Author: Ricardo Gibert
Date: 02:16:33 06/07/00
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On June 07, 2000 at 01:36:16, O. Veli wrote: > I am planning on building a powerful yet cheap PC for chess. AFAIK there is no >difference between Pentium III and Celeron chips on chess performance. A dual >processor version is better than a single one so a dual Celeron + Deep Junior ( >and of course Crafty) will have a strong Elo/$ value (Dual or quad Pentium III >is out of my reach). How much Elo would dual Celeron + Deep Junior gain compared >to single Celeron + Junior? What other things should I keep in mind on this >machine? Thanks. Your choice is not so simple. Consider: ABIT BP6 + 2 533 Celerons $350 ASUS K7V + 1 700 Athlon $350 Its estimated that a doubling of speed is worth about a 50 rating point gain, so we can use the following equation: 73*ln(s1/s2) = Delta R 73*ln(1066/700) = 31 rating points Now look at the SSDF ratings here: http://home3.swipnet.se/~w-36794/ssdf/nr000.htm Fritz 6 is rated 2721 Junior 6 is rated 2689 (I'm assuming Deep Junior is the same on 1 cpu) 2721 - 2689 = 32 rating points So someone with the Athlon will do just as well using Fritz 6 as you will using the dual Celerons using Deep Junior. Of course, these are _very_ rough calculations. We have assumed that the _relative_ ratings are accurate, that the 50 rating point estimate is accurate, that Deep Junior is just as strong as Junior 6 on one cpu, that Deep Junior scales up going to 2 cpus with 100% efficiency, etc. Clearly, many of these assumptions aren't very reasonable. The dual cpu system is not everything it is cracked up to be as far as chess goes. The quality of the program is just as important as the speed of the hardware. But even if Deep Junior is just as good as Fritz 6, you do not gain much. When you get a dual system, your choice of hardware is more limited and your choice of software for it that takes advantage of it is more limited. You make compromises. I prefer the ASUS motherboard to the ABIT motherboard. The ASUS motherboard is the best one for the Athlon. The ABIT motherboard is not the best for the Celeron. It's the one you get when you want to run a dual system. Naturally, there are other reasons for getting a dual system. I hope this helps you make your decision.
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