Author: Mark R. Anderson
Date: 10:06:54 11/19/04
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I agree with Torstein ... imho the processor speed is more of an issue with the chess playing programs we know and love, and not chessbase itself, so getting a fast and good quality hard drive is more to the point for Chessbase. Unless you routinely access and search HUGE databases and need the maximum speed (why??) then any of the modern processors you named will do fine by Chessbase. One recommendation that I have is that nobody these days should buy a new machine without at least one gigabyte of RAM ... I don't think 512 meg really cuts it these days and certainly won't for the next 4 or 5 years. I paid a little extra and got the newer 533-mhz memory instead of the 400-mhz, and am happy with it. I kind of wish I had gotten 2 gigs of RAM though instead of one gig, but that's an upgrade for later. I think you can't go wrong with an AMD processor, especially the 64-bit. Not only will Chessbase work great, but also your playing programs will be *fast*. Also, I personally don't like systems with "shared" video memory and much prefer a separate video card. Unless you will be using your system for high-end 3-D gaming, then a very modest and cheap video card will work just fine for you ... don't waste your money on a high-end card. (I got a medium-quality 128 meg card myself and it's great.) By the way ... if you use your machine for surfing the net (don't we all?), be sure to get a good internet security suite with firewall, virus checker, etc. Also, there are good programs out there that are FREE (love that word) that will help kill spyware, malware, adware, key loggers, etc. I have Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3 and Ad-Aware SE Personal ... they work great and are *free*. I run them frequently and they help keep the nasty, sneaky programs off my computer. Also, it's good to keep your hard disk cleaned and optimized regularly. Otherwise, even with a 64-bit processor, your machine will eventually get bogged down over time with fragmented files, invalid shortcuts, useless junk, invalid addresses, system registry problems, etc. I personally use System Mechanic 5.0 and love it, but I'm sure there are other similar products out there that are also good. I use this to keep my machine running like a top. With the firewall/virus software, plus the spyware killers, plus System Mechanic, my computer and hard drive have *no problems* and work optimally, and will continue to do so for years. It's just like having a car. You can spend a lot of money and buy a Porsche, but if you don't regularly maintain it, tune it, change the oil, etc, then it will go "kablooey" in a few years. It's the same with computers, especially nowadays! My girlfriend *never* maintained her 2-year-old computer and was going to replace it, since it had lots of problems (it was a mess). I got all of the above products for her machine (hey, she is my girlfriend ... who else would put up with me?) and was able to get it running great, and now she will keep it a couple of more years and thinks I'm a hero. Just goes to show you that these things are just as important as having a zillion-ghz processor. Sorry to babble on so long, but I was trying to help. Enjoy your new machine when you get it. Best regards, Mark On November 19, 2004 at 09:23:07, Torstein Hall wrote: >On November 18, 2004 at 21:55:34, Dai Davies wrote: > >>Thank you Mike. >> >>I tend to upgrade around every 4-5 years, or when the old kit starts feeling a >>little tired. >> >>It looks then like Athlon is preferred for all chess engines, and specificaly >>the A64 as I will be likely to keep this pc for several years. >> >>Out of curiosity: a database such as chessbase, which is optimised for >>hyper-threading, would the average search time on otherwise comparable >>processors, such as Athlon A64/Pentium 4 HT vary significantly in regard to the >>A64 not being HT Enabled? > >I can not give you any hard facts, but in general I believe I can say the >following: For database use a fast hard disk is a lot more important than a fast >processor. In general most PC program favour AMD processors. How much extra HT >gives to the intel compared to without HT I do not know for sure, but I belive >it is in the range 10 to 15%. > >Torstein > >> >>Is it perhaps a 10% region difference in search times or something far greater? >> >>Is the difference likely to be of any significance at all in Human v. Computer >>games? >> >>Would you know how important it is to have a hard disk with very fast access >>times: for instance scsi? >> >>Sorry for so many questions: just trying to get the basics straight before I >>order. >> >>Cheers. >> >>Mark.
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