Thanks

However, the AMD 64 3000 (although no significant difference in speed than an HT P4), was considerably less expensive--for similar throughput. Mine was $299 (two days after the 3,000 came out) versus $540 for a P4 3,000 at the same time. Plus the "potential" for upcoming support in the future (although the difference in price for essentually the same perfomance was the clincher for me--any potential upside within the next 2 years (I usually upgrade every 2 years) will only be a plus).

Chanimal, you are right!!!!!

How about the performance of the AMD 64 3000+? Is this one stable?
Did you put a good CPU cooler on it?

Thanks

Wow,
these thingsa are getting cheaper, even in Pacific Pesos the 3Ghz P4 can be had for $338 and the 3Ghz 800MHz FSB Prescott for $348.
Obviously you should be able to do much better than that in the US!

Maybe it's time for a new (another?) PC for me, encode times are a killer when you've got 100 DVDs to author.

Bob.

What else do you do becauses Vegas? If other programs you use support 64-bit (you DO need a 64-bit OS to get 64-bit fyi), then the AMD 64 might be the way to go.

The next MAJOR upgrae I am planning on is eigther an FX or an Opteron. Yeah, I know it would be overkill, but I only upgrade every 4-5 years, and I want something that will last a while.

Plus, I play games (which some are starting to be designed in 64-bit), & the 64-bit won't hurt anything (the AMD64's are more powerfull in 32-bit then the AMD XP's too), do small amounts of 3d work. And, the FX & Opteron MB's have more features i'd find useful (then i'm FORCED to use a HQ MB instead of a cheap one).

Keep in mind that the only truly Intel compatible processor is an Intel processor. Plus, when running an AMD processor, you are locked out of being able to use the Intel Northbridge and Southbridge chipset. I have a couple of AMD machines and I've found that there are subtle issues when running a chipset other than an Intel, particularly the VIA chipset. For maximum compatibility and stability, I stick with Intel processors and chipsets.

YMMV.

John

i don't like Via chipsets eigther. I like the SIS ones. They work good. But, I've NEVER had a compatibabilty problem with an AMD or Intel.

But, something everyone should know, it will no longer be "intel compatible" for the 64-bit Windows OS. MS is building the home user 64-bit OS based off the AMD chip's, not Intels. So, it will be "AMD compatible" in the next couple of years (MS is still making a special OS for the Itianium chips, but those are 64-bit only. The AMD Compatible will be for the 32/64 AMD/Intel chips & from then on).

I agree. I have never had an incompatability problem with AMD. They might exists, but I've never heard of one.

There have been some concerns about the VIA chipsets, but VIA has always done a great job updating their drivers (or they would die), plus their 2nd releases have historically been much better. I've seldom had a first release VIA on my motherboard (fortunately), since they have released updates as soon as 2-3 months later when any issues came up.

The review boards are usually pretty quick to point out which VIA chips have had problems and since I usually hit them prior to upgrading a motherboard, I have never had a problem.

$348 is pretty high. Is that Canadian?

newegg.com has the Intel Pentium 4/ 3.2E (Prescott) GHz 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail box for $225. On sale today.

The price I mentioned was when it FIRST came out. Pentiums are very high during the 1st 2 reiterations (i.e., P4 3000 and P4 3100 will be high, until the 3200 and 3400's come out, they they drop like a lead ballon).

When the AMD 64 3000 first came out, the P4 3,000 was new (now it's a few iterations old) and was much higher than it is now.

The difference may not exist anymore--haven't checked. But that was the primary reason for making my decision at the time.

Are you merely converting 45 minutes of DV to MPEG 2?

Rendering an NTSC DVD template MPEG 2 file from a 45 minute DV file took me 17 minutes on my Dual Opteron 250. This was in Windows XP 32-bit (Service Pack 1).

Nearly all of the systems that you will examine for purchase should show marked performance gains over your current system. Don't skimp on hard disks or RAM to get a marginally faster processor and you should be well on your way to shorter render times.