Building the Perfect Beast: The CPU

After I post this I suspect interest will die off, because after the CPU choice, what’s the point? Actually, there are a lot of really good parts left, so stay tuned. You can have a great processor and still have a crappy machine. There are a several bottlenecks in each system that holds it back. I’ve been going around and around with this choice in my head for quite awhile. True I want a game machine that flies, but I also burn CD, DVDs, work with mp3s, make movies and run work applications. So I had to strike a balance. For PCs, you only really have to choices Intel or AMD. Intel makes good stable chips and when used with an Intel motherboard you get rock stable performance. There is a downside, Intel chips run hotter and use more power. Intel still keeps pushing clock cycles as the selling point, with speed between 3.7-4.0 Ghz. Which is going to bite them in the butt one day. (Isn’t physics a bitch.) AMD processors use less power and run cooler, but you really have to look at the labels. AMD CPUs run between 1.7 to 2.8 GHz, but the packages are labeled with numbers between 1400 and 4800. An AMD 4400 at 2.4 Ghz process runs like a Intel CPU running at 4.4 Ghz, at least that what AMD wants you to believe. I’m current running an AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1400, so anything is an upgrade. I’ve been looking at AMD and Intel Product site for months. Finding information is like pulling teeth from a gator. Both companies like to only compare their processors to the other models in their class, which is almost useless. Enter my new favorite geek site: Tom’s Hardware. This site has CPU, Video Cards and Hard Drive comparisons. I decided to stick with AMD. I‘ve been banging my head about three choices: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ ($350), AMD 64 X2 4800 Dual Core ($700), and AMD 64 FX – 55 ($900). All the processors are 64-bit and are at least 4 times faster than my Thunderbird. The AMD FX is AMD’s premier gaming processor and kick the crap out of games. The X2 is AMD’s “Dual Core” line. Each chip has two 64-bit processors on a single die. They are smaller that the single chip processor, but the work in tandem. They can even run two applications side-by-side, one on each chip. All the AMD chips multitask, but the X2 line does a better job. I thought about the 4000+, but if I’m going to do this as might I well pull out all the stops. So I drop that choice form the running. After talking with my friends at Neocomputers, I heard AMD is going to drop their prices at the end of this month, when AMD brings out a new line of Processor. After checking today, AMD now ship a FX-60 Dual-Core for $1300 OK, after I wet my pants, I thought about how much time I would be in the doghouse for blowing $1300 on something the size of a large postage stamp. The cost would destroy my budget as well.

After some debate I settled on the AMD 64 X2 “Dual Core” 4800. Although the FX is for gamers, the X2 is just 1-4% slower in games and kick ass doing regular applications. Check out the benchmarks on Tom’s Hardware: DOOM III and Multitasking II test.

As I said earlier, a great processor can run like a dog with bad support components. Once you pick a CPU your choices for motherboards narrow greatly. I need something that supports dual core, but also has PCI-Express, good drive support, and SLI support. Yes, I want the two graphics cards! Asus makes great boards and so does Gigabyte, but only the ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe does everything I want for $200 bucks.

Next Week: Graphics!