Processor Question

[stangdaman]

I'm in the middle of trying to plan out an HTPC build and trying to decide what kind of processor to go with. Since I'm learning about these things on the fly here I thought I'd show two I'm looking at and see if I could get some helpful input on which might be better.

I just happened to be on tigerdirect and noticed these that's the only reason that I'm linking to them.

Intel Pentium D 830 3ghz

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...P4-830%20C

Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4ghz

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...4-4000%20E

Now I'm comparing these two mostly because they are close in price. I am wondering if the dual core is going to have a very significant increase in performance or if the Athlon will still hold it's own with that. I've seen only one comparison online and it looked like it did alright. I do a fair amount of multitasking and I know that my current system, which is much older then both of these, struggles a bit with it. I'm also wondering if even though the Pentium is cheaper because it's going to run hotter if I'm actually going to end up spending more money to cool it then the Athlon.

In general I'm also just wondering what the ideal processor is. What will give me good performance without having to sell my first born child to get it?

[tek]

nice prices on both those, with the rebates...but if you're going to get an intel processor there's no reason not to get the 'core 2 duo', which i think is a generation newer than the chip you're looking at. big improvements over all the amd and intel chips before that.

so i guess personally i'd be looking at AMD Athlon 64 X2 (AM2) 3800

or the Intel Core 2 Duo (775) 1.8 ghz

but i think the core 2 duo has been sweeping up in all the benchmarks and reviews. i've been and amd guy for years but if i bought a rig today, i might go intel.

they're both another 100 bucks tho, over those other chips. so i guess you have to decide what you need and whats in your budget.

[wannabepvr]

Might be worth also considering cooling and therefore specific power consumption.
I think the X2 4000 is a 65W chip. Not sure about the 830D.

[stangdaman]

ahh I hadn't looked at the x2 4000. I was looking at the x2 3800 but wasn't sure if the clock speed would be high enough for certain applications. Specifically mpeg editing and conversion and things like that. I had looked at the core 2 duo as well I mostly looked at the Pentium D 830 because of the deal that was running on it. While it wouldn't kill me to spend a little more on the processor I know that I can get a little carried aways sometimes so I'm trying to keep my spending tendencies roped in.

Here is one of the comparisons that I found that has just about all of the ones I've looked at so far. The problem I'm having is that none of them beats the others hands down so I really haven't seperated anything. I'm actually finding more options rather then narrowing things down.

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/cp...3524426__3

[SFX Group]

Personally i never use anything other then Intel and intel chipsets. Theres a very high stability issues here, what i say is MY view as this will start arguments...

Windows is X86 technology, GBPVR uses the .NET frame work also based and written on x86 system, the ONLY x86 system in CPUs is Intel (as they designed it).

This means AMD copy this, i personally will only ever use Intel CPUs and Intel chipsets (never SiS or Via), my PVR never crashes ever, with a PVR150 card installed.

Something has to be said for that (and i only use Kingston RAM as well which is lifetime warranty).

As for your questions, the Pentuim D does NOT have hyper threading but does have a dual core, in back to back tests with a the newer 1066bus stuff it did outpace it with math intensive stuff, now weather MPG2 encoding would utilise this sort of power is beyond me and would need to be tested but the Pentuim D lower price might just spark it for me over the speed.

However i would buy a board that can do the Pentuim D and the newer 1066 CPUs speeds so you can change later.

Notice though i never mentioned AMD, its just not a street i walk down when it comes to Windows.

[herbs]

I use intel processors (approx 2000 pcs) only at work (well all except for few specialised areas) and intel motherboards and they are fairly reliable but they are no better than AMD in that respect. The motherboards are fine but its the onboard stuff that goes and has compatablity problems especially onboard nics and soundcards. If you go for new chipsets expect problems until a few firmware and hardware revisions in. I would avoid the 820D due to amount of heat it kicks out.
To counteract SFX group I have an amd/uli gbpvr machine that had an uptime of over 3 weeks (inbetween hibernating) and it was only rebooted for windows update. I think its more relevant to choose your components carefully not to become a fanboy. At home I have all amd setups, if I were to buy now I would buy the Intel core2duo its the best for the money, performance and heat wise.

[stangdaman]

Any other places I should be looking to compare prices? I've mostly been looking at tigerdirect, pcalchemy and newegg.

[wtg]

Any other places I should be looking to compare prices? I've mostly been looking at tigerdirect, pcalchemy and newegg.

For comparison shopping from US suppliers, check out pricewatch.com. There's no one place that pulls together prices like this site, and it's no nonsense format makes it really fast too for checking out different options. Been using it for years.