Fastest Multimedia PC

[Nitestick]

if you get an Intel mobo get a 965 series chipset because the 975x won't be compatable with the up and coming conroe. look up benchmarks man while it is true that in single core processors Intel is most definitely still king of video editing its not true of dual cores. the opteron 180 i think beats all the dual core Intel's except for the 955 Extreme Edition in most video editing. the 955EE has hyper threading and a clock speed of 3.73ghz which works to its advantage but it is significantly more expensive. definitely don't even bother with the 840EE as for some strange reason it doesn't even always outperform the standard 840

 

[thecubemonkey]

Nitestick - You are correct...it looks like I could save about $300 - $400 by going with the Opteron.

BUT, since Adobe Premier Elements seems to have some issues with some AMD processors (still trying to see if the Opteron will work with Adobe Premier Elements) I don't want to be stuck with a processor where I might be limited on software. Since I will mostly be doing multimedia instead of gaming, I'd hate to get "stuck" if I want to purchase the newest Adobe product a year from now only to find out it doesn't work with AMD.

With Intel, I'm almost guaranteed that all software will work (okay..I know nothing in life is 100%).

Trust me, I'd LOVE to save $400. I could use the money for other components. Can anyone on this board put my mind at ease if I go with the AMD Opteron 180?

Thanks,
TCM

 

[Nitestick]

well i have no idea about the issue you are reporting you heard about opterons and adobe premier but maybe in the multimedia sections you could ask for people using opterons and adobe. i'm pretty sure it may not be related to the fact they are using opterons at all as i have never heard of an issue remotely like this. well failing that you could get an X2 4800+ which would perform identically to the opteron 180 just wouldn't be quite as "tough" if you know what i mean. the x2 4800+ is also cheaper than the opteron 180.

 

[thecubemonkey]

I just found some other benchmarks. The site compared the AMDs but not the Opteron directly. In most tests the AMD performed better (even in video)

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/319/1/

However, I'm getting skiddish about going with AMD. Perhaps the Intel marketing muscle has me in a headlock but I can't really go wrong with Intel. The reviews are excellent for the 965 (despite the price). It be different if it were a cr@p cpu but it looks excellent. I know almost 100% of all software I ever buy will work or even be optimized for the Intel CPU. With AMD, I'm not so sure.

I'm strongly leaning to Intel now. Sorry guys. I don't mean to dissapoint all of you.

 

[john3]

I'd definitely go with the AMD, specifically the Opteron 180. Those rumors you heard about Adobe premier not being 'compatible' is bull, go to forums where people use AMD you'll see that it was bull. How can one of the most expensive CPUs not be compatible with a mid class video editing program? i highly doubt it, its probably some n00b who had no idea what he was doing and screwed up bad, i cant see any other option.

 

[The General]

I have a $4,000 budget but about $1000 of that will go to an LCD flat panel. So that leaves $3,000 for the whole PC. So, if I drop $1000 on the CPU that leaves $2000 for everything else. Think I can make it?? I assume I should put most of my $$ in the processor? From there, I assume the video card would be next?

you're going to do video editing on an LCD?

dont expect very high quality... LCD have really bad color representation, blacks are actually grey, and whites are actually off white. you should think anout getting a 24" CRT for half the price, twice the quality. then you can put that extra dough into a faster system :-D

 

[Nitestick]

it is not true about compatability issues i am telling you!!!