It's new computer time. Joy!
We use our computer for multimedia work - audio, video and still pictures all get edited - and for playing games.
When I first started planning the specs for a new system I was originally attracted toward a P4 chip because of the HT technology making it quicker for multimedia work, and I picked out the 630 as being a decent value chip. However, I've since discovered that prescott-based processors like the 630 overheat very easily so I'm guessing that unless I get a big fat fan in the case I'm going to loose performance thanks to the heat.
I've now found a bit of extra money to spend, and I'm wonder on the value of getting an X2 3800 dual core chip instead. This clearly beats the 630 in every benchmark going, but not by that much, especially with games. Since it's twice the price of the 630 I want to be sure it's worthwhile. So the question is, given it's extra performance in media encoding added to the extra performace we get running multiple applications, is it worth it? Are we likely to see enough dual-core applications coming through in the future to make this a useful case of future-proofing?
EDIT: I suppose that if I do go for the X2 it's more than worthwhile to shell out the extra for winXP pro 64 as well?
Cheers,
Matt
We use our computer for multimedia work - audio, video and still pictures all get edited - and for playing games.
When I first started planning the specs for a new system I was originally attracted toward a P4 chip because of the HT technology making it quicker for multimedia work, and I picked out the 630 as being a decent value chip. However, I've since discovered that prescott-based processors like the 630 overheat very easily so I'm guessing that unless I get a big fat fan in the case I'm going to loose performance thanks to the heat.
I've now found a bit of extra money to spend, and I'm wonder on the value of getting an X2 3800 dual core chip instead. This clearly beats the 630 in every benchmark going, but not by that much, especially with games. Since it's twice the price of the 630 I want to be sure it's worthwhile. So the question is, given it's extra performance in media encoding added to the extra performace we get running multiple applications, is it worth it? Are we likely to see enough dual-core applications coming through in the future to make this a useful case of future-proofing?
EDIT: I suppose that if I do go for the X2 it's more than worthwhile to shell out the extra for winXP pro 64 as well?
Cheers,
Matt