Currently: 939 x2 3800+ @ 2.0ghz w/ 8800GT 512mb & 3gig RAM.
It's starting to show its age. Dragon Age brought it to its knees (I see DA:O does much better on the x3 than the x2, but its hardly the norm).
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Currently: 939 x2 3800+ @ 2.0ghz w/ 8800GT 512mb & 3gig RAM.
It's starting to show its age. Dragon Age brought it to its knees (I see DA:O does much better on the x3 than the x2, but its hardly the norm).
OcUK don't stock the x3s! I'm sure if they did the prices would be similar.
And you sort of evaded the question! Ever though of a career in politics?
Of course it's an equally bad time to be buying ddr2, as it now costs as much (more yet?) than ddr3 as most (all?) fabs are no longer making it. I'd think if forced to buy ram now, ddr3 is the way to go. We don't all have ddr2 lying aroundNot strictly true Jon, the AMD path works great with *existing* DDR2
I personally don't think it's a good time to be buying DDR3 technology, at this stage the gains are relatively small for most of us and it seems a pity not to be able to make use of of favourite DDR2 sticks
Indeed this could derail the thread swiftly, but I'd like to mention that amd own ati, and ati are currently beating the living **** out of nvidia with no signs of remorse. To quote Anand,
Business ethics may well be an excellent reason to go with one company over another, but I don't know anything like enough to judge which is the more moral of the two. This may have potential for a thread in itself.
"The crowd" was meant to be everyone on here. You'd have to be blind to not notice amd processors exist, and stupid to assume they don't work, on the assumption that you've seen the ocuk shop. I suppose a lot of people don't bother asking google how well they work though, which brings us back to this thread really. I do assume they're slower than the intel processors, and the next computer I put together probably will be amd as I don't want it to be fast and expensive. At least I'm now aware that this is a foolish stance to take. I think I want the phenom 2 tri core more than I want an i3 chip, but I haven't sourced benchmarks to justify this yet.
I like this statement. We do see a lot of "spec me" threads, and they generally reach an informed consensus. However the OP is often taking this on blind faith, which seems astonishing to me when google is so readily available, and we're a group of semi coherently named people who don't appear to agree on many things. I'll generally take a stab at a spec me thread where the op can string a sentence together, but omitting the areas I know nothing about (graphics cards are the biggest gap I think).
I feel it would be optimistic to believe that I succeed in working out what the OP wants from his computer based on what he types. I suspect people say they want to do encoding just because they think they want a quad core, and they've noticed that anyone who says they just play games or use firefox has dual cores suggested, and who wants half a processor...
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I suspect people say they want to do encoding just because they think they want a quad core, and they've noticed that anyone who says they just play games or use firefox has dual cores suggested, and who wants half a processor...
What I've learnt from my own experience is that most of the time you have to tell them what they want and explain that ripping 1 dvd a month isn't really a heavy encoding job and running winamp, firefox, msn and cod4 isn't multi tasking (ie, I WANT i7 CUZ ITS BETTER AT MULTITASKING YE? I RUN NOTEPAD AND MSN a lot OF THE TIMES TOGETHER).
Off Topic:
Once I see you address this issue I will give you the ladies names!
What you need to do is make your own specific thread and then we can get into it, thats how its meant to work although it seems a lot of people don't understand this!
Make your own thread and get the advice you need and give it the full consideration is deserves!
Dear CAT, please try and keep mindful of the topic, if you feel your post does not address the topic then mark it so, sorry if this sounds a nag but it is a useful tool to keep things on track . .Who are the lovely ladies in the previous post??
Looks like Anandtech has had some success with the X2 555BE:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3730
Once I see you address this issue I will give you the ladies names!
Hehe same for you FoxEye me old mucka, except not only are you posting off topic you are in fact attempting a thread-hijack!OcUK don't stock the x3s! I'm sure if they did the prices would be similar.
And you sort of evaded the question! Ever though of a career in politics?
What you need to do is make your own specific thread and then we can get into it, thats how its meant to work although it seems a lot of people don't understand this!
Make your own thread and get the advice you need and give it the full consideration is deserves!
Offtopic
I can't believe I forgot this, clearly been out of GH too long. You're so right
I think people remember the single core pentiums, complete with knackered windows install, which really couldn't do several things at once. I think it's very difficult to bring a 920 to its knees through multitasking, mine struggles with fah smp combined with multiple virtual machines (I think its a priorities issue / me failing at linux more than anything else). I dread to think how many copies of office/msn/winamp it could run simultaneously.
