AMD or Intel for graphics work?

Question

My computer has a Sepron 2600+ Socket A CPU with a nVidia FX5200 AGP graphics card. (The mainboard, a K7VTA3, has a 4x AGP slot.)

I find it very slow when dealing with large graphics files (maps mainly). I want to upgrade the computer to handle these graphics files. What should I go for an Athlon or a Pentium CPU? Any suggestions for a graphics card? (Not too expensive.) Would I see much improvement if I were simply to replace my CPU with an Athlon 3000+ or 3200+?

Answer 1

Intel has held the crown for video/heavy graphics work , AMD for gaming, this of cause is all looking to change come the new Conroe chips from Intel.



However despite what the person above says, AMD run cooler than Intel , mhz for mhz although Intel switching to a 65nm architecture has reduced this.



Now to answer your question:



I am assuming you are using a graphics suite like Photoshop etc so the best thing you can do (as you do not suggest how much you would like to spend) is:



CPU: Because your motherboard is SKT A you are limited in the upgrade here so assuming you do not want a new pc we will have to leave this as it is.



Graphics: If you are not looking for gaming performance you will find it helps to get a card with a lot of memory over graphics power. Something like a Nvidia 6200 with 256 of RAM would be fine, but to be honest the 5200 is not what is slowing you down.



Memory: Ideally for heavy graphics work you need lots of RAM , more the better, I recommend 1GB for manipulating big files, this will stop your PC having to use the hard drive as 'virtual memory' which is considerably slower.



HDD: If using Photoshop you can benefit from having 2 hard drives and using 1 for the application i.e. Photoshop and the other for the files and for caching.



Take a read here too http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/perf_basics.html



If, on the other hand you are looking for a new PC, I would recommend waiting until the end of July when intel release their new chips and AMD are reducing all their prices. Then pick up the best you can afford, remembering that for best performance in graphics manipulation you need a fast processor & lots of RAM, the graphics are secondary.



If you were to replace the 2600 with a 3000+ or 3200+ you would see about a 5% increase in performance at best and finding one of these chips would be hard & you would pay over the odds.



Check out reviews on http://tomshardware.co.uk/ of the latest kit to dicover what best suits you.

Answer 2

Follow up with the previous posts:



AMD had the problem with the overheating in their Socket A Days. Whew......... mine would be running at 120F. That has all since changed with their introduction to the Cool 'n Quiet technology. New Intel Chips actually run hotter than the Athlon 64 Chips. I've been a faithful follower of AMD and will not replace AMD because they are cheaper and more honest with their Speed.



As one of the previous quotes mentioned, you should get an Athlon 64. It, however will not fit in your current motherboard. You can purchase a CPU/Motherboard with a 3500+ for $200. You can still use your RAM though not advisable. But a gig of RAM running in a match pair with the lowest CAS is like $80 now. Then also upgrade your video card with a PCI Express. Go to Mwave.com as I have seen they have the cheapest prices for Video Cards. You can sell your old CPU and Mobo and Video Card on ebay. Heck give me an offer and I might buy it. I still have my old Sempron 2100 with a GeForce 2 in my living room.



Best luck on what you decide.

Answer 3

Advantages of AMD

1. AMD has the best gaming processors these daysas they have a larger cache

2. Dual cores (in the X2's and even numbered FX's) talk directly to each other

3. New Athlon chips have a dedicated memory bus, which means that they communicate with the computer's RAM on one line and the rest of the computer on another, rather than having all communication jammed into a single bus.

4. Athlon has adopted Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP) which is a processor-level virus blocker. Intel has plans to use this in the future, but Athlon has it now.

5. Dual core seems to make all the difference .. AMD is leading the pack right now. And, they are cheaper

6.AMD chips use less energy and are cheaper to equilivant Intel chips.







Disadvantages of AMD

1.if you choose AMD you are limited to DDR memory an Intel processor you can use the faster DDR2 memory

2.AMD uses crystal® technology which i love it!! but if you give it hard work for long time the crystals start to burn and you will burn your CPU!!!

3.AMD is less stable



Advantages of Intel

1. People prefer Intel because they are familiar with it and so they have brand loyalty,

2. in an Intel processor you can use the faster DDR2 memory

3. INTEL® uses cabon™ technology which is not bad but if you work on TOO fast and HEAVY proccesing the carbon starts to warm and reduces the CPU REAL time

4. AMD can give you better gaming performance, but since the graphics card is more inportant nowadays, I would go with Intel. Their chips offer better stability.

5.Intel is much more suitable for office applications.



Disadvantages of Intel

1. Latest Intel models are really getting crushed by AMD for gaming

2.on the dual core, the data has to leave the processor to go to the other core.

Answer 4

This is another age old argument.



One thing you should know is that your video card is SERIOUSLY lagging you, but I'm sure you are aware of that. The answer to "what graphics card" Depends on how much you are willing to spend. "tomshardwareguide" and "hardocp" have some pretty good guides for picking the right card for you rbudget.



Depending on what the underlying architecture of the software you are viewing these maps in is, upgrading the cpu may or may not make ANY difference. Some programs are "CPU" dependant, where athlon, opteron, pentium4 does "all the work" whereas other applications [usually more common in games] are very much graphics limited.



I have a client who has a 1 Ghz athlon computer system with 768mb of ram who plays world of warcraft. We recently upgraded her computer by going from an nvidia geforce4 mx-200 video card to a radeon 9600Pro = Her 3d benchmarks in Aquamark went up over 500%, yet.. ALL I did was change video card.



Without knowing what program you are using, I can't tell you if it's graphics card intensive, or cpu intensive. Heck, it could be DISK limited if its, say.. Microsoft Streets & Trips, for example.





On another note, the argument that amd is cheaper & faster is NOT valid anymore.



I'll do a quick comparison, right now (07/02/2006)

an "Intel Pentium D 930" processor can be purchased for ~$175 us dollars

That cpu is 64 bit, 3.0 Ghz, dual core (two 3.0 ghz cores) with 2 megabytes of cache memory on each core.



Whereas, RIGHT NOW, the cheapest dual core "Athlon X2" cpu you can buy from amd is :

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ = $300

This cpu is 64 bit, 2.0 Ghz, dual core (two 2.0 Ghz cores) with 512K (1/2 a megabyte) cache memory on each core.





So. compare

................Intel vs Amd

Price : $175 vs $300

64 bit? Yes vs Yes

Core Speed : 3,000 Mhz vs 2,000 Mhz (intel is 50% more in frequency)

Cache : 4mb total vs 1 mb total.





I know, and agree, that amd processors do more per clock cycle, but they do NOT perform 50% faster, clock for clock, nor do they perform 71% faster to justify the price difference that AMD CHARGES over intel.



Which sounds faster? "6 ghz total power with 4mb cache" or "4 ghz total power with 1mb cache"



Shouldn't the 4 ghz option with 25% of the cache cost, at the very least, around the same amount? not "almost double"?

Answer 5

The processor won't matter much for large-scale imaging you are better off just upgrading the processor slightly but going to maybe an Athlon 64 2800+ and then upgrading the Video Card more to maybe an nVidia 5900 or higher. Also you might just be low on RAM if you have less than 512MB you might consider just upgrading that.

Answer 6

hi

generally amd is better for graphic works in same price of cpu.

but amd has a problem that i do not know it had bee n solve or not: amd's cpu warm by in works. Intell temperature is lower than amd.

for amd you should take a bigger and powerfull fan.

be succsess.

bye

Answer 7

amd athlon 64000



and u could go for nvidia geforce 6600