which cpu speed?

hi,

i am in the process of building a new pc.

the final few things left are to choose a cpu / gpu / motherboard.

i am unsure on what cpu to pick.

shortlist:

amd 64-bit 3000+
amd 64-bit 3400+
amd 64-bit 3500+

or

Intel Pentium 4 550 3.2 GHZ HT S775
Intel Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHZ HT S775

(with the machine i am building inc. monitor it ranges from 960 for cheapest 3000+ to 1070 for the 3.4 Intel)

i am mainly going to be using ms office/internet/photoshop/3ds studio max/macromedia studio/java/adobe premiere and few other multimedia based software.

i would like the cpu to be fast but also allow for a nice quiet machine that can be run 24/7.

along with the cpu of your preference can you state what motherboard i should choose.

thanks,

If its for gaming get the A64

If its for editing etc go P4

Chris

Oh and the A64s have a cool n quiet technology, but from reading above I think a p4 3.4GHz would suit your application more.

Chris

Asus and Gigabyte Mobos for P4s are quite good...

how loud will the Intel Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHZ HT S775 be? how hot will it get?

i have chosen the antec sonata case.

thanks,

P4s tend not to run as hot as AMD based chips, however the A64 is different. How loud it will be depends on what heatsink and fan arrangement you have! You can get them almost silent if you get a decent heatsink with a vantec stealth fan,

It will be fast though!

Chris

Unless you plan on doing all of that at the same time an AMD 934 3400+ may be a good choice in my opinion. They have enough speed to handle any of that and should to my knowledge be much better cost efficiency. Intels are great for that sort of thing, but AMD’s can do it with little noticeable difference although not especially geared for multi tasking it’s not a bad choice for it if money is a concern. You choice in mother board will largely depend on any onboard features you may want or need (do you want it to have sound or do you have a soundcard, what about networking capabilities and whether it supports your chosen hard drive, memory, ect.) I would though point you in the direction toward the GIGABYTE "GA-K8NS-939" for a cheaper solution with pretty much all the extras, or the better choice of the ASUS "A8V Deluxe" for a bit more. Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chriswood_7

P4s tend not to run as hot as AMD based chips, however the A64 is different

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except that his P4 of choice is a Prescott which is probably hotter than any AMD chip

A64 all the way

Get the 3500+, the 3400+ is not skt 939, and soon the other chip socket will be faised out. Also get the winchester.

For your line of work get the P4. The cooler is loud but you could always invest in a basic watercooler, such as the Asetek Waterchill KT03-L20 for £65.

ive got the amd athlon 64 3200+. nice to clock with. 2200 with my crappy ram

Socket 939 motherboard
Winchester 3200+
Freezer64 CPU cooler
http://www.dcs-online.biz/shop/produ...oducts_id/4522

They are all fast systems but whatever you get will be old in 2yrs so I would try keep the cost low. The 90nm winchesters use less juice and run cooler and the freezer64 heatsink is quiet and very good value. It's early days for socket 939 and it should be around for some time so looks pretty good for a CPU upgrade in the future to extend the life of the system. You're also ready for 64 bit OS and software. I'm not sure about the Antec Sonata I find the front USB/Firewire ports loose which niggles and found the 120mm fan supplied was the loudest fan in my sytem. Another thing I don't like about the Sonata is you cannot easily remove the PSU which needs to twist and come down but the CPU heatsink is in the way.