I can't believe I forgot this, clearly been out of GH too long. You're so right
I think people remember the single core pentiums, complete with knackered windows install, which really couldn't do several things at once. I think it's very difficult to bring a 920 to its knees through multitasking, mine struggles with fah smp combined with multiple virtual machines (I think its a priorities issue / me failing at linux more than anything else). I dread to think how many copies of office/msn/winamp it could run simultaneously.
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I should add that that build you done for me was i5 vs the 620. Its the money saved for the SSD is what sways it. As mentioned it comes down to bottle necks and the extra speed an SSD offers is always nice, It has a larger and more noticeable effect in basic tasks as well as intensive tasks. Even if he had the budget for the 920, I would add extra HDD's before the bumping up the processor, tho in that case, I would be looking at raid over SSD.
off topic:
Again same could be said about the phenomII 965. Does it offer the value over the 620 but thats another topic for another thread. The topic is does the 920 really offer the price premium of the 620. Heck does the 920 offer the price premium over the i5 750 but again its another topic for another thread.
With multi threading looking more common in gaming I would go for the 425. From benchmarks i've seen the 425 rivals the phenom II x3 720. The extra OC'ing headroom of the 555 isn't worth it, tho I would need to look closer at the OC'd charts and current prices before I conclude. The 425 really is a sweet chip.
off topic:
Again same could be said about the phenomII 965. Does it offer the value over the 620 but thats another topic for another thread. The topic is does the 920 really offer the price premium of the 620. Heck does the 920 offer the price premium over the i5 750 but again its another topic for another thread.
Wayne, sorry to barge in on your thread (again
x3 425 (£53 delivered)
ph2 555 (£77)
...which would you stick in a gaming rig? I know you're a bang-for-buck guy, so I'm asking you
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With multi threading looking more common in gaming I would go for the 425. From benchmarks i've seen the 425 rivals the phenom II x3 720. The extra OC'ing headroom of the 555 isn't worth it, tho I would need to look closer at the OC'd charts and current prices before I conclude. The 425 really is a sweet chip.
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No the i3 does it faster and costs the same.
Seems some people are conviently forgetting this fact.
Erm,
Ideas above your station perhaps?
Quite frankly a few pimping AMD post's on the internet are not going to change anything.
lol
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No, they would be cheaper if they were better. Remember Athlon 64s?
Much as I'd love to buy an i3 myself, it isn't just the cost of the chip. The cheapest motherboards cost at least £20 more, plus you're likely to end up buying 6gb ram instead of 4gb, thanks to the extra channel
Much as I'd love to buy an i3 myself, it isn't just the cost of the chip. The cheapest motherboards cost at least £20 more, plus you're likely to end up buying 6gb ram instead of 4gb, thanks to the extra channel
eh?
Core i3 only supports dual channel Ram.
Check you facts before you post in future and wink!
PMSL
on the whole I think I agree with what you say and did therefore assume most people would think that way hence speccing the AMD system in the first post with DDR3 . . . however although not strictly within the context of this one thread the subject of Technological Investment could be the subject of a thread all to itself . .
I've been building and using computers since 1995 and I've always been low income therefore price-points and costs are quite a focus point for me, with this historical perspective I am able to observe the various *trends*and associated costs £££
I could have sold the 8GB of DDR2 I own and switched over to DDR3 but for the things I do and the way I personally use the PC this would mean very little. I do intend to jump on the DDR3 bandwagon but I won't do this until the value of my 8GB of DDR2 is worth 16GB of DDR3 (also twice the speed!). I could therefore form a debate around this point and suggest that for someone with limited funds who wanted to maximise their hardware investments buying DDR2 memory today could still be a viable option, the only difference being their initial capital outlay would be more expensive than a few months ago when it was rock bottom. I feel almost selfish keeping this information to myself as I have exploited it to the max!
The 8GB of Kingston DDR2-1066 cost me £40 total bought used from the OcUK MM
The 8GB of Corsair Dominator I have cost me £55 total bought used from the OcUK MM
My total Capital expenditure was £95 and by my rough calculations the worth today is approx £280! . . . . not only do I have computer memory to serve a function, I also have it as an investment, currently showing a healthy £185 should I choose to sell (which I won't until the conditions above are met!).
Slightly off topic chart as the AIIX3425 is highlighted and there is no DDR2 AIIX4620 results but it's one of many charts out there that shows what the various memory technologies bring to the table, in respect of this chart that would be pertaining to games . .
