AMD chip speeds

swordheart

I am thinking of getting a AMD X2 4200+ ( dual core ) chip to replace my current AMD 3200 single core. My question is will i see much difference in the ptime it takes to encode avi's ? or is it that i will be able to say encode and surf the web at same time without any lagging ? + will the difference in speed be worth it ?

bobs

Unless you have an application that has been specifically coded to use multiple threads / processors then you won't notice much of a speed improvement at all. If it has been written to be aware you should get a good improvement, but not twice as fast as the kernel will always take it's share. Also remember that even though you've two processors (in theory), you've still only got the one hard-disk, so anything you run will still be fighting over that. As for concurrency for running two separate apps at the same time, that should be better.

Vampyre

I've got a dual-core AMD64 3800 and that didn't offer any significant improvement when encoding avi's than my old single-core 3200.

However, I was encoding some files a few days ago, forgot I was doing so, and started up a game of Pro Evo 6 (max details, 1400x900) and there was no slowdown whatsoever.

So in terms of it speeding up the encoding, I would say no, but being able to other stuff with no lag, a definte yes! As bobs said, if you can find software that takes advantage of multi-core then I'm sure you would see a vast improvement.

Saboteur

You will see some small speed improvement due to it being a faster processor - however as vampyre says - you will actualy be able to use your computer whilst it encodes an avi :)

Actualy, I just upgraded my games pc with one of these ( it's an older AGP board and this was the max that would fit ), I have to say that his upgrade plus the X1950 cgraphics card has made a world of difference - MOH Airborne flies along.

swordheart

Mmmm, do you mean there are 2 4200 chips inside, or is there 2 2100 chips inside, i have noticed AMD are pretty cheaky when giving speed names to their chips ? i am thinking of upgrading my graphics card as well and my board is an agp one, i want to get the best performance out of the pc because i aint going to be buying another for a very long time and want to get it kitted out while i can still get the components, any ideas on what graphics card i should get that will get the most from my PC.

Its a Shuttle SN95 G5
4200 X2 CPU
2GB 3200 DDR 400 ram
Nvidia 6600GT Graphics Card ( currently )

Scottie_uk

XP SP2 and Windows Vista are both able to denominate processors on a per application basis even if the programs were not written for it.

This means a regular traditionally written application will be devoted to one or the other processors, but not spread over both (XORed).

To spred a single application over multiple processors it needs to be specially written with this in mind. Multi threadded applicartion may be able to take advantage of the multi core technology, however the speed improvements may not be noticable. To speed up an application the workhoarse methods (procedures) will need to be redesigned so that they spread their load over muliple threads, and ensuring that each thread gets placed on a seperate processor.

So as you say this makes it possible to say encode an AVI whilst perfoming other tasks.

In theory I suppose you could encode two AVI's at the same time in seperate applications.

Scottie_UK.

Saboteur

swordheart wrote: »

i am thinking of upgrading my graphics card as well and my board is an agp one, i want to get the best performance out of the pc because i aint going to be buying another for a very long time and want to get it kitted out while i can still get the components, any ideas on what graphics card i should get that will get the most from my PC.

Its a Shuttle SN95 G5
4200 X2 CPU
2GB 3200 DDR 400 ram
Nvidia 6600GT Graphics Card ( currently )

I can heartily recomend the ATI X1950 AGP card - it's currently the best AGP card you can get ( according to Micor Mart ). Mine has 512md of ddr3 ram and I can really wack the detail and resolution up on my PC with no noticicable loss of performance.

psj3809

Upgraded the other month to a dual processor, thought every application would load in seconds and nothing would hang, still get problems like that but i do notice a HUGE difference in burning dvd's. Instead of taking an hour or two it takes about 20 minutes now.

swordheart

psj3809 wrote: »

Upgraded the other month to a dual processor, thought every application would load in seconds and nothing would hang, still get problems like that but i do notice a HUGE difference in burning dvd's. Instead of taking an hour or two it takes about 20 minutes now.

Do u mean encoding them rather than burning them ? what sofware are u using ?

psj3809

Yeah sorry. I use Nero, does the trick and isnt too bad. The encoding is soooo much quicker as it took donkeys ages before.

Vampyre

Scottie_uk wrote: »

In theory I suppose you could encode two AVI's at the same time in seperate applications.

Brilliant! I can't believe I didn't think of that it's so obvious. I'll give it a try with my encoder which generally only takes up about 30% of the CPU time so in theory it's feasible as long as the encoder doesn't apply a MUTEX.

For those thinking of upgrading, Saverstore have got a really good bundle deal on at the moment: dual-core AMD64 4000, motherboard and a Gb of RAM for ?93 inc VAT. I got one and built it for a dev pc at work and it's lightning fast. They also do a Core2Duo alternative for a few quid more.

http://www.saverstore.com/productinfo/Product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=20016493&rstrat=1

Add another Gb of RAM for ?15 (http://www.saverstore.com/productinfo/Product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=20007590&rstrat=1032) and you've got a very decent upgrade. It's got a built in GFX card but it's got a PCI-E slot so you can always get a decent card.