I am trying to either build a computer or purchase a highly customized one. Unfortunately, I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve found a lot of useful threads about computers, but I don’t think this topic has been addressed.
I’ve decided that I’m going to get an AMD processor for my future computer. The only problem is that there are so many choices! This page on the AMD website has links to the different types of precessors that they make. If I understand correctly, Athlon XP, Sempron, Athlon 64, and Athlon 64 FX are listed oldest (XP) to newest (64 FX). I don’t really understand the differences between these chips. I’m assuming that newer=faster, but I don’t think that I’ve heard or read about anyone buying a 64 FX processor. I’m not even really sure I know enough to be able to ask any good questions about this, so my apologies for being vague about what my question is. Could someone fight my ignorance?
The three in which you should be interested are the Athlon 64, Athlon FX, and the Opteron, as these are the 64-bit CPUs.
The Opteron is for multi-processor systems.
The Athlon FX is a top of the range unlocked Athlon 64, typically bought by overclockers, and very expensive (£500).
The Athlon 64 (A64) is the ordinary chip and the one most people should buy.
There are two versions of the A64 - 939 pin and 754 pin. Newer chips use the former socket.
The price/performance breakpoint seems to be the A64 3500 (£160) as the next one up, the A64 3700, is £269.
The 64-bit processors are the way to go. Currently, most software is made for 32-bit processors. Luckily the 64-bitters are backwards compatible. I bet 32-bit software will be in the minority in 2 or 3 years though, leaving you with an obsolete computer. That’s not to mention the more direct advantages to 64-bit processors.
The A64 3000+ is the best bang for the buck by far right now. If you’re into overclocking (or want to be) these chips have shown an almost 100% success rate of reaching at least 3500+ speeds. Lots have pushed them to 4000+ speeds with no problems. Even if you aren’t, it’s a fast chip, and it’s only $155 right now.
Another vote for going with an Athlon 64. I have one of the Socket 754 2800+ in my system, and it moves pretty quick. However, if you are building an entirely new machine, I would go with the Socket 939 Athlon 64 3000+ - they offer about the best price performance right now, and PCI-Express motherboards for the Socket 939 chips are starting to show up in numbers.
If you don’t know, PCI-E is the new interface standard that is set to replace AGP and PCI(note most PCI-E boards do have a couple old style PCI slots), and offers many improvents over the old standards.
So let me see if I’ve got this all straight. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Pin# = the number little sticky-out things that go from the chip into the socket (which I’m assuming is the chip-holder.) Newer chips and motherboards use the 939 form, so this leaves more room for upgrades. One could purchase an A64 3000+ now, and later install an A64 3700?
Is there anything yet that takes advantage of this 64-bit processing, or will we have to wait until there are 64-bit OSes?
I don’t know much about any of this , but that’s ok! I am determined to learn! If one gets a PCI-Express motherboard, does one need to make sure that any cards added (like for graphics or sound) are also PCI-E in order to take full advantage of this new standard?
PCI Express (PCIe), while not techincally video-card only, may as well be. Standard PCI cards should work in PCIe slots, but with the wide variety of hardware there’s bound to be some incompatibilities. In practice, nothing the home consumer uses (other than video) will come close to flooding the PCI bus now, and most PCIe boards have a couple of PCI slots for backward compatibility anyway.
For those of us who’ve played the hardware game for a long time, PCIe is to PCI as EISA was to ISA.
Then you get into the 1x 2x 4x … 16x varieties of PCIe and your head explodes.
You are correct on this. If you buy a Socket 939 3000+, you will be able to upgrade to future Socket 939 processors. Also note that AMD has dual core (basically two chips in one package) processors that they plan to release latter this year, that you would be able to drop into existing motherboards. (Though the mobo will probably need bios update, that is easy with current motherboards, especially if you have a working older CPU in it.
You need a 64 bit OS, but there are Linux distros out there that support it right now, if you want to learn the Way of the Penguin. Windows XP 64 bit edition should be out later this year.
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The big thing to worry about is the video card, and make sure you get the PCI-E version, not the AGP version. However, PCI-E video cards are probably the easiest PCI-E device to find right now - a $120 Geforce 6600 or a $190 Geforce 6600GT would offer good/very good gaming performance.
Every PCI-E board I have seen includes a couple PCI slots, along with the PCI-E slots, so other cards would work just fine. There are a handful of PCI-E boards that also have an AGP slot; however, they don’t have a real AGP connection, they use a hack to basically attach the AGP slot as a PCI slot; and PCI is a lot slower than AGP, so it would kill the performance.
My head is already exploded, thank you. Here I am, not even able to figure out if it matters what case I choose from monarchcomputer.com’s wide selection, and you start speaking in gibberish . At this rate I’ll still be running Win98 on this computer until 2010.
I’m not trying to be disrespectful or snarky, but what are you trying to accomplish? You admit you don’t know what you’re doing. So the odds on you sucessfullly cobbling together something that achieves your goal is slim. This isn’t rocket science, but neither is it Legos.
May I suggest telling us what your goal is (ie fast gaming, video editting, email writing), and the folks here who are good at this stuff can point you in the right general direction. We have experts from all walks of the industry.
In homebrew computers, it’s pretty easy to buy 12 parts that all work together, but 10 of the 12 are wasting 85% of their time (and 50% of your money) just sitting there waiting for the other two parts you inadvertantly bought too slow or the wrong type or …
Start from the end-user goal of what you want to accomplish, then work to the software and hardware you need to support that goal.
If you have some idea of building the “ultimate” machine, don’t. The last 10% of performance is almost imperceptible to the end user, will cost you double or more to obtain, and will be for sale at OfficeMax in 18 months for 600. They don't call it the "bleeding edge" for nothing, and most of the bleeding is green (), not red.
Like I said, I’m trying to be helpful, not a jerk, so if it comes off that way I apologize.
What I hoped to accomplish in this thread was to learn about AMD processors. This was addressed. A few tangents came up as well. I was not seeking recomendations, although some were made and I have no objections to this.
I did not feel that this would be appropriate in GQ. My intentions were to post in IMHO at some later date. I am in no hurry. Since you asked, I am not attempting to build the ultimate beast machine. I am not willing to spend that much money. I wish to be able to play new games so that they look nice on my screen (I can barely run the original HalfLife on this clunker.) I will do some minor photoediting and maybe some very minor video editing. I will watch some DVDs since I don’t own a TV.
I was first trying to cobble together some basic knowlege because I found that it makes it easier to ask good questions and get good responses. I guess I’ll go ahead and put a post in IMHO sooner rather than later. I’ll post a link here shortly.
And no, you did not come across as snarky. Any comments that will prevent trouble on my end are very helpful, so thank you for taking the time to post.
, but that’s ok! I am determined to learn! If one gets a PCI-Express motherboard, does one need to make sure that any cards added (like for graphics or sound) are also PCI-E in order to take full advantage of this new standard?
. At this rate I’ll still be running Win98 on this computer until 2010.