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Dual or Single Core?

paulg

paulg

paulg

Associate
Joined
16 Jan 2006
Posts
22
What would you guys recommend - an A64 3700+ SD or an X2 3800+ Dual core? I will overclock. I appreciate that the the SD has 1mb cache as opposed to the 512 per core on the X2 - but will having dual core not make up for that? Also, is the memory controller on the X2 any good (Rev E?)

Basically, what's the fastest cpu?

I'm not interested in the oppy as the dual core versions are out of my budget.
 
Simple - it depends what you're doing. If you're a die-hard gamer who will use the system for nothing more than gaming, get the 3700+.

If you play games and also do a fair bit of general content creation, video encoding and that kind of stuff, go for the X2. Also bear in mind that more and more applications are beginning to support dual processors/cores. Games are starting to gain support for dual processors/cores also, albeit fairly slowly.

Still, the X2 3800+ performs well even at stock on games that only support one processor so it's not really a major loss.

Personally I'd say get the X2 3800+, but that's because I use my system for a lot more than just games. It's all down to what you're going to be doing with it.
 
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I'm aiming to play a lot more games with my new upgrade as my old pc struggles with the newer stuff, like Battlefield 2 and CoD2.

I don't really have much going on in the background whilst playing (just things like virus checker, firewall and Emule etc.), so would a game or Photoshop utilise both cores at the same time or does one core shut down (so to speak) when not much is going on. I'd imagine if this was the case the X2 would be a lot quicker. If not then the 3700SD. Would that be right?
 
Ummm, both out my budget.

I initially had a budget of £150 for a cpu, but I've saved £50 by buying my RAM somewhere else (sorry OC's!) so, like any of us would, I'll spend the saving. Around £200-220 should do it.

So, how does the X2 3800 compare to the 3700 SD? Is having the X2 like having 4GHz of speed (2x 2GHz) or does it not work like that?
 
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Im not sure if photoshop is double threaded...it might be.

If you're not multitasking get the single core, otherwise get the dual
 
paulg said:
So, how does the X2 3800 compare to the 3700 SD? Is having the X2 like having 4GHz of speed (2x 2GHz) or does it not work like that?
Click to expand...

No its not really like having 4GHz of speed, even in multithreaded applications, maybe closer to 3-3.5GHz, as there will always be overhead. But it will consistently be faster than the 3700 in apps/games that are multithreaded (not many games not but they will come).

Still the 3700 is a good processor.
If you only interested in gaming then maybe go for the 3700 (it will still be fast even when used in upcoming games that do use multithreading).

If you use the pc for things like video encoding & especially multitask then go for the X2 (it may be slower in some current games, but with a good graphics card, that should not really be noticed.



From tomshardware...
Our benchmarks show that the performance of the 3800+ straddles that of a fast single core Athlon 64: lower with conventional applications, and faster even when running applications optimized for multi-threading. This distinction applies primarily to professional software, which makes heavy processing demands on computers, and has historically been addressed by putting multiple CPUs to work.

Those users who routinely push their computers to their limits - running multiple programs at the same time, manipulating one or more large data sets, spawning multiple, large, independent process trees, and so forth - will find a dual core processor beneficial. In these case, a dual core design matters more than actual CPU speed, making the 3800+ a great value.
Click to expand...
 
I'd recomend the x2 3800. In current games its not quite as fast as a 3700 but its fast enough. It's hardly going to be bottlenecking a decent graphics card. In the future (only talking 6 months here) it will be quiker than the 3700 in pretty much all games.
 
Umm I'm in exactly the same predicament. I'm wondering if I should go with a 3700+ SD & X1900XT or a X2 4400+ & 7800gt. The system has to last 1 year as thats how often I do major upgrades. Obviously the X1900XT is a far better graphics card than the 7800GT but then the X2 4400+ is a better CPU than the 3700+. I only game at 1280 x 1024 but i'm wondering if the 7800GT with be able to let me play all the new games at near of max settings, I'm pretty sure the X1900XT will be able too. I don't really multi task so I don't know if I would really use the X2 4400+ to its full potential.
 
MG42Maniac said:
Umm I'm in exactly the same predicament. I'm wondering if I should go with a 3700+ SD & X1900XT or a X2 4400+ & 7800gt. The system has to last 1 year as thats how often I do major upgrades. Obviously the X1900XT is a far better graphics card than the 7800GT but then the X2 4400+ is a better CPU than the 3700+. I only game at 1280 x 1024 but i'm wondering if the 7800GT with be able to let me play all the new games at near of max settings, I'm pretty sure the X1900XT will be able too. I don't really multi task so I don't know if I would really use the X2 4400+ to its full potential.
Click to expand...

I've got a X2 4400+, but im sure a 7800GT will be able to cope with 1280x1024 resolutions on pretty much all games even at max settings.... in my opinion i would go for the second option x2 4400+ with the 7800GT
 
Thanks guys. I think I'll buy the 3700 as that allows me to upgrade to perhaps the X2 4400 next year when hopefully it might be a lot cheaper and more programs/games utilise it. Late this summer I will add another 7800gt as well.
 
MG42Maniac said:
Umm I'm in exactly the same predicament. I'm wondering if I should go with a 3700+ SD & X1900XT or a X2 4400+ & 7800gt. The system has to last 1 year as thats how often I do major upgrades. Obviously the X1900XT is a far better graphics card than the 7800GT but then the X2 4400+ is a better CPU than the 3700+. I only game at 1280 x 1024 but i'm wondering if the 7800GT with be able to let me play all the new games at near of max settings, I'm pretty sure the X1900XT will be able too. I don't really multi task so I don't know if I would really use the X2 4400+ to its full potential.
Click to expand...

Both will likely last you a year at least.
If you dont multitask the 3700+ is likely the better option, especially if your a game player & add the X1900XT. Even if you only play at 1280 x 1024 you will be able to bump up the AA & AF, so your games look better (so you enjoy them more). Besides if games come out more power crunching than FEAR (think UT2007) the X1900XT paired with the 3700+ will be you better option.
 
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Do we know whether AMD will continue to produce the 939 cpu's like the X2 4400 after the switch to M2? That must be a consideration because of future upgrades. If I buy a 3700 now, will I be able to buy an X2 4400 in 12-18 months time? Must be on everyones mind.
 
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