Well, first thank you for the great site.

I found the undervolting articles very interesting, especially since I was thinking EPIA boards were the way to go for low power consumption, etc.

So anyway, these undervolting articles made me think of getting an Athlon XP-M 2500+ and a DFI LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B. But... after I priced everything out, I realized that I can get an Athlon 64 2800 and an Asus K8V (not SE DELUXE) for the same price!

What would people recommend if they're the same price... is it a no-brainer? Also, if the concensus is the A64/K8V combo... is the K8V the same in functionality to the K8V SE DELUXE?

In terms of processing needs... I don't need much. I really just want a silent system.

Any input would be highly appreciated.

This is not necessarily the no brainer that it appears (although it mostly is). In terms of performance, the Athlon 64 will whup the XP-M. The only downsides are that it generally costs more and draws more power.

You've found out that you can get them with the same costs, so the big question is, is the power draw (heat production) too much for you? People on this forum have gotten the A64 silent with no problem, but the XP-M can be made silent much more easily i.e. it can be cooled passively at idle.

The XP-M will also draw less power (though how much I can't say). I have a similar system, and undervolted, it draws about 75W from the wall doing Prime95 (55W at idle). This probably isn't a concern unless you're a power nazi like me.

Though, if I were you, I'd go with the A64 unless you have a strong desire for low power.

and by the way, WELCOME TO SPCR

can you get hold of an a64 mobile?

it may cost a little more, and use a tiny bit more wattage than the xp mobiles, but i think it would satisfy you.

if you are not a dedicated gamer - go for XP-M - less heat disscipation makes it much better suited for silent systems.

xp-m also has a great overvlocking potential, so if you want to play some serious games - all you have to do is to rise fsb and play! (or encode DVD, MP3, render your 3d models, etc.) - check out xp-m review at HEXUS.

Thanks for all the help! I am kinda turning into a "power nazi" as sthayashi says. I was previously playing with an EPIA M10000, but after seeing that I can do much of the same thing with an XP-M (or better!), I decided to sell my EPIA board. I think I may have to go with the XP-M!

Just a quick follow-up question... Under recommended, and the Cool-n-Quiet Athlon 64 Motherboard page says this:

- The original C0 A64 CPUs idle at 800MHz @ 1.3V using 35W. The new CG revision processors idle at 1000MHz @ 1.1V using 22W.

22W seems pretty darn low!? How would an undervolted XP-M compare to this?

My XP-M is officially stable (based on a 24-hour Prime95 torture test) at 1.6GHz and 1.15V. According to Kostik's power calculator, that amounts to 27W. I measure about 53-57 W from the wall at idle, and 70 Watts at full power draw.

It sounds like A64 w/ CnQ will vary far more than that.

8rdavcore supports the DFI Lanparty NFII Ultra. You may be able to use it like pod03 did in the Deep UnderVolt/Clock article to change FSB, Vcore, and a few other things from windows. Pod03 was able to underclock his T-bred 1700+ to 300MHz @ 1.1V, which consumes a mere 5W.

I think I read that people have been able to underclock their A64's to 800MHz @ 1.3V, which would consume about 14W.

at idle (1GHz, 1.12V) my system draws 53W from the wall with an A64 and a 9600Pro. Of course, if I run Prime95 the powerconsumption more than doubles to 120-122W, but then again, I have not undervolted this baby since I have a k8t800pro-mobo.

So, I'd say that it is easier to get an A64 down to those levels of heatoutput, since it will do that by itself. However, due to the large differences in performance and heatoutput between idle and full speed, one needs to have a way to increase cooling-performance when one need the power. But if one never use more power than 1GHz, why worry...

Hello:

I would choose the Athlon 64 2800+ and a good undervolting motherboard, like the AOpen. At the stock clockspeed, I was able to run it totally stabily at 1.35v. At idle, the fan would *shut off*. And it almost always stayed below 38C while running Folding @Home, and this is wil an Alpha and the 80mm fan at ~5v. With a better HSF like the Zalman or the Thermalright, you might even get it to run passively under load, if your ambient temp and case air flow are good.

The key is an undervoltable motherboard, and if it has working Cool 'N Quiet, all the better.

If you're not looking for power, then spending more money on a A64 system looks illogical. However, A64 is the way of the future and packs a heavy punch should you require it.

As for the A64 system, I just received my Abit KV8Pro mobo. I haven't tested it yet but it's very similar to the KV8 board but with the better Pro chipset. It's supposed to be undervoltable. ASUS has a bad reputation for undervolting. Have you checked that?