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Bucket

Out of the hardware game

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I have a few CPU/general hardware questions for any of you who are keeping up with the PC hardware market, since I really haven't paid attention in the past year or so. I won't be buying top-of-the-line, but I'd like to future-proof as much as possible.

  • Who's leading the market in CPU's? I heard Intel surpassed AMD in the market with dual-core, but AMD introduced Opteron and they're still cheaper, so...
  • Is there a long-term advantage to switching to multi-core? From what I've read, AMD is going to avoid a race for more cores and explore other avenues.
  • Is it safe to run WinXP 64 yet? A lot of my smaller programs and drivers wouldn't work when I tried to install it last summer. I also have no idea if 64-bit processors are becoming the standard.
  • I'm going to try to find another 7800GT and SLI those bitches to stave off a super-expensive upgrade as long as possible (of course, I'll have to get an SLI-compatible motherboard as well). Will my 500W power supply handle it? Do they have to be EXACTLY the same, as in same manufacturer?

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Yes, right now Intel's dual core processors have a higher price/performance ratio. There is a long-term advantage, in that new software will be written to take advantage of multiple cores. Right now there isn't much, except professional 3D rendering software. XP 64 is still kinda sucky, you might as well get Vista or stick with XP Pro.

I'm not sure about the SLI, but it would be a safer bet to go with the exact same make/model card. Your power supply might be OK, but if I were you, I'd get a power supply that's officialy endorsed by nVidia. I found this site, maybe it can help you : http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Also keep in mind that ATI is releasing their next generation of video cards soon, so the prices on cards are sure to drop when that happens.

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Bucket said:

  • Is it safe to run WinXP 64 yet? A lot of my smaller programs and drivers wouldn't work when I tried to install it last summer. I also have no idea if 64-bit processors are becoming the standard.


No, and it won't ever be. WinXP 64 is a transitional product mainly intended for developers who wanted a head start on 64-bit ports. Now that Vista is out there is no real point for WinXP 64.

Vista has enough quirks and bugs right now that I can't imagine the 64-bit version would be very much fun to use (since a lot is due to bad drivers from hardware manufacturers, and getting 64-bit drivers working is probably a lot farther down on their todo lists).

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WinXP x64 isn't too bad. You lose 16-bit program support (no NTVDM) and you have to rely on finding x64 drivers and legacy IPX support is broken.

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OK, first you say that XP-64 is useless because Vista is out. But 64-bit processors have been out for years now and they do support 32-bit apps, PLUS the general opinion is that upgrading to Vista is pointless for the time being.

So which makes better use of existing hardware/software, and which do you think has a better chance in the future: 64-bit or multi-core? (Or is there any advantage in getting both, i.e. AMD Athlon 64 x2?)

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1)Intel's Core Duo line is by far the fastest CPU in the market, even with the 'budget' models (E66xx, about 400-600 iirc), however the CD Extreme is still the 'bleeding edge' and hasn't dropped in price of that status (The dual-core X6800, ~1k; the quad-core QX6800, which is a few more).

2)As udderdude said, the gaming scene is still very limited in products with significant multi-core programming. The only games I can think of at the moment that take advantage are Quake 4 (80% gain?), most of the Source engine games (iirc HL2 & derivatives), and the newly released Supreme Commander (which divides for AI/rendering).

3)WinXP 64 is still a product designed on future 'potential' and hasn't become a standard yet.

4)If you have a complete computer with 7800gt's in SLI, I would try it with that 500W, its possible it will work. If you have problems that you can't easily diagnose or if it overheats, you would be on the safe side to get an SLI-endorsed PSU. For SLI, I am very sure that you can get 2 7800gt's by different manufacturers (even with different clockspeeds) and have it work with the supported drivers (as a specific Forceware driver enabled compatibility); for two different models i think you can have two cards within the same family (eg. 7800gt paired with a 7800GTX) but that it reverts to the lowest common speed (like if you have one thats 512MB, another that's 768MB of VRAM, it will revert to the lower one for both cards. You may want to look more into the compatibility references on their websites.

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DeumReaper said:

1)Intel's Core Duo line is by far the fastest CPU in the market, even with the 'budget' models (E66xx, about 400-600 iirc), however the CD Extreme is still the 'bleeding edge' and hasn't dropped in price of that status (The dual-core X6800, ~1k; the quad-core QX6800, which is a few more).


First of all, it's the Core 2 Duo, secondly, the budget Core 2 is the recent E4300 model, which costs about $163 (The E6600 apparently costs roughly $316). Thirdly, the EE Quad-Core processor is the QX6700, not QX6800. (All according to Wikipedia, anyway)

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Bucket said:

So which makes better use of existing hardware/software, and which do you think has a better chance in the future: 64-bit or multi-core? (Or is there any advantage in getting both, i.e. AMD Athlon 64 x2?)


What CPU to get and what OS to run are two different topics. I have an Athlon 64 that will probably never run a 64-bit OS. Drivers have to be rewritten to work on WinXP 64-bit, which very few companies are going to bother doing now that Vista is here (since they have to do it over again for 64-bit Vista anyway).

Neither 64-but support nor multi-core are fads that will somehow die off in a few months. Both are here to stay and if you buy a CPU near the top of the charts you're going to get both. I doubt there will be many must-have programs that are 64-bit only for a while, though.

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