Will you buy an A64?

Vampyromaniac · Sep 24, 2003, 03:55 AM

At this point, after seeing Anand's article, I think the FX is no big deal . . . if I get something, it will be the plain Athlon 64
Of course I will not be getting anything for a while anyway, so things may change . . . .

DriveEuro · Sep 24, 2003, 04:42 AM

I think the FX will shine once windows launches the 64bit windows xp edition.

MSX · Sep 24, 2003, 09:46 AM

Yeah... and it'll also push down the price of the A64. I'm mostly waiting for the FX as I imagine the boards will finally have dual channel going... and I'm really poor right now.

Driver 7 · Sep 24, 2003, 11:10 AM

I'm waiting for the FX as well. the only problem is I just spent $650 on this ram and the FX requires registered ram. Now what do I do? Considering theres gonna be FX chips and bords here next week.

Darksider · Sep 25, 2003, 12:44 AM

I choose none of the above choices.

I would not think about buying a 64bit processor (from AMD or Intel) until there is a great reason for me to do so. The 64bit version of XP is a start, but I need a bit more than that. The 64bit version of UT is probably going to be pretty cool, but it is not enough of a reason for me to drop all that money on a new system. I want a vast majority of the programs that I use to be 64bit. I also want to give other companies time to write decent 64bit drivers.

This whole 64bit thing in the desktop area is too much in its infancy. I'm just glad there are those of you on the bleeding edge that need to have the latest technology. I'll let you worry about application support, driver issues, and high prices. Then, by the time it gets fairly popular, it will be time to upgrade my system anyways. In the mean time, I'll let you guys enjoy your 64bit Spider Solitaire.

Vampyromaniac · Sep 25, 2003, 01:24 AM

You know the Athlon64 can run all 32-bit apps also, right?

MSX · Sep 25, 2003, 05:14 AM

Yeah ... they made the step as comfortable as possible. A64 preform like P4 3.2's in 32 bit mode... Ok so now I think I'm going to 'raise awareness' on the new AMD processors. Mostly common misconceptions. There seems to be a lot of them.

No, aside from the great (and cheaper than Intel) performance there is no really 'feature' reason to switch. Just wait a few months though...

mike2h · Sep 25, 2003, 05:50 AM

personally i do not see the point in investing in it till there is a LOT of 64 bit software out there. the performance/price certainly do not justify it. in mosts test either cpu performed only marginally better than a 3.0c p4. which cost considerably less.
these cpus should do a lot better(that is still open for debate) in a 64 bit enviroment. then again, once(if) we start seeing more games/apps optimised for ht support, p4 is going to get a nice boost!
the real issue is how how willing software companies are going to be writing 64 bit code that intel is (so far) not supporting. given that microsoft has already come out with a 64bit os i think intel is going to go the same path instead if the IA path. this is good for eveybody. thx amd.
i see support for ht coming around before 64 bit support- much larger & faster growing support base.
all other considerations aside, amd has some really cool tech here, & most importantly is keeping intel honest!

mike2h · Sep 25, 2003, 05:54 AM

Quote:

No, aside from the great (and cheaper than Intel) performance there is no really 'feature' reason to switch. Just wait a few months though...

cheaper???? .
take a look at toms review again. & he used the most expensive p4 board out there you could get comparable/same performance with a much cheaper board.

@/2ct!< · Sep 25, 2003, 06:05 AM

A64 is without a doubt cheaper. P4 EE and FX are about the same if you consider you need registered ram, 64s have cheap boards too. In fact even their quality boards used in review are not that good and kinda cheap for release. Wait and see to judge true 64 as 32 potential

mike2h · Sep 25, 2003, 06:42 AM

Quote:

A64 is without a doubt cheaper. P4 EE and FX are about the same if you consider you need registered ram, 64s have cheap boards too. In fact even their quality boards used in review are not that good and kinda cheap for release. Wait and see to judge true 64 as 32 potential

this is from toms. the last column is added by me. the 3.0 out performed the a64 in pretty much everything & actually beat the fx in a couple of things. you say they have cheaper boards(can not imagine them being much less & reliable) yet you also say they should spend more to get better performance.
i personally think the p4pee is overated, especially for gaming. right now, without any 64 bit apps/games to (hopefully) show what the amds' can do they are overpriced & overrated.
what is really funny, i just got a 2.4c for $170 & have it running under 50c at 3.0.
will be interesting to see how they overclock. of course it will also be interesting to see how prescott overclocks. though heat is going to make that one interesting.

