Intel vs. AMD

Well. I might get another Arctic Freezer. They really are good coolers for the price.

I might head down tomorrow and grab an Arctic Freezer and a box of fans.

My local shop will actually sell a box assortment of six Arctic Cooling fans of your choice... all for $10.99. That would get me enough to do a change out on some of my weaker fans and properly ventilate my Sempron box.

My odd jobs make enough to go out and do this stuff and keep adding to my funds. I'd like to take it back above $1200 again.

I guess I'm tired of full builds for now. I might sell off my Sempron soon. I'll take out the X850XT and put it in my Intel. Somebody will like to have an OC'd Sempy. It outbenches a Presler 3.2GHz

 

MichaelP1
For the midsize monitors (20.5") there are a number of good options. I prefer the widescreen. Samsung has the SyncMaster 205BW and others, Dell has some good offerings, and Viewsonic has some good offerings. I'm sure there's probably more. Just be sure to shop the best pricing. I find good buys at places like SAM'S as well as online. The Sceptre Naga is good as well. You're not limited to just a couple of models anymore. Just don't buy a piece of junk no one has ever heard of because it's cheap.

Theonejrs
I have no idea what you're doing with OCCT, but it does fully load both cores on my system. In fact is does such as good job that it's even hard to open taskmanager when the app is already running. I usually turn on the taskmanager so I can glimpse at the graph occasionally to see that the app still has both cores pegged. Encoding doesn't come close to it. Since folding usually is just done with one core, I don't see how that would be a true load. If you give both cores over that would be a decent test, but I still don't see it beating OCCT. OCCT is free, so I'm sure not trying to sell anybody anything. I just hate to see statements saying an app doesn't work when it's working for me. I suspect there is a flaw somewhere in your setup when you go to use it. I can be pretty dumb sometimes, so if I can get it going, it should be usable for most people. LOL

There's an older version out there and I hear some people have had a problem or 2 with it. The version that's doing a good job for me is 1.0.2a. Check to see if you have that version. If you have the older version change it out and see if that gets both cores loading. I've heard some top OC(ers) using it as a top torture test. I doubt they'd use it if it was only loading one core on a dual core.

 

PacMan777,

I have the same version you are using and it doesn't see my Pressler as a dual core. It says it's a Cedarmill. Maybe it only works with AMDs.

As far as folding, Yes it is single threaded but you can run 2 instances of it to utilize both cores. It is relentless as it works the processor at 95% 24/7. The 2 little graphs have a straight line almost at the top. I don't run anything at 100%, ever. I don't believe in it. If you ever want to set yours up for both cores let me know as it's so complicated it's simple. I'll tell you the story sometime. Got to run as Dinner is here! Check out the wallpaper I e-mailed you!

Happy Computering,
theone

 

id guess these fall somwhere under the amd banner;
old tech
new tech
just in case anyone missed them.

edit
fixxed a link

 

Pacman777

I went with the View Sonic-VX2235wm 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 res.5ms Respone Time
i am picking it up fri. or sat.

 

That's a sweet monitor, although ironically it uses the same panel as a videoseven screen!

 

videoseven ?

 

Well I found out what the penalty for turning off Automatic Updates in XP is! Microsoft cripples your security! I personally think they do much more than that as they are the only ones that have "Cart Blanc" to access your computer. First I was having trouble shutting down! No problem I'll do a "Repair" install! Hah!!! As I was doing that it came across a file it couldn't find either on the XP Pro CD or SP-2! It was a file for the USB. I figured, no pronlem as I was intending on installing SP-2 anyway. Wrong!!! Wrong, wrong, wrong! When it was all finished I had no usb whatsoever, which is very strange as I have USB 2.0 support on my MB. I finally had to blow the whole thing down and hook up a floppy so I could use the Seagate software and treat the drive like it was a new one! Re-Partitioned and formated.

XP Pro took exactly 12 minutes to install from the boot-up to the main windows screen. That's pretty darn fast. No problems with the USB this time. M$ can deny it till the cows come home but the only one with internet access at that point is M$, and the problem occured as soon as I switched off the Automatic Updates in the tools. I had no other software on it and I have a hardware Firewall/Router. Curse you Bill Gates!!! That's what's called the "Golden Rule" He who has the Gold, makes the Rules!

Happy Computering,
theone

 

Sorry, double post!

Happy Computering,
theone

 

theonejrs
OCCT works with Intel. A problem sometimes comes in with hyperthreading, which your CPU doesn't have. For those with it, the software may show a second core, but in reality the system is being loaded. I have no idea what's happening with you, but it isn't a regular problem.

If you can't get OCCT to work, nothing lost. It was a freebie. But don't knock it just because your machine won't read properly for you. Not everyone wants to get into folding to test their equipment. There's too many torture tests out there to go to something like that. For those folding, it is a good real world test if the system is fully used for the task. I suggest users wanting to test their system give OCCT a try. As I mentioned, nothing lost if it doesn't work. As for myself, it's one of my handiest testing apps, Intel and AMD.

