How much of a differnece? Pentium 4 1.6GHz - PenD 2.8GHz?

[Denvers Dawgs]

Currently I have a Pentium 4 1.6GHz computer. I'm curious how much faster/efficient the dualcore Pentium D 2.8GHz processor would be? I see that it is only 2.8GHz, I haven't really figured out yet how dualcore works?

If I had a P4 3.6GHz, would the PentD 2.8 really be that much faster and more efficient?

[Faustus]

Dual Cores have 2 cpus in them so you'd be running two cpus at that speed each.

Keep in mind dual cpu speed translation isn't exactly like having 2 full cpus. Yet any application that is multithreaded should see a huge improvement.

2.8ghz alone is much faster to me then a 1.6. A dual core would make it a beast of a machine if you added enough ram.

[Denvers Dawgs]

thanks....Yea I think I'd be going with 1GB Ram to start off with

[rallynavvie]

thanks....Yea I think I'd be going with 1GB Ram to start off with

That's all the memory you need for most anything.

What are you doing with this new rig? The choice between the 3.6 P4 and the 2.8 PD really depends on what you're using it for most of the time. If you spend the majority of your time on it encoding (using TMPGEnc or Premiere for example), using other SMP-aware apps (like most of the Adobe design and video suite, some CAD applications, etc.), or REALLY multi-tasking then the 2.8 PD will do you well. If you're gaming on that machine a lot the 3.6 P4 is going to cook the 2.8 PD in performance. You can also enable HT on the 3.6 P4 if you aren't gaming on it and do some multi-tasking with office applications and the like.

I actually don't understand the dual-core market just yet. It's cheaper than a proper SMP platform but not as versatile. I think it's actually a marketing thing for the most part now since very few consumer applications support multiple CPUs. HOPEFULLY, and I really am hoping, the dual-core market will push the software developers into making more applications SMP-aware. Unless you have the proper use for it you're buying into that hope of seeing more support for them in the future, much like those who bought Athlon 64s back when they were first coming out.

Have you also considered which board you're going to upgrade to?

[ROF]

Currently I have a Pentium 4 1.6GHz computer. I'm curious how much faster/efficient the dualcore Pentium D 2.8GHz processor would be? I see that it is only 2.8GHz, I haven't really figured out yet how dualcore works?

If I had a P4 3.6GHz, would the PentD 2.8 really be that much faster and more efficient?

It's faster, consumes less power, throws off less heat, and is much more efficient. Gaming will see a significant benefit from the Pentium D when compared to a single core. Your OS will load faster, your applications will show significant improvement even those that currently do not take advantage of dual core processing. Plus, when Vista comes out your new system will be able to take advantage of the technology built into this OS. At the current pricings I'm steering everyone who visits away from single cores and into dual core processing for newer systems.

Processing speed by itself is not a good measurement of todays computing experience. Once you experience the power of dual cores you can truely understand what I mean.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I do some photoshop, TMPGEnc, Shrink, multi-tasking, not a PC game though, only console.....sounds like I should go PentD...

[rallynavvie]

It's faster, consumes less power, throws off less heat, and is much more efficient. Gaming will see a significant benefit from the Pentium D when compared to a single core. Your OS will load faster, your applications will show significant improvement even those that currently do not take advantage of dual core processing. Plus, when Vista comes out your new system will be able to take advantage of the technology built into this OS. At the current pricings I'm steering everyone who visits away from single cores and into dual core processing for newer systems.

Processing speed by itself is not a good measurement of todays computing experience. Once you experience the power of dual cores you can truely understand what I mean.

You're perpetuating the myth. I guess you bought in to the marketing of it all too.

The "rated" clock for each core in a PD is there for a reason, to give you an idea of how it is supposed to stack up to the other chips in simple clock speeds. Granted with Intels you have to look harder to find the clock for a given chip but it's still there on the white papers, and AMD still publishes their naming schema with a "PR clock rating" to give you something to guage upon. When it comes to simple processor-intensive processes, such as software video encoding for instance, the architecture of the processor is not so important. For instance for the simple task of encoding video a faster clocked Celeron will perform better than a P4 as long as all the extended instruction sets are the same. Bus speeds are irrelevant for such tasks, and so certainly is HT. Each of those highlights has their purpose though, they didn't create them for nothing.

The fact that you would think a 2.8 PD would game better than a 3.6 P4... wow. I guess that means my dual 3.06 workstation must game pretty damn well too. I mean it is built around Intel's best chipsets to date, the 875 paired with the 6300ESB, but the only way I benefit when gaming is if I'm running a LOT of background tasks that the other CPU can handle while I'm gaming. The OS doesn't really drag that much and most other applications meant to run in the background are usually optimized to not take a toll on your system resources. These dual-core systems resemble SMP a lot more than they do a single-processor system, I have years of experience (frustration, mostly) of dealing with the world of multiple CPUs

DD: It sounds like in your case the PD would be the chip of choice. Have you thought about what board you're going to build off of yet? Have a spending limit for this project? The latest PCI-E chipset Asus board is looking really great, but it's pretty pricey. For what you're doing you wouldn't need SLI at all unless you do a lot of CAD/3D work and want to spend big $$$ on dual Quadros or some such.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Well unfortunately I neither have time/or experience to build my own computer. At some point in my life I may get around to it but for now I'm just get another HP desktop....I know people are going to bash me, but it's so much easier and less aggrevation for me to just go to BB, CC, or CompUsa and buy one. Thanks for all your input....

[Super Warrior]

Currently I have a Pentium 4 1.6GHz computer. I'm curious how much faster/efficient the dualcore Pentium D 2.8GHz processor would be? I see that it is only 2.8GHz, I haven't really figured out yet how dualcore works?

If I had a P4 3.6GHz, would the PentD 2.8 really be that much faster and more efficient?

If your thinking of upgradeing, before you do anything: consider that your Pcs current motherboard may be a bit old and not able to use a dualcore Pentium D or even a normal pentium 4 at the 3.6GHz range.

[Super Warrior]

Well unfortunately I neither have time/or experience to build my own computer. At some point in my life I may get around to it but for now I'm just get another HP desktop....I know people are going to bash me, but it's so much easier and less aggrevation for me to just go to BB, CC, or CompUsa and buy one. Thanks for all your input....

Building your own Pc is easy as hell to do, any moron could do it LOL. Nicer as you also get to customize and build the exacte kinda Pc you need without all the extra fluff that you'd never use.

Cheaper too as you can browse the web and select each part at the best prices. Plus you can be proud of your "creation" when it is all done.

Built my last 3 Pcs,includeing my current one

[ROF]

Building your own Pc is easy as hell to do, any moron could do it LOL. Nicer as you also get to customize and build the exacte kinda Pc you need without all the extra fluff that you'd never use.

Cheaper too as you can browse the web and select each part at the best prices. Plus you can be proud of your "creation" when it is all done.

Built my last 3 Pcs,includeing my current one

You ain't kidding their cheaper. Plus you get what you pay for not what some company generically spews forth. I'd have to say the latest line of processors and heatsinks have made assembly a snap. I just finished installing the OS on a socket 754 AMD Athlon 64. I like not having to use a screwdriver for leverage anymore on the heatsink clamps. The frame around the socket also makes placement of the heatsink EZ.

Fun stuff.

[budz]

Building your own Pc is easy as hell to do, any moron could do it LOL. Nicer as you also get to customize and build the exacte kinda Pc you need without all the extra fluff that you'd never use.

Cheaper too as you can browse the web and select each part at the best prices. Plus you can be proud of your "creation" when it is all done.

Built my last 3 Pcs,includeing my current one

You ain't kidding their cheaper. Plus you get what you pay for not what some company generically spews forth. I'd have to say the latest line of processors and heatsinks have made assembly a snap. I just finished installing the OS on a socket 754 AMD Athlon 64. I like not having to use a screwdriver for leverage anymore on the heatsink clamps. The frame around the socket also makes placement of the heatsink EZ.

Fun stuff.

Yesterday I just installed a AMD SEMPRON socket 754 and it was so darn easy to not having to use a screwdriver. 8 years ago I knew nothing about computers. I learned to build computers from reading on the internet and from others at forums like this. HP, DELL all install programs you'll probably never use. It's bloated ware that takes up so many resources.

[rallynavvie]

You think trying to get at that single Socket A HSF connector was tough? Try getting at the two of them right next to each other with big Thermalright heatsinks on them!
If I ever have to take the Tiger apart again I think I'd rather just sell the pieces rather than try to put the two Athlon MPs back on again

But the DH800 the big Swiftechs just screw right into 4 "standoffs" that come through the board. I'd say the hardest part about computer construction these days is getting jumpers and BIOS settings correct on your own. That and choosing the right parts (so many people are tempted to cheap out on parts). The actual assembly has become so easy now. Power/data cables each have their own different style connectors so that they can only be put on in one way. Jumpers can still cause noobies a lot of grief but there is so much support for all the good boards out there that you can just join a forum and have folks in the know walk you through it.

But if you don't want to tackle it that's fine. The prices of OEMs are coming down quite a bit, but I've noticed they're really scrimping in the memory and PSU departments. A coworker got an HP system for an HTPC and I was helping her set it up and found that it was only using a single stick of memory, but in order to reach the 800 FSB speeds on the P4 that was in it you need two sticks running for dual-channel to support the bus speeds. It was basically running as a 400 FSB chip and don't even know what it was clocked back to. Replaced it with a couple of good sticks of PC3200 I had laying around and she was set. I couldn't believe they'd hobble a computer like that though.

[budz]

Whoas! @getting at the two of them right next to each other with big Thermalright heatsinks on them.

The SWIFTECH heatsink for socket 462 is easy to install compared to conventional AMD 462 HSF but you gotta use a VANTEC TORNADO fan that sounds like a freaking clothes dryer.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Just saw this deal, HP Media Center m7250n Photosmart Desktop Computer With Intel® Pentium® D Processor 820 Operating At 2.8GHz for$630 or $580 with $50 MIR with $50 MIR

Anyone already have one, or know if this is worth getting to use for multi-tasking w/ dvd-editing/photoshop/internt/e-mail/iTunes/

or should I just get a P4 HT?

I am going to be buying in-store PC's not building my own.....

[Faustus]

As long as it has both a good ammount of RAM and either a good video card OR an AGP slot so one can be added later it sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

[Denvers Dawgs]

As long as it has both a good amount of RAM and either a good video card OR an AGP slot.

Here's what it has: HP Media Center m7250n

-Intel Pentium D dual-core processor 820 operating at 2.8GHz

-800MHz frontside bus

-built-in TV tuner (Not sure type/brand?)

-1.0GB of PC2-3200 DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 512MB), upgradeable to 4GB

-ATI Radeon X300 SE PCI-E graphics card with 128MB video memory and TV out

-2MB L2 cache (2 x 1MB)

-7 USB 2.0 ports (3 front, 4 back)

-2 FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports (1 front, 1 back)

-1 parallel, 1 serial and 2 PS/2 ports

-S-video, composite video and audio inputs (front and back)

-Intel High Definition Audio supporting up to 7.1-channel surround sound

-available slots (no mention of an AGP slot?)
PCI Three (one available)
PCI Express One (occupied)
DIMM Four (two available)

[Faustus]

Sounds good. X300 is pretty weak if you want to play games but its a PCI Express so you can upgrade it at will.


I forgot to mention that PCI Express was good also in my original post.


Got a link for this deal? Its pretty sweet.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I don't play PC games so there is no problem there. Here is a link.
HP Media Center m7250n @ Office Depot for $580 after MIR (in-store Only)

[Faustus]

I don't play PC games so there is no problem there. Here is a link.
HP Media Center m7250n @ Office Depot for $580 after MIR (in-store Only)

In that case its a sweet deal. I'd go for it myself if I hadn't just purchased a laptop.

[rallynavvie]

I'm curious as to why most OEM HTPCs are using dual-core processors. Unless you're putting TMPGEnc on there to convert down your recorded TV that extra core doesn't offer you much with Media Center. I have Media Center running on my dual Athlon machine and I have to find something to tie up the other processor. I found you can't really use two displays with MCE where one is running the MCE app and the other using other Windows programs. Multitasking is kinda hard when the MCE app's controls always want to interfere with your keyboard and mouse controls.

[greymalkin]

edit...ack! this is a media center pc, not regular xp.

[Faustus]

Nothing wrong with Media Center computers. It has standard XP Home functions.

[ROF]

I'll second that. there is nothing wrong with Media Center XP. In some cases it's better than any other version of windows.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Ok well I think I'm going to shy away form the PentiumD and get one with a Pentium 4 3.4 or.6 GHz w/HT. Seems that it would do me best for what I'm going to be using it for. Would you recommend I go Regular XP version or MCE xp version?

[Faustus]

MCE if your gonna use its functions. (meaning PVR on the computer) otherwise MCE has no use. Its just XP Home with the PVR software built in.

[Denvers Dawgs]

your a good man Faustus

[rallynavvie]

HOWEVER if it's a choice between XP Home and XP MCE I would take MCE since it is built on the XP Pro core. In fact it is, for all practical purposes, XP Pro with the Media Center application added. The only difference I'm aware of is you can't change domains without things getting complicated, but for the majority of us that's not even an issue.