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Sharky Extreme : Monthly Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide |
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Monthly Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide |
August Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 2By Ryan "Speedy" Wissman August 22, 2005
Current Cost: $1,020 Intel and AMD have been pushing dual core processors very hard for the last couple of months; but due lower clock speeds and diminished performance in single threaded applications (namely games) we chose to stick with the single core processors for both our Intel and AMD systems. As of right now, the Pentium 4-3.73GHz Extreme Edition is Intel's most powerful single core processor, and offers the best single threaded performance Intel has to offer. The Pentium 4-3.73GHz EE features a massive 2MB L2 cache, full support for 64-bit instructions (Intel EM64T), a 1066 MHz FSB, and Execute Disable Bit support. In Windows XP, this feature enables hardware DEP (Data Execution Prevention) which prevents malicious code from running by performing additional checks on system memory. Additionally, the Pentium 4-3.73GHz EE processor features a 90nm core and is supported under Intel's latest LGA775 PCI Express (1066 MHz) chipsets. The Pentium 4-3.73GHz Extreme Edition is Intel's flagship single core processor, and has very little trouble holding its own against AMD's Athlon 64 FX-57. In media intensive applications such as video encoding and decoding the CPU is even able to pull ahead of AMD's Athlon 64 FX-57, while falling back a bit on the gaming side. The Pentium 4-3.73GHz EE features Intel's LGA775 packaging, 2MB L2 cache, and a bus speed of 1066MHz, giving it all the high-end features necessary for our Intel system configuration.
The Pentium 4-3.73GHz Extreme Edition is priced at a massive $1,020, and occupies over one fourth of our overall budget. While this processor is very expensive, our $4000 budget has more than enough room for this CPU, especially considering its enhanced game performance over standard Pentium 4 processors.
Current Cost: $1,031 As AMD have not produced a dual core chip with the same performance in single threaded applications as their most powerful single core Athlon 64 FX-based chips, we made the tough choice to go with the Athlon 64 FX-57 over the impressive Athlon 64 X2 4800+. Once reason is pure clock speed, as the Athlon 64 FX-57 runs at a healthy 2.8GHz clip, and includes all the latest features included in the new San Diego core. The latest 90nm core adds support for Intel's SSE3 instruction set, and features a revamped memory controller that improves both performance and compatibility. In most applications, the Athlon 64 FX-57 is more than enough to compete with Intel's Pentium 4-3.73GHz Extreme Edition CPU, especially in terms of gaming performance. AMD's Athlon 64 FX-57 features a whopping 1MB of L2, cache, which gives it a nice performance advantage over standard 939-pin Athlon 64 chips which only feature 512K of L2 cache. Additionally, the Athlon 64 FX series also features hardware DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows XP w/SP2, and 3DNow! Professional and SSE3 support, as well as dual-channel DDR400 memory support. Athlon 64 processors can also handle both 32-bit and 64-bit instructions, which will come in quite handy for the newly released Windows XP 64-bit edition as well as Microsoft's upcoming Vista operating system.
The Athlon 64 FX-57 is the highest-clocked AMD processor, and at 2.8 GHz, allows it to perform similarly to the Pentium 4-3.73GHz Extreme Edition we featured on the Intel side, and in most cases even surpass it. Priced at $1031 for the retail edition, it is actually the first time in this guide that an AMD chip has been more expensive than the offering from Intel. The 2.4 GHz Athlon 64 X2 4800+ may not equal the blazing gaming speed of the Athlon 64 FX-57, but its dual core multi-processing and silky smooth multi-tasking make it a superb option for those looking at a more multi-purpose gaming, multimedia and office system.
Current Cost: $57
As processors sport ever-increasing power and thermal requirements, heat dissipation has become a real issue for high-performance systems. There are two cooling options that the enthusiast has to choose from; air or water-cooling, the latter of which is beyond the scope of this guide. The Thermalright XP-120 stays on as our favorite AMD-based heatsink, not only due to its excellent cooling capability, but also for its price and ease of use. The Thermalright XP-120 is a copper and aluminum hybrid heatsink that offers best in class performance for our AMD system. The XP-120 uses an all-aluminum fin design set on top of a nickel-plated copper base, which translates into extremely efficient cooling solution for our Athlon 64 FX-57. The Thermalright XP-120 is universally compatible with a wide range of CPUs including the AMD Athlon XP, 64 and 64 FX CPUs, as well as Intel Pentium 4/Celeron Socket 478 processors. This heatsink features a huge surface area, which provides enough room to fit a massive 120mm fan. Currently, this heatsink is available for about $57, which includes a 120mm fan like the Vantec Stealth.
Current Cost: $62 This month we had a few extra dollars to spend on the Intel side of things so we decided to include the same high performance heatsink featured in our AMD system. The Thermalright XP-120 is compatible with a wide range of processors, and can be used on LGA775 processors if purchased with the correct RM mounting bracket. The mounting clip adds an extra $5 to the price of the heatsink and fan, but is a small price to pay for the added cooling capability over Intel's retail heatsink.
The Thermalright XP-120 is an excellent cooler that can be made even better with a high end 120mm fan. The Vantec Stealth 120mm is our fan of choice for this heatsink, and at $8, the fan doesn't put much of a dent in our $4,000 budget. The Thermalright XP-120 with RM bracket and 120mm Vantec Stealth can be purchased online for about $62.
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