Price Comparison of the Four Systems in the Test

Athlon 64FX-51 Athlon 64 3200+ Athlon XP 3200+ Intel P4 3.2 EE intel p43.0c
Processor $799 $499 $359 $849 383
Cooler $50 $50 $50 $50 50
Motherboard $229 $199 $119 $214 120(p4p800)
Mem DDR400,1 GB . $450 ca. $450 $399 $356 356
Graphic Card 5900 Ul $599 $599 $599 $599 599
Terratec Aureon 7.1 $99 $99 $99 $99 99
SATA Controller S150T $94 $94 $94 integrated integrated
2x Maxtor 80 GB SATA $208 $208 $208 $208 208
DVD-ROM MS-8216 $39 $39 $39 $39 39
Floppy $13 $13 $13 $13 13
460 Enermax psu $99 $99 $99 $99 99
Total Price $2679 $2349 $2078 $2526 $1367

sorry about the columns.

shit! how come they are even(fairly) here but not when i post it? this sucks! actually i would bet it is my lack of know-how

well you can still figure it out.

MSX · Sep 25, 2003, 07:19 AM

Toms article. You mean where they talk about SATA controllers for $94 that'll be on the next round of boards anyway? So lets cut that off. Oh and lets also cut off the prices for all that other crap. Like PS and CDrom.

Then you get the ECC ram costing more. However they made a mistake there... the vanilla A64 does not requite ECC. So lets just clip off some more dollars... The FX still does but with the surge of ECC DDR coming out it'll be cheaper to get 2700.

Well, you see where I'm going. The chart is not a great comparison. Specially considering those are all retail prices, when most of us shop online or at a local oem(or cheap ass store where you have to make sure you dont get screwed as I call them).

As for the performance. No AMD is not the top of the lot. However intel only wins by a narrow margin and since this article I've seen other reviews with contrary results... perhaps with newer board revisions/drivers. Whereas the intel board already has mature drivers.

I tend to trust Reviews... not previews.

If this was not what you were talking about... oh well. I'm tired and I've stopped caring.

Darksider · Sep 26, 2003, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vampyromaniac
You know the Athlon64 can run all 32-bit apps also, right?

Of course.

In fact I think they do a pretty good job at it too. It will be nice to see the Athlons when they will be flexing their 64bit muscles. I think that it is a great thing that AMD is pushing the computer world forward in this regard. It can only help to benefit us all in the long run.

I'm just not buying one until all the support is there.

mike2h · Sep 26, 2003, 01:48 AM

i agree. on both counts. nice avatar!

WildChild · Sep 26, 2003, 01:54 AM

I'll be getting the athlon fx-51 and a new gigabyte nforce3 board this weekend or at latest by next weekend ....came into a large amount of money(Have to wait for the check to clear ...hehehe) and this will be my b-day present to self

mike2h · Sep 26, 2003, 03:25 AM

dure you do not want to wait for prices t obecome more reasonable. & for the new nf3 to 'mature'? either way, have fun & HAPPY BIRTHDAY!.

Oblivious · Sep 26, 2003, 03:23 PM

I'm Missing the option for purchasing a dually Opteron. I don't think highly of the A FX or A64.

Judas · Sep 26, 2003, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wildchild
I'll be getting the athlon fx-51 and a new gigabyte nforce3 board this weekend or at latest by next weekend ....came into a large amount of money(Have to wait for the check to clear ...hehehe) and this will be my b-day present to self

Me is so jelious right now.....

Sep 24, 2003, 03:55 AM	#31
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	At this point, after seeing Anand's article, I think the FX is no big deal . . . if I get something, it will be the plain Athlon 64 Of course I will not be getting anything for a while anyway, so things may change . . . . __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250 Last edited by Vampyromaniac; Sep 24, 2003 at 04:05 AM.

Sep 24, 2003, 04:42 AM	#32
DriveEuro HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Gurnee Illinois Posts: 4,677 Rep Power: 0	I think the FX will shine once windows launches the 64bit windows xp edition. __________________ [color=orange]ASUS P4P800 Deluxe [color=black]-[/color] 2.4C --> 3300mhz [color=black]-[/color] Mushkin PC3200 at 220 5-2-2-2 (cpu limited) [color=black]-[/color] BBAti 9800Pro at 430/375 [/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]01[/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]03[/color] 16001200 12801024

Sep 24, 2003, 11:10 AM	#34
Driver 7 Discombobulated NVidiot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Vancouver, BC - CANADA Posts: 1,015 Rep Power: 0	I'm waiting for the FX as well. the only problem is I just spent $650 on this ram and the FX requires registered ram. Now what do I do? Considering theres gonna be FX chips and bords here next week. __________________ [COLOR=Black]Asus A8N Deluxe SLI, AMD64 4200 X2 Dual Core, 2x 6800's, Corsair TwinX PC4000 DDR500, Yamaha F1 cdrw, Soundblaster Audigy 2, 2 SATA 120 gig Maxtor HD's, Raid 0 array, Altec Lancing 5.1 Surround Speakers, Thermaltake Xaser III Case, Stealth 470w Power supply, 21.3" Samsung widescreen, MX1000 Lazer mouse.[/COLOR]

Sep 25, 2003, 01:24 AM	#36
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	Darksider You know the Athlon64 can run all 32-bit apps also, right? __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Sep 25, 2003, 05:50 AM	#38
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	personally i do not see the point in investing in it till there is a LOT of 64 bit software out there. the performance/price certainly do not justify it. in mosts test either cpu performed only marginally better than a 3.0c p4. which cost considerably less. these cpus should do a lot better(that is still open for debate) in a 64 bit enviroment. then again, once(if) we start seeing more games/apps optimised for ht support, p4 is going to get a nice boost! the real issue is how how willing software companies are going to be writing 64 bit code that intel is (so far) not supporting. given that microsoft has already come out with a 64bit os i think intel is going to go the same path instead if the IA path. this is good for eveybody. thx amd. i see support for ht coming around before 64 bit support- much larger & faster growing support base. all other considerations aside, amd has some really cool tech here, & most importantly is keeping intel honest! __________________

Sep 24, 2003, 09:46 AM	Thread Starter #33
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Yeah... and it'll also push down the price of the A64. I'm mostly waiting for the FX as I imagine the boards will finally have dual channel going... and I'm really poor right now.

Sep 25, 2003, 12:44 AM	#35
Darksider I Play NWN and UT2003 Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 202 Rep Power: 0	I choose none of the above choices. I would not think about buying a 64bit processor (from AMD or Intel) until there is a great reason for me to do so. The 64bit version of XP is a start, but I need a bit more than that. The 64bit version of UT is probably going to be pretty cool, but it is not enough of a reason for me to drop all that money on a new system. I want a vast majority of the programs that I use to be 64bit. I also want to give other companies time to write decent 64bit drivers. This whole 64bit thing in the desktop area is too much in its infancy. I'm just glad there are those of you on the bleeding edge that need to have the latest technology. I'll let you worry about application support, driver issues, and high prices. Then, by the time it gets fairly popular, it will be time to upgrade my system anyways. In the mean time, I'll let you guys enjoy your 64bit Spider Solitaire.

Sep 25, 2003, 05:14 AM	Thread Starter #37
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Yeah ... they made the step as comfortable as possible. A64 preform like P4 3.2's in 32 bit mode... Ok so now I think I'm going to 'raise awareness' on the new AMD processors. Mostly common misconceptions. There seems to be a lot of them. No, aside from the great (and cheaper than Intel) performance there is no really 'feature' reason to switch. Just wait a few months though...

Sep 25, 2003, 06:05 AM	#40
@/2ct!< HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Not Vegas, anymore :( Posts: 1,391 Rep Power: 0	A64 is without a doubt cheaper. P4 EE and FX are about the same if you consider you need registered ram, 64s have cheap boards too. In fact even their quality boards used in review are not that good and kinda cheap for release. Wait and see to judge true 64 as 32 potential __________________

Sep 25, 2003, 07:19 AM	Thread Starter #42
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Toms article. You mean where they talk about SATA controllers for $94 that'll be on the next round of boards anyway? So lets cut that off. Oh and lets also cut off the prices for all that other crap. Like PS and CDrom. Then you get the ECC ram costing more. However they made a mistake there... the vanilla A64 does not requite ECC. So lets just clip off some more dollars... The FX still does but with the surge of ECC DDR coming out it'll be cheaper to get 2700. Well, you see where I'm going. The chart is not a great comparison. Specially considering those are all retail prices, when most of us shop online or at a local oem(or cheap ass store where you have to make sure you dont get screwed as I call them). As for the performance. No AMD is not the top of the lot. However intel only wins by a narrow margin and since this article I've seen other reviews with contrary results... perhaps with newer board revisions/drivers. Whereas the intel board already has mature drivers. I tend to trust Reviews... not previews. If this was not what you were talking about... oh well. I'm tired and I've stopped caring.

Sep 26, 2003, 01:48 AM	#44
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Darksider i agree. on both counts. nice avatar! __________________

Sep 26, 2003, 01:54 AM	#45
WildChild I'm Still Watching Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: New Jersey,U.S.A. Posts: 1,068 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	I'll be getting the athlon fx-51 and a new gigabyte nforce3 board this weekend or at latest by next weekend ....came into a large amount of money(Have to wait for the check to clear ...hehehe) and this will be my b-day present to self __________________ Knowledge is SCARY,Stupidity is REALLY frightening

Sep 26, 2003, 03:25 AM	#46
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	wildchild dure you do not want to wait for prices t obecome more reasonable. & for the new nf3 to 'mature'? either way, have fun & HAPPY BIRTHDAY!. __________________

Sep 26, 2003, 03:23 PM	#47
Oblivious DivrerHaeven Seinor Mebmer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 236 Rep Power: 0	I'm Missing the option for purchasing a dually Opteron. I don't think highly of the A FX or A64. __________________ Pepole olny raed wrods. Btu oyu shuodl sitll check oyur spleling! http://realgar.hopto.org