys in EVERYTHING except for MAYBE smp enabled apps.


He would get all around better performance keeping the 1700+ and he cold SELL THE SCSI AND THE 3GB OF RAM.



The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[Matisaro]

I open up my task manager, and I am running probably 30 processes, and you know what, they all average 0% cpu time, so thats a moot point!

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[jclw]

Of course your system will be idling if you're just sitting there watching it. And if you completely lock your only CPU ctrl-alt-delete won't help you much. Those people here that run SMP machines will know what I'm talking about.

Maybe I'm the only one here that really multitasks... I don't know. I've made my opinion clear and I'm not going to say anything else on the matter.

-JW

 

[Rob423]

tell your parents you can't sell it, and it's not there business to just go offering your PC stuff to everybody.... I would either tell her to give me the money and i'll build you a sweat system for you needs, something around 650-700$ level, What does your Aunt do on the computer anyway.. 40Gb HD, 256MB, Decent MOBO, athlon 1.2ghz... Im sure you can design a nice a$$ rig for a really good price that would fit her needs

Measure Twice, Cut Once!!

 

[mbetea]

If you're running a program and it locks up, often one CPU is still "alive" so you can ctrl-alt-delete into the task manager and terminate the offending process.

that though i don't understand. you mean say i'm running ps and premiere. ps locks up and i can just quit it without the whole system crashing? cause it's happened a few times when i was using a single cpu. i haven't noticed anything different between my old dual rig, the single cpu i had and this dual setup. if it's something different please correct me.

I run duals because i multitask between notepad, outlook express and winamp :lol:

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

Keep the dually!

Dual P3 1.26ghz (512k)
3gb PC2100 ddr cl2
Aopen DX37 Plus-U
2x valcano 7
40gb ata100 7200rpm 2mb
36gb Scsi3 10,000rpm 8mb
12x10x32 CDRW
16x DVD
ATi Radeon 8500 Retail
SB Aguidy MP3+
6 USB 2.0 ports PCI

At least i would! You paid good money for that and sell it for 1000! thats crazy! Your aunt will just surf the web. What does she need scsi hard drive for! tell your parents that for a 1000 you can make her a brand new system or buy a brand new dell even! With warranty too!


<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[endless_n00b]

No thats the system he would keep if he sold her the XP. This is the stripped Tually he would sell (assuming he sold the Tually)

Single P3 1.26ghz *selling other one to make up $$$*
256mb PC2100 ddr cl2
Aopen DX37 Plus-U
20gb ata100 7200rpm 2mb *Selling scsi3 harddisk to make up $$$*
32x CD-Rom
ATi Radeon 32mb DDR
Sound Blaster Live! Value


But I agree, what's your aunt gonna do with even that stripped down system? She'd have a dual processor mobo with 1 cpu in it, lol.

I agree, tell your aunt you can build/buy her a sweet system for like $700 bucks or so. But I suspect its more your parents trying to get rid of 1 of them cuz they don't like having 2 boxes in the house. I have 3 and wife is putting her foot down there, I gotta get rid of 1 of them before I can get another, lol. Oh well, she is very tolerant of the current situation as is, and I don't really need 4, or even the current 3 for that matter (and that doesn't count the laptop).

----
A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

 

[Crashman]

I'd keep the dually tually because it has more resale value, so you'll get more money out of it when you do your next new system. It's probably fast enough stock, and has pleanty of room for overclocking.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[jclw]

I depends exactly how it locks up and what exactly "locks". If a single thread locks the CPU it's running on, you can recover from that.

- JW

 

[mbetea]

you can recover from that

recover how? i would assume if an app/task locked up no matter on a dual rig or single cpu, you're going to have to force quit. even when i had a single xp1700 i rarely had an app lock up that froze the whole system. the only times i recall that happening was a buggy driver or device. but i haven't had any app or sys lockup yet on this dual setup. so i'll let you know when i do

I run duals because i multitask between notepad, outlook express and winamp :lol: