I'm comparing the Pentium D 3.0ghz 2MB processor against the amd X2 3800+. Out of the two which one will perform faster in general, as in gaming,encoding,etc.? Thanks.

If you OC the Pentium D to around 3.5GHZ it will probably match a stock 3800 X-2 in gaming, and be faster in alot of other Apps...OC the X-2 to 2.5GHZ and it will beat the OC'd Pentium D in gaming!

But you are looking at 300$ vs 120$ (Before price cuts!) so Intel wins on price alone

At completely stock, the X-2 wins for gaming if OC'ing is not in your plans.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.ht...=70&model2=322

Make sure you get the new series "Pressler" Pentium D, not the older Smithfield core (8 series) cause that older version was a real slug!

Tom's is Intel biased, I think other sights would show the AMD a bit farther ahead..I think he does everything he can to sway it in Intel's favor..they about burst waiting for Conroe so they could go back to tooting Intle's horn..there title for review was kinda funny and say it all.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/...out_athlon_64/

Take a look at the next round of price cuts for AMD, they were just released.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3361

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 I'm comparing the Pentium D 3.0ghz 2MB processor against the amd X2 3800+. Out of the two which one will perform faster in general, as in gaming,encoding,etc.? Thanks.

Is the Pentium D the 930 or 830 model? Also, are you overclocking?

I haven't tried the 3800 X2, but I own a 930 pentium D
Benching it with SiSoft Sandra generally gave me worse results across the board than the 3800 x2 (mind you the 3800 results were on sisoft's testbed) - I had to have the pentium D overclocked a fair bit to match the AMD - and needed extra cooling....

Out of the box, I'd recommend the AMD.

EDIT: The big decider on performance for the intel is the speed of DDR2 that you run (and the chipset on the motherboard) - this will affect the pricing.
Running DDR2-667 low latency corsair RAM gave similar bandwidth to Sisoft's 3800 with DDR400
I'd personally recommend either an intel 955X or 975X chipset motherboard and at least DDR2-667
(haven't tried the Nvidia chipset - can anybody else recommend it?)

Price them up and see how they compare

X2 all the way! Unless you do some massive overclocking on the P4 and with the heat that it going to give from clocking you will need water! LOL Go amd... or wait for the conroe and get the E6600 and you wont be sorry! Just my 2 cents!





Matt

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterP Is the Pentium D the 930 or 830 model? Also, are you overclocking? I haven't tried the 3800 X2, but I own a 930 pentium D Benching it with SiSoft Sandra generally gave me worse results across the board than the 3800 x2 (mind you the 3800 results were on sisoft's testbed) - I had to have the pentium D overclocked a fair bit to match the AMD - and needed extra cooling.... Out of the box, I'd recommend the AMD. EDIT: The big decider on performance for the intel is the speed of DDR2 that you run (and the chipset on the motherboard) - this will affect the pricing. Running DDR2-667 low latency corsair RAM gave similar bandwidth to Sisoft's 3800 with DDR400 I'd personally recommend either an intel 955X or 975X chipset motherboard and at least DDR2-667 (haven't tried the Nvidia chipset - can anybody else recommend it?) Price them up and see how they compare

It's the 930 Pentium D, and i probabaly will overclock which ever cpu i decide to get. I'm also looking for a good water cooling system for around 100-200$, can anyone recommend a decent setup?

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 It's the 930 Pentium D, and i probabaly will overclock which ever cpu i decide to get. I'm also looking for a good water cooling system for around 100-200$, can anyone recommend a decent setup?

The intel will hit high OC's on stock cooling, but stability is dependant on the mobo and RAM (you'll be in the region of 50-60C at 3.6-3.8GHz)

or actually it may be the 940 version i was looking at. What's the difference between the 820,930,940,950. I was just wondering why there is so many different numbers lol.

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 or actually it may be the 940 version i was looking at. What's the difference between the 820,930,940,950. I was just wondering why there is so many different numbers lol.

The 8XX series are based on intel's 85nm architecture - they use more power and run hotter.

The 9 series are 65nm ones - cooler and less power consumption.
The numbering is as follows:
930 - 3.0GHz, 800FSB
940 - 3.2GHz, 800FSB
950 - 3.4GHz, 800FSB
955 - 3.4GHz, 1066FSB, Hyperthreading enabled (shows up as 4 logical cores) - "extreme edition" with unlocked multiplier
960 - 3.6GHz, 800FSB
965 - 3.73GHz, 1066FSB, Hyperthreading enabled (shows up as 4 logical cores) - "extreme edition" with unlocked multiplier

with how they OC, you'd be better going for the 930 and saving the money to pump into a good mobo/ram setup

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterP The 8XX series are based on intel's 85nm architecture - they use more power and run hotter. The 9 series are 65nm ones - cooler and less power consumption. The numbering is as follows: 930 - 3.0GHz, 800FSB 940 - 3.2GHz, 800FSB 950 - 3.4GHz, 800FSB 955 - 3.4GHz, 1066FSB, Hyperthreading enabled (shows up as 4 logical cores) - "extreme edition" with unlocked multiplier 960 - 3.6GHz, 800FSB 965 - 3.73GHz, 1066FSB, Hyperthreading enabled (shows up as 4 logical cores) - "extreme edition" with unlocked multiplier with how they OC, you'd be better going for the 930 and saving the money to pump into a good mobo/ram setup

Ohh ok, thanks for the info.

If you have waited this long, you might wanna hang on just a bit longer...don't forget DX-10 is coming with Vista..so if you did get a Conroe and PCIE, the card will be once again behind the curve by early next year.

For now if you must upgrade, just get an inexpensive AMD 939 board (75$)and a 100$ CPU..or try and find a deal like this for AMD

http://forums.pcapex.com/deals_and_s...m_d_805_2.html

Id say go for this, but then you would need DDR-2!

Be careful of the motherboard you choose...I just had a hard lesson in motherboard/cpu support. Don't just rely on the motherboard manufacturer's website to see if your proc is supported, check with Intel or AMD's websites, as well as other forums.

I can vouch for the Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe mobo NOT supporting the Pentium D 940 out of the box.

I would recomend going for a conroe when it comes out but if thats too expensive I would wait till the 24th for the AMD price drops and that should allow you to pick up an X2 3800 for around ~$150-$160.

ADD: Heres a table that will give you the exact price drops for all the amd processors. If I were you I would probably go for an AM2 socket though especially since the end cost will be the same.

If you are looking to overclock and run apps fast. Go with the Pentium D. If you can afford a GOOD X2 and play alot of games go with the X2. I have read alot about both. I havent found many forums or chatlogs talking about these 2 processors against eachother. No matter wat ther both dual core and you wont go wrong either way. So now the decision is up to u.