With folding the processor usage can still fluctuate allowing the system to cool down. When working right, OCCT is loading the system 99%(+). Taskmanager reads 100%, but it's not exact. If so, you couldn't turn OCCT off without manually turning off the machine. Still, OCCT fully loads the system as far as testing goes and holds steady as long as desired. Your not wanting to fully load your system is your choice, it does stress the hardware and could cause failure. But then that's what a torture test is for, to see if a system is going to fail. By not fully loading your system, you don't know if it's fully stable or not.

30 minutes is a good test with OCCT and 2 hrs usually finds most difficult errors. A full 24 hrs is really wringing it out, but some people do it. Great for burn in with a new processor. Sandra (set so it doesn't cycle), and Prime95 are a couple more good tests.

MichaelP1
Good choice. Viewsonic is a good monitor and that one has a slightly larger screen than the 20.5 units I favor. The size difference is small, but about $100 less on average for models like the Scepter Naga and Samsung. I've even seen 20" Viewsonics on sale around $300 When I can get good at less price, I'll usually hedge and spend a bit more on the processor and/or RAM. But they don't have that handy Ipod dock. You should enjoy your choice. I know I would if I had it.

 

MichaelP1
By the way, I noticed a 22" Samsung that appears to have the same specs for about $380 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001083
That should be about the low end pricing on your Viewsonic. (Again no ipod, lol.) Out of curiosity, where did you get your monitor and how much did it run?

 

What security? Hackers have found more holes in microsoft than a sieve. I always use something other than Windows for security.

I have auto updates, I just don't let it install automatically. That way I still screen the updates. I don't always use all of them.

 

Well, what has really bugged the crap out of me recently is the autoupdate. It will install and then ask me to restart about a gazillion times every hour.

Dammit, If I want to restart I will but don't keep bothering me about it.


Question. Is the Pentium EE 3.46GHz any faster than a D9xx at the same speed? Does the inclusion of hyper threading really make a difference?

 

I rather suspect the no-auto-update-causes-no-security has something to do with the new programs like ie7, which MS is forcing everyone to download whether they like it or not.

 

PacMan777, i am trading an VP-201b 20.1 " at my local PC shop for the new View Sonic-VX2245wm 22" Widescreen , its going to work out to about 450.00 retail if i was going to buy it straight out. i wasn't going to get a widescreen being i thought i would lose height but it turns out that i will only lose less than a quarter inch in height compare to the 4x3 format BUT gain about 3 inches from side to side so i hope i like the widescreen format. i am getting it fri. or sat.

http://viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/xseries/vx2245wm/

 

If this reassures you I was a bit sceptical when I moved from a 19" CRT to a 24" LCD whether I'd like widescreen but I swear by it now, it's so much better, you'll love it. It seems a bit of a small upgrade from an excellent 201b to a 22" wide, but then I did recently upgrade from a Dell 2407 to a 3007!

 

MichaelP1
You're not taking too much of a loss with the trade. Circuit city is (or were) selling the model you're getting for about $370 US. It just depends on how much value you place in your current model. If getting a new one (without trade), I'd check with someone like Circuit City first. Overall that's about $80 more you're paying. Of course that would be shipping costs from Circuit City if you ordered online. If the local Circuit City didn't have one, I'd ask if they could pick one up.

I think you'll like the widescreen format, most people do. Be sure to have your resolution set properly for the monitor.

 

Yeah, before you make the switch, drop your resolution to 1280x1024. Otherwise you'll have to run VGA safe mode and reset the resolution or suffer an "out of range". You can then up to 1680x1050 afterwards.

 

sammorriss
So much posting I almost forgot to post to your comment on cpu coolers. I'd suggest you buy an Arctic and have someone install it for you, if you think the part is in the league with Zalman's at a far lower price.

If not overclocking, most people don't need more than stock. Since I like to do at least moderate (OC)s to systems I build, I'll stick with what has proven to work well for me. Zalman has built a rep and a lot of custom builders are going with them. So, I'll stick with the ranks of custom builders who install the Zalmans in the PCs they build. As long as I stay reasonable with my settings, I won't have any cooling problems. At least I haven't so far and that's what I go by (along with the huge number of good reviews on the product). Every brand gets the occasional incompetent builder or a flawed product that draws a bad review. But you don't see that much with Zalman. For another performance build, I'd gladly lay down the money for another 9700.

 

I looked back at that post and it makes me sound like an extreme Zalman fanboy. Trust me, I'm not. If someone wants me to build with another brand, there's good one's out there including the Arctic, Thermaltakes, and others. It's just for personal builds I have my preference. I guess when doing your own builds, it comes down to personal likes and dislikes and what you're willing to pay. Since I can get parts at the lowest prices and install them myself, I have a bit of an advantage over a lot of PC owners. A good reason to get into custom building if a person has the talent.

Edit: For a less offensive word. LOL