New Gaming / Multitasking Machine - Which Athlon CPU?

[Magnusfarce]

I work out of a home office and want to build a new machine that will allow
significant multitasking, but I also want to get into gaming. (Some of the
new games just look too good to ignore.) While money is still somewhat of
an object, I can afford to get the components I need. Because this machine
is used primarily for business, reliability is the overwhelming factor.
That probably rules out overclocking and such, so assume that I will run
everything as stock (for now anyway, heh heh). I've built a number of
systems and know the basics, but bleeding edge stuff is pretty new to me.

After some research, I am leaning very heavily toward the Abit Fatal1ty AN8
board. I've got four 512mb sticks of Mushkin SP3200 memory that I plan to
set up in dual mode. I'll probably go with one or two Raptors (non-Raid)
plus some older ATA drives for data storage. Finally, I will upgrade to a
high quality SLI-ready 500w PSU (will 500 be enough?)

I'm building this machine with at least moderate upgradability in mind. I
will probably start out with a single video card, but may immediately go
with paired cards to get the most out of the system for gaming. Haven't yet
gotten around to studying video card options yet.

OK, finally a question: I'm hung up on the processor choice. Am I better
off going with the Athlon 64 Dual Core, which should be better for
multitasking, or the FX, which should be better for gaming? I guess
another way to ask this is, does either one of these CPU's do both gaming
and multitasking particularly well?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

- Magnusfarce

 

[Marc Hulsebosch]

Finally, I will upgrade to a high quality SLI-ready 500w PSU (will 500 be enough?)

OK, finally a question: I'm hung up on the processor choice. Am I better
off going with the Athlon 64 Dual Core, which should be better for
multitasking, or the FX, which should be better for gaming? I guess
another way to ask this is, does either one of these CPU's do both gaming
and multitasking particularly well?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

- Magnusfarce

If you take AMD's X2 4800, it should do just fine in games. Though a
FX-57 is faster in single core applications, an X2 gets rid of anything
but the game by simply putting it on a different core.

For the PSU: Make sure it is really high quality, and you will even have
enough if you buy just 450 (but that isn't much of a difference.

For the graphics card: I guess you should take an XFX Geforce 7800GTX.
XFX because they overclock their cards a little, so they are still
stable but a little faster.

Marc

 

[Magnusfarce]

Thanks for the response. My mistake, I hadn't actually priced the FX, which
at nearly $900, is outside my price range. Looks like I'll be settling for
something in the sub-$400 range instead, like maybe the X2 3800+. How would
this CPU be for gaming? Using it, could I ever justify a single high end
card or a dual video card setup?

- Magnusfarce

 

[Kate Fisher]

Ive read the X2 3800 is like the 64 bit 3200 cpu. But once you go X2
you wont want to go back. Windows glides

 

[Marc Hulsebosch]

Thanks for the response. My mistake, I hadn't actually priced the FX, which
at nearly $900, is outside my price range. Looks like I'll be settling for
something in the sub-$400 range instead, like maybe the X2 3800+. How would
this CPU be for gaming? Using it, could I ever justify a single high end
card or a dual video card setup?

- Magnusfarce

The 3800 has less cache, 512KB in every core, instead of 1MB. That might
be a little slower, and it is why everybody wants a 3600 or 4000. It
won't be a really big problem, and you will be able to play games
without any problems.

It will be a great overclock CPU, and even though you won't do that (for
now anyway, heh heh ), it might be an advantage later.

Marc