Shopping for a new PC
My old HP P4 2.53 is beginning to show its age and I need to replace it. I want something not too exotic, but dependable and fast.
Need some expert comments and/or advice concerning a good replacement machine from someone who has recently gone through the throes of computer replacement. I'm trying to keep cost at $1000 or so. I'm not committed to HP machines, of course. I use mainly with PVR250 for TV captures and encoding. Following are specs for another HP from Best Buy as reference. Quote:
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I want one of those AMD Dual core X264 CPU's they are supposed to rock and from what I have read outperform there Intel equivilents.
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Anyway AMD are supposed to be revamping the line, adding DDR2 support and changing the socket again to a 940 pin layout called M2 rather than 939 but it wont be pin-for-pin compatible with the current Opteron 940 pin socket. I would personally suggest a stock single core Athlon 64 (3500 or 3700) on a 939 and wait till the xmas period, X2 prices should drop considerably around then and you can upgrade the CPU and sell the old one on ebay. Quote:
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Have 4 candidates so far, HP's with:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ $680 P4 630 $800 P4 540 $980 Pentium D 820 $1000 Which is faster, more bang for buck? |
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In a head to head the Athlon 64 3500+ will outperform the 630 and 540 Intel parts quite easily, it will be closer with a Pentium D especially if your software can make use of both cores. But in general terms I would still say the AMD part has the edge. Have a look here they put an Athlon 64 3500+, Pentium 4 630 and a Pentium D 820 in a head to head, should give you the info you want. |
My greatest demand on the machine is multi processing. For example, I often run a video editor, encoder, tv capture and authoring programs at the same time. I know memory size is very important, but need processer best suited to this. The dual core is interesting, but will it handle well with windowsxp or do I need another operating system, say windows 64?
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If you use XP Home edition then it will utilise only a single core as it's only uni-processor aware which defeats the point in having a dual core cpu ;) On a side note, Windows 64bit edition is not fully mature, and driver support for most peices of hardware is lacking, a lot is still in beta if it exists at all. So I would stick with the stock 32bit XP Pro, 64bit Linux is a different story though :lol: |
:?: Are you saying that
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Pro 64 will work with both processors, or that Microsoft Windows XP Professional Pro (32) will also? I am leaning towards the Gateway 835GM with Pentium D 820. They have a package with a 17" LCD for $999. Will probably pick up something today. |
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Went with the Gateway 835GM with Pentium D 820. Bought with printer and 17" LCD for $999.
Like it so far - it is faster than my P4 2.53. Need to install XP Pro later, as it came with XP Media. Had to remove a scad of trash software (like Office 2003 student with 60 day trial, NERO OEM, etc) and reload with full versions. The usual stuff. It is always nice to start up a new clean machine, but a headache with loading. Am still in the throes of loading tmpgenc, dvd2avi, etc. and getting tmpgenc to recognize everything. It's been several years since I installed everything on the old machine. :?: Is there any software that will show information about both processors while they are running? Just curious, as I will be loading it down as soon as I get my software transferred. Thanks for the advice. :D |
If you just want a graph and some details hit ctrl+alt+delete and bring up XP's task manager. On the performance tab each cpu core should have it's own usage graph. If you want a third party tool you could try PowwwerSoft CPU Monitor which is dual core aware >> download <<
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It seems that you know a little bit about XP, so, some time ago my task manager "lost" all its windows menu and options. Now only popups the process window. I cant change to programs or cpu use, etc. Do you know how can I to repair it? http://www.kvcd.net/forum/viewtopic....asc&highlight= END OT |
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My turn now :) I'm looking for a tiny app to monitor the actual freq that my processor is running. I have a laptop and the CPU can slow down (from 1.6 Ghz to 600 Mhz) to reduce the power used but also to prevent some heat problem. And recently I suspect it to go too often to a lower speed. I want to control that. Anyone knows ? |
Have to admit it is a somewhat daft feature imho, anyways glad I could help :)
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Thanks scrappy. |
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Intel Pentium M Processor 1.6Ghz 599Mhz, 1.00 GB of RAM The cpu's top speed being 1.6Ghz and the current speed being 599Mhz. You have limited control over this feature with Windows via the Power Options applet in control panel, change the scheme from laptop to something else and the cpu wont step down. For more fine grained control you will require a tool from the laptop manufacturer, to let you specify min and max operating speeds, I don't believe there is a general tool available to let you do that though. The cpu should step up though the more strain you put on it. If you want this graphed and some extra information run 'perfmon' via start -> run. Right click on the graph and select Add Counter, under performance object select ProcessorPerformance, the list below will update and an option for '% of maximum frequency' will be shown, select it and hit add, you can add 'processor frequency' too. Highlight it again in the list below the graph and it will show the last speed that was used, the current speed, and the maximum speed as a percentage. ProcessorFrequency will show the info as Mhz rather than a percentage. If ProcessorPerformance isn't listed, choose WMI Objects and add HiPerf Classes, then close the Add Counters window. Right click the graph again and add counters, and the ProcessorPerformance option should be listed now. Note that this only really works with cpu's that have speed throttling ability, if you try it on a normal desktop cpu the options wont be available. |
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http://www.softpedia.com/progScreens...hot-16122.html http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...-Utility.shtml |
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Tricks like the first one given by scrappy : Quote:
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But I will look into all the remainder of both of your post. Thanks. Edit: the last update (for P4) of intel's tool was what I needed. I knew it before but did not remember what it was :). Thanks Pro ans scrappy. |
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