New Computer

[SuperGenius]

I'm thinking about a new computer... one which would have an Athelon 2800+ chip, 64 bit. What exactly, are the advantages of 64 bit machines?

[Andy]

we had a bigger discussion on this a while back here's the link
http://compsci.ca/v2/viewtopic.php?t=5817&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

my advice is, stick to a64.. they provide superior 32 bit performance and are ready for the 64 bit change in computing

[Neo]

Hey I was just wondering how do you convert athlon processor speeds like 3000+ into pentium procress speeds like 3.2ghz? I keep getting confused when you say athlon speeds.

[wtd]

Neo wrote:

Hey I was just wondering how do you convert athlon processor speeds like 3000+ into pentium procress speeds like 3.2ghz? I keep getting confused when you say athlon speeds.

You don't. The AMD numbering system compares a processor's performance to that of a 1GHz "Thunderbird" Athlon.

A 3000+ is at least 3 times faster than a 1GHz Thunderbird.

[Neo]

wtd wrote:

You don't. The AMD numbering system compares a processor's performance to that of a 1GHz "Thunderbird" Athlon.

A 3000+ is at least 3 times faster than a 1GHz Thunderbird.

So is a 1GHz Thunderbird better or worst than a 1Ghz pentium? Sorry if this is such a newbie question.

[wtd]

Neo wrote:

wtd wrote:

You don't. The AMD numbering system compares a processor's performance to that of a 1GHz "Thunderbird" Athlon.

A 3000+ is at least 3 times faster than a 1GHz Thunderbird.

So is a 1GHz Thunderbird better or worst than a 1Ghz pentium? Sorry if this is such a newbie question.

They're different processors. They'll run the same software (for the most part), but inside they're dramatically different. You can't really say one's "better" than the other.

I tend to believe AMD engineers their processors better than Intel, and gets more performance out of them at the same clockspeed.

[apomb]

so is there a clear one that is better at lets say _overclocking_ for example?

[Andy]

an athlon 64 3000+'s performance is comparable to an intel 3.4 ghz... but its actual clock speed is at like 2 ghz.. this is because the p4 chip wastes alot of its clock cycles... thats y they bsed that crap about hyper threading... it doesnt really give u better performance.. it just makes the chip slitelyless crappier where as the hyper transport associated with the amd chips actually boosts performance cuz now u have an 1600 mhz bus... the new intel extreme edition boosted their fsb to 1066 which is fairly nice.. the 266 mhz increase should help but the 3.46 clock speed isnt really much of an advancement from their previous 3.4 ghz.

[wtd]

dodge_tomahawk wrote:

an athlon 64 3000+'s performance is comparable to an intel 3.4 ghz... but its actual clock speed is at like 2 ghz.. this is because the p4 chip wastes alot of its clock cycles... thats y they bsed that crap about hyper threading... it doesnt really give u better performance.. it just makes the chip slitelyless crappier where as the hyper transport associated with the amd chips actually boosts performance cuz now u have an 1600 mhz bus... the new intel extreme edition boosted their fsb to 1066 which is fairly nice.. the 266 mhz increase should help but the 3.46 clock speed isnt really much of an advancement from their previous 3.4 ghz.

In tests, the 1066MHz FSB doesn't help.

It's still not the top performer in that category either. The 2.5GHz PowerPC 970s in Apple's top of the line G5 have two independent 1.25GHz FSBs.

[Andy]

aha, thats some funny stuff... yea i'd go wit a g5.. but its not too mainstream... bleh.. once again we proved that the ppl at intel are a bunch of money grabbing asses

[apomb]

wtd wrote:

It's still not the top performer in that category either. Wink The 2.5GHz PowerPC 970s in Apple's top of the line G5 have two independent 1.25GHz FSBs.

that.... is ... huge!

[wtd]

Aside from being expensive (though not outrageously so compared fairly), what's not mainstream about the G5?

Games? Get a GameCube/PS2/XBox.

[Andy]

haha yea thats true.. oh wells

[SuperGenius]

In that other thread I saw something about a 64 bit linux distro... that would be what I want if it is easy enough to install and use because I don't know anything about linux... can someone please give me a link to a website about this?

[apomb]

quote ^