Pentium 4 or AMD 64

# 1 24-01-2005 , 09:47 PM

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Help, which rig?

I've finally been able to sit down and put "thought to paper" and have come up with two sweet systems in my price range, $1500.

The only thing is what processor do I want. Pentium 4 or AMD 64?

This machine will be used primarily for Maya 6 (and some gaming user added image

)

Here are the specs..

AMD Athlon 64 rig.

AMD64 3000 S939 RETAIL 512K 400fsb S939
ASUS A8V-DX RETAIL mobo
OCZ 2X512 PREMIER KIT [1G] RAM
WD 200G SATA OEM Hard Drive
SP X800 PRO VIVO 256 AGP8X OEM VIDEO!!!
ENERMAX CS-800TA BLACK CASE
ENERMAX 465 WHISPER Power Supply RETAIL

INTEL Pentium 4 rig.

PIV 530J 3.0E w/HT 1MB CACHE LGA775 RETAIL (box)
ASUS P5GD1 915P LGA775 1xPCI-E RETAIL mobo
OCZ 2X512 PREMIER KIT [1G] RAM
WD 200G SATA OEM Hard Drive
SP X800 PRO VIVO 256 PCI-E OEM VIDEO!!!
ENERMAX CS-800TA BLACK CASE
ENERMAX 465 WHISPER Power Supply RETAIL

What do you guys have/prefer??
AMD has got 64bit and instruction sets that are known to be fast but Intel has got hyper threading with 1mb cache and 800fsb.

Tony.

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# 2 25-01-2005 , 05:27 AM

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It all comes down to performance bud.

Choose which Pentium 4 processor you can afford, and then look at which Amd 64 processor you can get for the same money. Look online for benchmarks and see which one is faster.

You dont need to worry about Hyperthreading or 64 bit at the moment, as Maya doesnt take advantage of that YET..However, I expect future versions to run under a windows 64 bit operating system...

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# 3 25-01-2005 , 01:08 PM

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Thanks Uber.

The two systems that I have listed are systems in my budget and they are priced the same (AMD - $1395 CAD....P4 $1429 CAD).

I will check for bench marks on these two chips.

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# 4 26-01-2005 , 07:42 PM

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Hey guys.

I've been searching CPU benchmarks on the web.
There are many different types. I've been focussing on OpenGL benchmarks. I figured Maya uses OpenGL and if there is going to be a slow down it's probably going to be during these calculations.

I found that Hyper Threading is not a feature that software needs to be compiled for. Hyper Threading is a feature on how Intel manages their threads more efficiently.

Correct me if I'm wrong guys.

So far my investigations prove Pentium IV with Hyper Threading to be superior to the AMD Athlon 64 chip.

I hope admin will move this thread to a different forum in this the wrong one.

Thanks.

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# 5 27-01-2005 , 09:00 AM

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Moved the thread as requested...

Originally posted by cavalt
I've been searching CPU benchmarks on the web.
There are many different types. I've been focussing on OpenGL benchmarks. I figured Maya uses OpenGL and if there is going to be a slow down it's probably going to be during these calculations.

Originally Posted by

I would concentrate on rendering speed instead of just OpenGL. Rendering complex scenes is what stresses your system the most.

Kari
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Do a lot, Fail a lot and Learn a lot!

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# 6 27-01-2005 , 10:20 AM

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I would concentrate on rendering speed instead of just OpenGL. Rendering complex scenes is what stresses your system the most.

Originally Posted by

Exactly, thats why I suggested you look at the performance. For the small difference in speed of CPU, I would go for the cheapest f the 2 CPU's and spend the money saved on more ram

Last edited by uberstonks; 27-01-2005 at 10:23 AM.

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# 7 27-01-2005 , 10:21 PM

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Cool. I'm gonna go with the Intel rig.

Sorry for the questions. I've had an interest in Maya and 3D for a couple of years now but my previous machine hindered my learning. I don't want the same thing to happen again.

Thanks again.

Tony.

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# 8 28-01-2005 , 05:51 AM

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Get the AMD Athlon 64. They outperform the P4s in almost everything. If you want me to get you some benchmarks or something, I can. Also, you mentioned gaming... if your a gamer def. go with the AMD64. user added image

However, don't get me wrong, the Intel chipset is nice, but...

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# 9 28-01-2005 , 06:54 AM

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Whatever you get it won't be fast enough... :-)

No really, I feel your pain, as I modelling on a Athalon 1.2ghz with 512mb RAM. Modelling goes fairly well, but forget animating or texture rich scenes.

AIM: mhcannonDMC

"If you love your job, you'll never work another day in your life."

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# 10 28-01-2005 , 03:38 PM

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Sorry Troop. I didn't mention gaming at all. I have a nicely modded XBOX for gaming.

I would go with the AMD if I was gaming thou. Most games use ActiveX and AMD chips out perform the Intel chips in ActiveX.

You're right mhcannon! Especially when I can't afford "bleeding edge" hardware.

I am only doing this upgrade so I can use Maya without having to wait 10 min everytime I change something on the screen.

Thanks.

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# 11 28-01-2005 , 06:54 PM

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ActiveX? hardly... I think you mean DirectX, whose performance depends mostly on the performance of the video card... not the cpu or chipset...

Kari
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Do a lot, Fail a lot and Learn a lot!

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# 12 28-01-2005 , 09:55 PM

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Re: Pentium 4 or AMD 64

Originally posted by cavalt
This machine will be used primarily for Maya 6 (and some gaming )

Originally Posted by

Originally posted by cavalt
Sorry Troop. I didn't mention gaming at all.

Originally Posted by

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# 13 01-02-2005 , 02:38 PM

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My bad troop! Forgot to review the first post.

Sorry K-man. I did mean DirectX not ActiveX. My bad again.

The bench marks I have been reviewing are with the same rig but different mobo and cpu.

Here is a link to one of the Half Life 2 bench marks.
https://www.firingsquad.com/print_art...rticle_id=1584

Here's another.
https://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/200...n-fx53-15.html

My comments come from reports like this. I personally have never had an AMD processor and I'm taking a serious look at them. My requirements are outlined in the first post. You guys know what I plan to do with the machine. Just looking for your experienced opinions.

Thanks.

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# 14 01-02-2005 , 05:44 PM

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I was a die-hard "Intel guy" before my current dual processor amd machine. It has been great bang for a buck. But multiprocessor systems don't shine unless you have an OS and software which supports it. Most of them don't but for example in rendering it's a great help. In gaming multiprocessor systems might even be slower than you'd expect...

Kari
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- My IMDB

Do a lot, Fail a lot and Learn a lot!

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# 15 01-02-2005 , 09:57 PM

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Haha, it's OK Cavalt! Yeah, but just like those benchmarkssay, AMD64 > P4. As you can see, in your second link, the AMD 64 3400+ outperformed the Pentium 4 EXTREME EDITION. What a joke!:p So, are you going to build the system?

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Re: Pentium 4 or AMD 64

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