best processors??

PlayaFlow

im thinking of building my own pc , i need it fast so what proccesor would be best? i was initially thinking of a P4 3.2 or faster , but a friend keeps telling me amd athlons are much faster even though Ghz isnt as high. can anyone shed any light on this ...and suggest a proccesor, thanks.

BabyEater

It depends what you use your computer for i.e. games or encoding or what not.

PlayaFlow

i just want a fast computer , ie open multiple programs up fast at once and switch between them smoothly etc

aidan_walsh

Then it really make bugger all difference which brand you put into it.

chump

Don't worry about the GHz rating, read a few reviews on anandtech tomshardware and the like and make up your own mind.

You'll probably find it's much of a muchness and it will come down to price. To be honest for regular usage like you suggest a mid range machine, with a decent processor, 512-1gig ram and decent enough components will be good for you...

mp3guy

PlayaFlow wrote:

i just want a fast computer , ie open multiple programs up fast at once and switch between them smoothly etc

if you're talking multi tasking, a fair speed P4 w/HT would be fine.

Optikus

How much are you willing to spend n this processor?

BadCharlie

FX55 if you have lots of dosh!

HungryJoey

Go for AMD Athlon 64 , They wil fulfil all your needs... TBH they can do everything amazingly.

Azza

As a general rule

Intel Pentium 4's are faster at multitasking and audio/video encoding.

AMD 64's are faster at everything else but really own in gaming. Except in gaming (where sometimes the gap is considerable) both cpu's are very close to each other in performance.

Intel Pentium D's or dual core Pentium 4's which have just been released are slower in single thread applications but are excellent in mulitasking far superior to single core cpu's.

AMD Athlon 64 x2's are AMD's dual core solution which will appear in June/July. These are more considerable more expensive than Intels offer but are again generaly faster in almost ever application including audio/video encoding and have gained parity in multitasking to intels dual cores. They also suffer less of a performance hit in single thread applications.

Overall AMD Athlon 64's are marginally the better cpu but if multitasking is your main concern go with the Intel P4. But if that truely is the case your better offer waiting for the dual cores. Intel's cheapest dual core chip will be 240 euro AMD's will be over 500. Money would be the deciding factor here.

SouperComputer

15K RPM SCSI drives with 1GB RAM always helps for a more responsive system.

thats a bit overkill though.

I would say get an athlon 64, 1gb RAM (if you really need it) and a WD Raptor SATA HD (10000RPM). Should be plenty nippy. The faster drive helps booting and application load time.

of course, if you are really doing a lot of intensive multitasking, maybe pickup a Dual Socket A board on ebay?

astrofool

you also need a jet engine fan to cool the 15k scsi drives

Praetorian

Even the raptor requires active cooling. A dual core athlon (available in around a month I think) should be the best all around chip by far. Excellent for multitasking, and for single cpu intensive tasks as well.

BloodBath

Yeah but thet will cost in excess of 500e.


BloodBath