I'm not advocating that people stick with DDR2 or jump on DDR3 but I am simply showing you how deep the rabbit hole really runs, there is many such factors involved which may or may not be of interest to some people but AMD are aware of these scenarios and I'm glad the company gives me the option rather than forcing me down a certain route . . .
We don't all have ddr2 lying around
Of course! . . . but some of us do!
Indeed that much I understood but my point stands. Do you feel you put enough throught process into working out all the different types of users we have here or are you generally cloning yourself?
On the surface a fairly innocuous statement, but there is two problems there, the first is obviously assumption, how can you actually know about the speed of a thing without trying it yourself? are you trusting an expert to tell you whats right or wrong? . . of course I'm aware your very clued up and genreally I don't think you make wrong assumptions a lot but sometimes its not a bad ideal to test things out yourself. My second way-out point is the rhetoric you have used and other people use, seems harmless but on a subconscious level you may be sending out the wrong message
"they're slower than the intel processors" becomes
"they're slow"
The truth is they are ridiculously fast!!! but the uninformed reader will not pick that message up from your rhetorical expression. I know you are here to learn and serve your community but I would say we have to be mindful of the way we express ourselves if we want to be truely impartial!
As an experiment I spent the best part of a week hanging out and conributing to the General Hardware forum, I found the experience most enlightning and shocking in equal measure! . . . it just confirmed to me how many people don't know that much about the hardware and defere any subjective analysis to a 3rd party (form consensus, review website etc). I helped quite a few people spec up systems and got a lot of useful feedback from them, most wanted Intel Core i7 systems but didn't really know why . . . I gather it was the powerful branding that Intel have akin to the Apple mania (iPod, iToucj, iPhone etc). In each and every case the people didn't actually know what an Core i7 was and they certainly didn't need it from what they told me but were all to happy to spend £1300 where a £700 system would have been more than they needed!
In all the cases the people were talked down without much effort by me simply discussing it mano e mano and I have no doubts that each and every one of them will be thrilled with their new AMD® Athlon™ II systems!
I feel it would be optimistic to believe that I succeed in working out what the OP wants from his computer based on what he types. I suspect people say they want to do encoding just because they think they want a quad core, and they've noticed that anyone who says they just play games or use firefox has dual cores suggested, and who wants half a processor...
Good point Jon and its something I have touched on before and in the opening post. I feel that the design of the newer Intel products do not hit the sweet-spot for me personally and the way I use a computer. I don't want to suddenly feel I have to encode videos to make myself feel I've justified my purchase . . . I want my purchase to *empower* me to peform the tasks I do quicky and efficiently, at present the most intensive tasks I perform would be gaming and photoshop work. I'm not a benchmarker and I have no ePeen, I am not diminished if 1000's of people have a faster computer than myself, all I care about is that the machine in front of me performs my tasks with gusto, no lags, quick as you like . . . . anything more is superfluous and serves no purpose to me personally other than to rob me of the little cash I have and increase profits for the manufacturer . . .
Thanks for reading and btw the gruff thing I mentioned before wasn't aimed at you heh!
Off Topic:
Hello easyrider,
this is a reply to your post, depending on the tone of any futher posts I may or may not reply, just a heads up!
It would be wrong of you to impose your own limitations on other people right? . . .
The difference being here I own said hardware or at least a derivative of it so I am very confident of its abilities . . . you on the other hand have no experience of the hardware you advocate but feel its right or proper to pimp it . . hmmm!
Hello easyrider,
this is a reply to your post, depending on the tone of any futher posts I may or may not reply, just a heads up!
well I guess that depends what my station is?
It would be wrong of you to impose your own limitations on other people right? . . .
I see? . . if that's the case why do you do that yourself? . . . are you not the OcUK Intel® Core™ i3 pimp? . . . if it's "not going to change anything" why do you indulge yourself?
The difference being here I own said hardware or at least a derivative of it so I am very confident of its abilities . . . you on the other hand have no experience of the hardware you advocate but feel its right or proper to pimp it . . hmmm!
I did consider "investing in ddr2" as a justification for buying it now, but I can't quite bring myself to look at hardware as something which goes up in price with time. I'm too new to the scene to have owned socket 939 and ddr1 for example. I think I'll come to agree with you in time though.
I think an assumption is reasonable if it is clearly stated as one. I'm basing it on experience of an e8400 at 3GHz, and a 7750BE at 2.7ghz. The e8400 shredded the 7750. Consequently I do associate amd with second best. Benchmarks suggest the phenom to be a better idea than 775, but I won't really believe it until I play with the system myself. I'm likely to be a more enthusiastic supporter of amd when this happens, but at present the only material example I have to go on is the 7750 and I'm not impressed with it at all.
