Pentium 4 W/ Hyper Threading Worth the money?

Buying new computer

[everlast]

There seems to be a big jump in price between a Pentium 4 with the hyperthreading versus a AMD Athlon xp 2800 + Processor. I mainly use the commputer for ebay, web and my digital pictures, word and excel. Not sure if worth the extra, Any thoughts

[grelmar]

For what you're using your machine for, I'd say no. But hyper-threading is long-term technology, you'll get better lifespan out of the computer if you get it.

AMD is coming out with hyper-threading chips sometime in the next year too, so that will bring down the price of that flavor of chips.

I also read somewhere that hyper-threading really only makes a difference if you have more than 4 gig of RAM, don't know if that's true or not.

[everlast]

Thanks for responding.

[Jon_King]

IMO you will notice no difference what so ever in performance between the two processors for the apps you mention.

The processing power needed for MS Office and browsing is actually small compared to games, video production, 3D rendering and art manipulation programs like Photoshop etc.

I have numerous machines from Pentium II's to the latest Hyperthreading P4's and have never noticed an appreciable difference in speed for office apps and browsing.

[Macro]

For your applications there is little to choose from between the two.

As someone in the industry, doing benchmarking on CPUs, writing articles on them etc I can tell you that the Intel generates less heat, needs less cooling and has a lower RMA rate (% going faulty in the first year). But you do know that the XP 2800+ is not 2.8 GHz like the Pentium 4, it's a lot lower, so in some respects it's not really a straight comparison?

[Macro]

On second thoughts, now that the Prescott version of the Pentium 4 is the same price as the Northwood - go for it. The extra cache on the Prescott is worth more than even the XP 3200+

The only AMD worth buying now is the 64 bit (or FX) versions.