Computer Processers, etc.

[Jon]

I'm looking at getting another computer, since the one I have is entirely out of date. However, I know nothing about processors and that whole thing. What's the difference between the Pentium, Celeron, and AMD? Will games run on all three and which is better?
Thanks.

[jeff061]

AMD is faster and cheaper :).

Whats your budget, I'll recommend you something.

[hhiipp]

And hotter, be sure you have fans out the wazoo for AMD.

[jeff061]

4 years ago, prior to the Xp's, (in the time of the Thunderbird), yes.

They are cooler than Pentiums now. They just suffer from occasional hearsay...

[hhiipp]

Tell that to my dual xp machine at the house.

[jeff061]

Then your heatsinks are not installed correctly or your house is to hot. You are not the norm.

[QuikSand]

Oops. Thought this was a ping.

[hhiipp]

Thanks Jeff, I needed a little lesson in basic computers 101.

[jeff061]

You're welcome.

Duals tend to cause more heat to :p .

/sarcasm tag

In any case, after doing some research the early XP's did run hot(2002 era). This is still not indictive of current performance.

[sterlingice]

4 years ago, prior to the Xp's, (in the time of the Thunderbird), yes.

They are cooler than Pentiums now. They just suffer from occasional hearsay...
I love the wording of this.

I run an Athlon64 2800 at ~38C on my box- not really hot by today's standards.

SI

[Aardvark]

I'm looking at getting another computer, since the one I have is entirely out of date. However, I know nothing about processors and that whole thing. What's the difference between the Pentium, Celeron, and AMD? Will games run on all three and which is better?
Thanks.

Pentium and Celeron are both Intel designs. The Celeron is a budget priced version of the Pentium, and, for a given speed, not as fast. The AMD uses a different architecture and, for the same speed, faster than the Pentium. Because of this, their model names look like speeds, but aren't. (They are based on the clock speed of the comparable Pentium.)

OK, here is the technical stuff.

The AMD has a slower clock cycle, so it performs the lowest level operations slower than the pentium. However, because of its instruction set, it requires fewer operations in order to execute a line of code. If you compare pretty much any chip architecture to an Intel chip, you will find that the Intel chip does less per clock cycle.

Depending on what point in their release cycle the two companies are, the top of the line (or the 2nd or 3rd, which is the better value) processor for one company or the other will be faster at playing DOOM, for example, which is one of the benchmarks. Back about 2000, it was AMD, when I bought my computer in 2002 it was Intel.

Between the two Intel chips, the Celeron has less on chip cache, which really affects speed. Basically, the larger the cache memory means the more likely data and instructions which will be needed next are ready to hand. A good analogy is if you are writing a report using printed references as your source material. If you have a large desk, you can have more material within arms reach, so you spend less time getting up and going to the bookshelf.

There are actually two, or more, levels of cache. One is fast memory on the motherboard (usually) which caches between main memory and the processor, and the other is in the processor and caches between memory cache and the processor. The Celeron has less cache than the Pentium.

As a side note, IIRC, the AMD uses a pipeline cache, which means that it prefetches instructions. This means that, although it may execute an individual instruction slower than a Pentium, it spends less time fetching instructions, at least until there is a branch in the code.

From personal experience, if you are playing games you should also invest in a top graphics card. It will have much more effect in non-text-based games than a mere increase in processor speed.

[cartman]

Oops. Thought this was a ping.

Someone needs to check the code. There is a fork somewhere in there that caused this error.

[Mr. Wednesday]

And hotter, be sure you have fans out the wazoo for AMD.Pentium IV's have had a reputation for running really hot for the better part of a year now.

[MizzouRah]

I would recommed an Athlon 64 bit processor.


Todd

[maximus]

AMD64 3800+

[sterlingice]

AMD64 3800+
Or save over $100 and get a 3500.

SI

[Airhog]

Depends on how often you want to upgrade. I wouldnt buy a 64 because right now there isnt any software out there that utilizes it. By the time there is a widespread amount of software, that chip will be outdated.


I think a better question to ask, is how much do you wanna spend. That is the deciding factor as to what you buy.

[maximus]

Or save over $100 and get a 3500.

SI


I almost got the 3500 when I had to rebuild my PC but went with the 3800+ instead.

[maximus]

Depends on how often you want to upgrade. I wouldnt buy a 64 because right now there isnt any software out there that utilizes it. By the time there is a widespread amount of software, that chip will be outdated.


I think a better question to ask, is how much do you wanna spend. That is the deciding factor as to what you buy.


I believe Windows64 comes out this summer, no?

[gstelmack]

Dual-core, baby.

[Airhog]

windows64 is due out. But just because you have an operating system, doesnt mean all of your software, games, etc, are optimized for a 64 bit processor.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Depends on how often you want to upgrade. I wouldnt buy a 64 because right now there isnt any software out there that utilizes it. By the time there is a widespread amount of software, that chip will be outdated.


I think a better question to ask, is how much do you wanna spend. That is the deciding factor as to what you buy.You don't buy the 64-bit processor because of 64-bit, you buy it because it's also the best 32-bit processor available right now.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Dola, there's not a whole lot of "optimization" involved. All you need to do is fix any 32-bit-centrisms that break in 64-bit and recompile.

[jeff061]

Yeah, even without utilizing 64-bit its still the best processor out there, one of the best processors to come out in the past decade in my opinion.

The question is where on the Athlon 64 spectrum you want to go, which 100% depends on your budget.

[Airhog]

you make a good argument Mr. Wednesday. I never really looked at it that light. I just bought a new processor last week. I went with a xp 3000+ It was a nice upgrade for me, and kept me within my budget of under 600 dollars.

[Galaril]

What would be the equivalent of a pentium 4 3.4 ghz in Athalon 3800?

[jeff061]

Closer to the Athlon64 3000 actually.

Source: http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q1/pentium4-3.4ghz/index.x?pg=1