I disagree with you here. The intelligent, uninformed reader will see it as a relative statement (and preferably question its validity). The less intelligent, uninformed reader will just see slow. Unfortunately I don't care what the latter sees, as I don't really mind what other people buy and discussion with people who are incapable of spotting the difference between amd < intel and amd = 0 is likely to be tedious. I think it's excellent that you're on a crusade to get people to buy the most sensible hardware for them, but I don't feel that strongly about it myself. I think it's more important that the customer is happy, and it's hard to be sad that you bought a computer that is too fast.
I'm in complete agreement with you on this one. I want the computer to do precisely what I asked it to with very low latency. I'm fairly broke, student loan just isn't what it (probably) used to be. However a fast computer lets me get work done a lot quicker. This either means a higher standard of work or more free time, either way it's good. In truth I was quite content with my q9550 (bought before phenom 2), but moved to i7 when it died as it seemed silly not to. It's watercooled because it's important to be able to think clearly, and that's hard with a vacuum cleaner next to your head.
Thanks for your replies. I don't mind being gruff
I assume everyone in life is completely ignorant until they demonstrate knowledge, and revise my model of them from this point. Cloning myself onto other people and working from there seems to be less accurate than starting from a blank. It would be fair to say I've put minimal thought into the stereotyping process, reflected by the 3 very broad categories suggested. Shadow Scotland wouldn't fit into any of them for example. I'm not sure you would either. For someone new to the forums who is showing limited hardware knowledge though, they'll probably suffice as a starting point.
I think an assumption is reasonable if it is clearly stated as one. I'm basing it on experience of an e8400 at 3GHz, and a 7750BE at 2.7ghz. The e8400 shredded the 7750. Consequently I do associate amd with second best. Benchmarks suggest the phenom to be a better idea than 775, but I won't really believe it until I play with the system myself. I'm likely to be a more enthusiastic supporter of amd when this happens, but at present the only material example I have to go on is the 7750 and I'm not impressed with it at all.
I disagree with you here. The intelligent, uninformed reader will see it as a relative statement (and preferably question its validity). The less intelligent, uninformed reader will just see slow. Unfortunately I don't care what the latter sees, as I don't really mind what other people buy and discussion with people who are incapable of spotting the difference between amd < intel and amd = 0 is likely to be tedious. I think it's excellent that you're on a crusade to get people to buy the most sensible hardware for them, but I don't feel that strongly about it myself. I think it's more important that the customer is happy, and it's hard to be sad that you bought a computer that is too fast.
I'm in complete agreement with you on this one. I want the computer to do precisely what I asked it to with very low latency. I'm fairly broke, student loan just isn't what it (probably) used to be. However a fast computer lets me get work done a lot quicker. This either means a higher standard of work or more free time, either way it's good. In truth I was quite content with my q9550 (bought before phenom 2), but moved to i7 when it died as it seemed silly not to. It's watercooled because it's important to be able to think clearly, and that's hard with a vacuum cleaner next to your head.
Thanks for your replies. I don't mind being gruff
Off Topic:
Hello easyrider,
this is a reply to your post, depending on the tone of any futher posts I may or may not reply, just a heads up!
well I guess that depends what my station is?
It would be wrong of you to impose your own limitations on other people right? . . .
I see? . . if that's the case why do you do that yourself? . . . are you not the OcUK Intel® Core™ i3 pimp? . . . if it's "not going to change anything" why do you indulge yourself?
The difference being here I own said hardware or at least a derivative of it so I am very confident of its abilities . . . you on the other hand have no experience of the hardware you advocate but feel its right or proper to pimp it . . hmmm!
I'm merely stating that i3 is faster at the same cost.
I don't care what people buy as its up to them.
However your like a drug pusher of AMD hardware and its not even that good in all honesty.Its mid range tat for skint people.
You haven't even posted in my Fritz Chessmark bench thread that I started and welcomed people with all cpu's.
Guess why I wonder? Fear of showing how " run of the mill" your hardware actually is?
I'm a habitual winker, I'm afraid
I thought all the new Intel line up used triple channel, but actually I'm glad to be wrong
Well indeed,
People seem to think that i3 is expensive when in fact it's really not.
This is why I have been posting in this thread.
For games the i3 is faster than athlon II x4 at around the same price.
get this,
i3 is dual core and beats wayne's true triple core in the multithreaded bench Fritz Chess.
Its so obvious which is the superior hardware but some seem to not care and allow brand loyalty to blur their vision.
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