Help with comparisons of 2 machines

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Sim E Terry

I'm wanting a new 64 bit computer and am comparing these 2 machines.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ @ $869.00

VS

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ @ $669.00

Everything else is the same on both machines, 1GB Mem, 250GB drive (no
motherboard info in FRYs ad). Would the X2 Dual Core Prosessor be that much
faster the 3800+, justifying the $200.00 difference? Thanks for any help.
 
I'm wanting a new 64 bit computer and am comparing these 2 machines.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ @ $869.00

VS

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ @ $669.00

Everything else is the same on both machines, 1GB Mem, 250GB drive (no
motherboard info in FRYs ad). Would the X2 Dual Core Prosessor be that much
faster the 3800+, justifying the $200.00 difference? Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

My choice for a dual core processor is the X2 4400+ which has 1M caches,
the X2 4200+ only has 1/2M caches. For a single core system I'd choose the
4000+ instead of the 3800+ for the same reason.
 
I'm wanting a new 64 bit computer and am comparing these 2 machines.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ @ $869.00

VS

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3800+ @ $669.00

Everything else is the same on both machines, 1GB Mem, 250GB drive (no
motherboard info in FRYs ad). Would the X2 Dual Core Prosessor be that much
faster the 3800+, justifying the $200.00 difference? Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Well, the $200 price difference isn't justified by the difference in CPU
price, as there's only $90 difference in price of them. That said, I think
you'll be happy with either of them.
 
Why HP?They really aren't very good PC's.
Click to expand...

What makes you say that? I have two Compaq machines, a laptop with a 3400+
and a desktop with a 3800+, they've been solid as can be. I run all of my
systems 24/7, I haven't had any trouble. I've had the laptop for 18 months
and the desktop for 16. HP machines are a good value for the money, the
only reason to not buy from them is if they don't have the configuration
that you want. I got my X2 4400+ box from Monarch because HP didn't sell a
4400+ at the time, but my 3800+ system had exactly what I wanted at the
time (MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, a decent NVidia graphics card, better sound
then I needed, slots for every kind of flash card, Enermax power supply, a
good case (Wavemaster), 250G drive, DVD RW plus a second DVD ROM) and it
cost less then the individual components would have cost (I was pricing
the same hardware at NewEgg and Monarch when I saw this box at CompUSA).
 
General said:
What makes you say that? I have two Compaq machines, a laptop with a 3400+
and a desktop with a 3800+, they've been solid as can be. I run all of my
systems 24/7, I haven't had any trouble. I've had the laptop for 18 months
and the desktop for 16. HP machines are a good value for the money, the
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with HP, Compaq, Dell, or any other major brand
name for the majority of users.
only reason to not buy from them is if they don't have the configuration
that you want.
Click to expand...

That's the key - you don't usually get the performance or features you
want.
I got my X2 4400+ box from Monarch because HP didn't sell a
4400+ at the time, but my 3800+ system had exactly what I wanted at the
time (MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, a decent NVidia graphics card, better sound
then I needed, slots for every kind of flash card, Enermax power supply, a
good case (Wavemaster), 250G drive, DVD RW plus a second DVD ROM) and it
cost less then the individual components would have cost (I was pricing
the same hardware at NewEgg and Monarch when I saw this box at CompUSA).
Click to expand...

When I was shopping around for a new system, I priced out a few brand
name systems and spec'd out their components. All of them were about the
same price as the system I put together myself, except that my system is
better and faster.

For the same price as a pre-built name brand, I got a faster HD, faster
RAM, faster video card, quieter case with a better PSU, and a better
widescreen LCD monitor. The rest of the components (DVD, floppy, ports,
sound, etc.) are about the same for performance and value.

When you run a few benchmarking programs though, like Sandra, Doom 3,
encoding, etc., performance is noticeably higher. Yeah, it's only a
measly 5-10% faster, but I was shopping for a high performance system
and I wanted that extra bit of performance for my dollar.

Of course I don't recommend this choice for most users though, because
they would be happy with the performance and features they get from the
name brands. What they lack in performance, they gain in customer
support and bonus software.

