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Subject: Re: Opinion on PC configuration?

Author: Ricardo Gibert

Date: 09:22:09 06/07/00

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On June 07, 2000 at 10:15:48, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On June 07, 2000 at 05:16:33, Ricardo Gibert wrote:
>
>>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
>
>
>
>
>I'm not sure wht that has to do with things.  IE the dual celerons are
>significantly faster than the single athlon.  The duals offer the ability
>to do engine vs engine matches (single cpu per engine) without any funny
>stuff like ponder=off, etc.
>
>I'd personally go for the dual Celerons, particularly since I haven't seen great
>athlon results yet.

For you it is a no brainer, since you _write_ an SMP program like crafty, but
for the average user, it does not make much sense. Chesswise the gain is so
paltry, that other considerations should have priority. As for comparing Athlon
to Celeron, I think Athlon compares quite favorably. You are right if you are
comparing Athlon with coppermine p3s. Especially on a BX system running at
133mhz, but that's overclocking the BX chipset. Also, I did not factor in Duron
and Thunderbird possibility.

>
>
>
>>
>>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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