Athlon 64 & Pentium 4 heating?

[Ampersand]

I know I know...this is an age-old question, but...has anyone experienced
heating problems with a Pentium 4 processor? AMD processors used to be
running a lot hotter than Intel's until the recent past, but for the latest
models, Intel's seemed to heat a little more, from what I've read. However,
I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster at equal clock
rate/performance index. Considering the fact that the P4 is a little more
expensive, is it worth it? Will it overheat and burn inside my PC? Thanks!

 

[Cuzman]

Ampersand wrote:

" has anyone experienced heating problems with a Pentium 4 processor? "

That depends what *heating problems* means. The average user who knows
how to attatch a heatsink shouldn't have any problems. If you have an
exhaust fan or two in your case, then it doesn't make too much
difference really.


" However, I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster at
equal clock rate/performance index. "

I'm yet to see a set of gaming benchmarks which suggest that.


" Considering the fact that the P4 is a little more expensive, is it
worth it? "

Depends what you use a PC for. If it's mainly gaming, which you touched
on above, then possibly not.


" Will it overheat and burn inside my PC? "

If you don't know to attatch a heatsink, then there's a great chance it
will.

 

[Mark]

I know I know...this is an age-old question, but...has anyone
experienced heating problems with a Pentium 4 processor?

Well, there are quite a few types of those. A typical 550J, Socket 775,
3.4 Mhz, will run around 40-50 degrees Celcius with the hefty, all-copper,
Zalman cooler (I just did the math, recently, as I am planning to buy a
new machine myself). The high-end EE version of the Intel can become quite
hot, though.

Will it overheat and burn inside my PC?

No. The newer Intel P4 CPUs will 'throttle' back at, I believe, 80 degrees
Celsius, so as not to overheat. A good cooler is advisable. Especially
since your whole system, while your CPU will not burn a hole in your mobo,
will start to experience performance drops when it keeps throttling back
all the time, of course.

The newer Intel P4 CPUs are notoriously well overclockable. But they will
then run much, much hotter, though -- keep that in mind, too.

However,
I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster at equal
clock rate/performance index.

Faster than what? The AMD64? Assuredly not. The AMD64 really kicks ass,
game-wise. It seems, also, that the AMD64's onboard memory managment
really is something the Intel P4 memory solutions have a hard time keeping
up with; bandwidth-wise, that is. In games like Doom3 the Intel P4 really
just pushes less frames through as a result of this alone.

Considering the fact that the P4 is a little more
expensive, is it worth it?

Worth what? Being slower? Running hotter?

Cheers,

- Mark

 

[Mark]

However, I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster
at equal clock rate/performance index.

You may like this link:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

- Mark

 

[kony]

I know I know...this is an age-old question, but...has anyone experienced
heating problems with a Pentium 4 processor? AMD processors used to be
running a lot hotter than Intel's until the recent past, but for the latest
models, Intel's seemed to heat a little more, from what I've read. However,
I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster at equal clock
rate/performance index. Considering the fact that the P4 is a little more
expensive, is it worth it? Will it overheat and burn inside my PC? Thanks!

You're just trolling, right?

If not, Google for these basic things.

 

[GT]

You may like this link:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

Strange results - frame rates hardly dropped when moving from 800x600 to
1280x1024 even though that is almost 3 times the amount of processing!!
According to the test - my processor (XP 2500) managed 55.6 fps at 800x600
and 55.2 fps at 1280x1024.

Is the game really limited by the processor?

 

[Mark]

Strange results - frame rates hardly dropped when moving from
800x600 to 1280x1024 even though that is almost 3 times the
amount of processing!! According to the test - my processor
(XP 2500) managed 55.6 fps at 800x600 and 55.2 fps at 1280x1024.

Is the game really limited by the processor?

Yes. At higher resolutions, the GPU really kicks in. At lower resolutions,
with minimal detail, the game appears CPU-bound; because the effect you're
seeing of hardly any frame difference between low and high resolutions,
lies in the fact that your GPU makes up for the difference in the higher
ones. Were the game not limited by the CPU (its memory subsystem; or
absence thereof, really, in the Intel case), then, at lower resolutions,
you'd expect a significant increase in frame rate, as the GPU has a lot
less to do, of course. The memory throughput really seems to set the
ceiling.

(N.B. Come to think of it, did Doom 3 not lock frames at max 60/s? So, any
surplus your CPU might show by going to a lower res is probably not best
measured by this game). It just goes to show that many of these benchmarks
really need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Cheers,

- Mark

 

[Ampersand]

Well, there are quite a few types of those. A typical 550J, Socket 775,
3.4 Mhz, will run around 40-50 degrees Celcius with the hefty, all-copper,
Zalman cooler (I just did the math, recently, as I am planning to buy a
new machine myself). The high-end EE version of the Intel can become quite
hot, though.