It's all a trade-off really.
 
Don't get the 4400X2. Your paying $100 for 512k of cache. Put this $100
towards another gig of ram or good dual channel stuff. This will make your
computer perform better than 512k of cache will.
--
XP2600@171 [email protected]
PC3200 Samsung 512mb, SB Live OEM
AIW9600XT, A7N8X-X
WD120gb + 80gb HD 8mb buffers
Plextor PX-712A, Liteon 1693S 16X Dual Layer
Pioneer DVR-110D 16X - 4X Dual Layer
Thermaltake Lanfire, 420 Watt PS
ViewSonic 19" A91f+ CRT
Micrsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick

Overall Score-2066, cpu_score-2926
in 3DMark2005 basic 1078X768, No AA
 
Don't buy HP, Dell, or any other of these cheap loafer machines. They use
hardware that can only be upgraded using their crappy cheap out-of-date
parts and charge an arm and a leg for them. You would be better off buying a
computer from Alienware or Falcon Northwest. They use top quality parts that
can be upgraded with anything you want

--
XP2600@171 [email protected]
PC3200 Samsung 512mb, SB Live OEM
AIW9600XT, A7N8X-X
WD120gb + 80gb HD 8mb buffers
Plextor PX-712A, Liteon 1693S 16X Dual Layer
Pioneer DVR-110D 16X - 4X Dual Layer
Thermaltake Lanfire, 420 Watt PS
ViewSonic 19" A91f+ CRT
Micrsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick

Overall Score-2066, cpu_score-2926
in 3DMark2005 basic 1078X768, No AA
 
VanShania said:
Don't get the 4400X2. Your paying $100 for 512k of cache. Put this $100
towards another gig of ram or good dual channel stuff. This will make your
computer perform better than 512k of cache will.
Click to expand...

Depends on the intended use actually.

For typical use, yes the extra RAM would be the better option. But if
your needs include very intensive CPU calculations, then the faster
processor and larger L1 cache may make a bigger difference than any
amount of RAM.
 
Not according to AMD's charts

--
XP2600@171 [email protected]
PC3200 Samsung 512mb, SB Live OEM
AIW9600XT, A7N8X-X
WD120gb + 80gb HD 8mb buffers
Plextor PX-712A, Liteon 1693S 16X Dual Layer
Pioneer DVR-110D 16X - 4X Dual Layer
Thermaltake Lanfire, 420 Watt PS
ViewSonic 19" A91f+ CRT
Micrsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick

Overall Score-2066, cpu_score-2926
in 3DMark2005 basic 1078X768, No AA
 
VanShania said:
Not according to AMD's charts
Click to expand...

Those charts are for marketing purposes, so of course anything that does
not show a marked improvement will not be mentioned.

It's kind of like negative billing...if you don't say no, they bill you
whatever they want without telling you. The catch is the hope you don't
notice the change and you foolishly keep paying more.

Marketing works the same way...tell you all the good stuff so you want
to buy it, but neglect to mention that bad stuff so you can't change
your mind or develop an honest opinion.

Here's an example:

(marketing version)
I'm very poor and my children are hungry...please send me $10 dollars
each week so they don't starve.

(honest version)
I'm a very greedy bastard and I don't have any kids...just send me the
damn money!

You don't believe everything you read, do you?

:-)
 
I don't think you read at all. AMD did show their benchmarks that don't show
a "marked improvement" in their processors with 1 mb cache(2.5% remember?).

--
XP2600@171 [email protected]
PC3200 Samsung 512mb, SB Live OEM
AIW9600XT, A7N8X-X
WD120gb + 80gb HD 8mb buffers
Plextor PX-712A, Liteon 1693S 16X Dual Layer
Pioneer DVR-110D 16X - 4X Dual Layer
Thermaltake Lanfire, 420 Watt PS
ViewSonic 19" A91f+ CRT
Micrsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick

Overall Score-2066, cpu_score-2926
in 3DMark2005 basic 1078X768, No AA
 
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