Intel or AMD?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tappy
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Intel chipsets for gaming (for sure).

AMD for everything else that isn't specifically written for an Intel chipset.

Avoid VIA chipset boards. The nForce boards are faster and more stable. VIA has an endless stream of hardware/driver issues, that they resolve by releasing yet another version of the chipset.

All processors run hot. Invest in a heavy duty one (Alpha PAL8045, etc) that mounts to the board using the 4-hole mounting system. Avoid heavy heat sinks that clip to the processor socket. AMD specifies 300 grams max, and the big boys are much heavier than this.

The Asus and ABit nForce boards have the 4-hole mounting system, but many of the nForce boards do not. These two are my personal choice. If you go nForce, be sure to buy two sticks of memory to use the Dual Controller feature. It is free performance built into the nForce chipset. Buy an absolute minimum of 512mb total memory if using XP. A gigabyte is better, and XP will use all of it.

The Panaflo Ultra fans are the highest CFM fans that are still quiet. I use the H1A models satisfactorily with the PAL8045 heat sinks. The H1U higher output fans will cool a bit more.
 
bgavin said:
Intel chipsets for gaming (for sure).

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Listen to yourself! You are saying Intel for CPU intensive programs! Games are the mainstream benchmark for CPU performace.

Well, guess what - DAW apps are just as CPU intensive as games.:rolleyes:
 
Be nice please.

The big advantage to Intel is the compatibility. The VIA and ALi chipsets are just awful for this. The nForce chipsets don't appear to have the problem, but they don't have a long track record yet.

Gaming is particularly sensitive to Intel chipsets, because games are specifically tweaked/hacked to extract the most from the chipset and system. I doubt very much that recording software is hand-optimized to Intel specific chipset functions.

On a scope, Intel chipsets produce better defined wave forms than do the competitors. It is rumored that VIA reverse-engineered the design, rather than license it from Intel. The VIA bugs in the AGP and USB sections are an indication this might be true.
 
bgavin said:


Gaming is particularly sensitive to Intel chipsets, because games are specifically tweaked/hacked to extract the most from the chipset and system. I doubt very much that recording software is hand-optimized to Intel specific chipset functions.
Click to expand...

You should have read up on Cakewalk then. It is a well known fact that they work closely with Intel so their software makes efficient use of Pentium proceessors...
 
You should have read up on Cakewalk then. It is a well known fact that they work closely with Intel so their software makes efficient use of Pentium proceessors...
Click to expand...
It is not the processor that is the issue.
It is the chipset.

Taking your advice and reading up on Cakewalk, I found this quote on the Cakewalk site:
Cakewalk software products are designed to work with any audio hardware that supports standard Windows drivers
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Data transfer coming into the machine from the interface card is under control of the card drivers (WDM, etc). Cakewalk is the recipient of the data after processing by the card. Microsoft most assuredly does not hand-tweak their WDM drivers to a specific chipset, or their product would fail in the larger market.

In fact, Microsoft doesn't write assembler-coded drivers anymore, but uses the Windows DDK kit and their C compiler. I spent years as an ASM coder and device driver writer, and can state without hesitation that hand optimized ASM code will blow the doors off compiled code every time. Most of this is meaningless in the Windows environment anyway, due to the vast amount of overhead and layers of obfuscation that comprises Windows.

I've worked a number of contracts at Intel, and know that nearly every single one of their processors has at least one logic bug. I'm sure the AMD product is similar, but I've not worked at AMD. There is a reason for stepping levels (bug fixes for hardware).

I don't think one can go wrong with either an Intel or nForce chipset, so my next DAW will be constructed with the nForce.
 
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