No. The newer Intel P4 CPUs will 'throttle' back at, I believe, 80 degrees
Celsius, so as not to overheat. A good cooler is advisable. Especially
since your whole system, while your CPU will not burn a hole in your mobo,
will start to experience performance drops when it keeps throttling back
all the time, of course.

The newer Intel P4 CPUs are notoriously well overclockable. But they will
then run much, much hotter, though -- keep that in mind, too.


Faster than what? The AMD64? Assuredly not. The AMD64 really kicks ass,
game-wise. It seems, also, that the AMD64's onboard memory managment
really is something the Intel P4 memory solutions have a hard time keeping
up with; bandwidth-wise, that is. In games like Doom3 the Intel P4 really
just pushes less frames through as a result of this alone.


Worth what? Being slower? Running hotter?

Cheers,

- Mark

Yeah but I'm on a tight budget and I was aiming for either the P4 3.0 GHz or
the Athlon 64 3000+. This link suggests the P4 would be quite faster:

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/index.html

Of course I could run my own tests myself but that would be a little costly
I'd use it for a little bit of everything, including games, so let's say
these would be a priority since I probably won't see much difference between
the two when surfing the internet or typing a text.

 

[Ampersand]

Ampersand wrote:

" has anyone experienced heating problems with a Pentium 4 processor? "

That depends what *heating problems* means. The average user who knows
how to attatch a heatsink shouldn't have any problems. If you have an
exhaust fan or two in your case, then it doesn't make too much
difference really.


" However, I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster at
equal clock rate/performance index. "

I'm yet to see a set of gaming benchmarks which suggest that.


" Considering the fact that the P4 is a little more expensive, is it
worth it? "

Depends what you use a PC for. If it's mainly gaming, which you touched
on above, then possibly not.


" Will it overheat and burn inside my PC? "

If you don't know to attatch a heatsink, then there's a great chance it
will.

By the P4 being faster at the same clock speed, I was suggesting this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/index.html

I'm aiming for either a P4 3.0 GHz or an Athlon 64 3000+. Tom's Hardware
seems to suggest that, even in games, the P4 3.0 GHz is marginally faster
than the Athlon 3000+.

 

[General Schvantzkoph]

Yeah but I'm on a tight budget and I was aiming for either the P4 3.0 GHz or
the Athlon 64 3000+. This link suggests the P4 would be quite faster:

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/index.html

Of course I could run my own tests myself but that would be a little costly
I'd use it for a little bit of everything, including games, so let's say
these would be a priority since I probably won't see much difference between
the two when surfing the internet or typing a text.

You posted a link to an old article about the Athlon XP 3200+ which is
obsolete. The Athlon 64 is a different processor entirely. If you are on a
budget may I suggest that you look at a system with a 754 pin Athlon 64
3400+. Get the one with 1M of cache, they also sell a version with a
faster clock and a smaller cache in real life it will be slower. The 3400+
is a real bargain, it's screaming fast and it runs cool enough that the
CPU fans will be off most of the time.

 

[kony]

By the P4 being faster at the same clock speed, I was suggesting this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/index.html

I'm aiming for either a P4 3.0 GHz or an Athlon 64 3000+. Tom's Hardware
seems to suggest that, even in games, the P4 3.0 GHz is marginally faster
than the Athlon 3000+.

So you're planning on buying Socket A based system? Not
such a great value today, unless you went with a slower
(Sempron) instead and performance wasn't the concern.

If not, what point is there is trying to compare a DIFFERENT
CPU family? Compare what you're actually going to buy,
there's not much point in comparing anything else.

 

[Andy]

I know I know...this is an age-old question, but...has anyone experienced
heating problems with a Pentium 4 processor? AMD processors used to be
running a lot hotter than Intel's until the recent past, but for the latest
models, Intel's seemed to heat a little more, from what I've read. However,
I've also heard that, even for games, the P4 was faster at equal clock
rate/performance index. Considering the fact that the P4 is a little more
expensive, is it worth it? Will it overheat and burn inside my PC? Thanks!

Power consumption comparison:

Athlon 64 3000+
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 7000 PCI
160 GB Hard Drive
CD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive
Power Supply: Works W365CN4
Power (CPU 0 - 1 %): 74 Watts; PF: .73
(CPU 100 %): 116 Watts; PF: .72 (DivX 5.2.1: 9 - 10 fps)

Pentium 3.0EG Prescott
Epox EP-4PDA5+
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 7000 PCI
160 GB Hard Drive
CD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive
Power Supply: Works W365CN4
Power (CPU 0 - 1 %): 95 Watts; PF: .71
(HT CPU1+2 56 %): 164 Watts; PF: .71 (DivX 5.2.1: 8 fps)