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CThomp1984 · Thu Mar 07, 2002 8:15 pm

Here's my problem in a nutshell... Our Data Processing Dept is currently being upgraded (by me) from P3-800EB/ABIT SA6/256MB SDRAM systems to P4-1.5G/ABIT BL7/256MB SDRAM. Primarily, these people run some heavy SAS programs and Excel macros. Our end results, thus far, have shown that the P4 systems are running much slower on these programs than the P3 systems. I'm relatively new to the mobo/CPU field (within the last year) - and don't know much about all the technical specs, but I saw an article on this site about the P4 using a "weak FPU" vs. the P3 - is this the "lag" I'm seeing in SAS and Excel? Anyone who can help me with this solution has my deepest appreciation.

Craig

Speed · Thu Mar 07, 2002 8:23 pm

Ah, that's not much of an upgrade. On paper there's no net gain going from an 800EB to a 1.5 with RDRAM. I'm not surprised you're worse off with SDRAM. I don't know about the FPU thing, but can't help but wonder what prompted so much work for what's turning out to be a step backwards.

_________________
Stick a fork() in it!

[ This Message was edited by: Speed on 2002-03-07 20:05 ]

Coldfirex · Fri Mar 08, 2002 12:30 am

IMO, your not going to see much difference unless you:

1)Get faster P4s (Northwoods...2ghz+ with DDR)
2)Get and AMD solution (though not as likely since many businesses wont go this route)

[ This Message was edited by: Coldfirex on 2002-03-08 00:49 ]

aristheo · Fri Mar 08, 2002 12:41 am

I would suggest to try and put more ram on the PC's. I don't think the CPU is the bottleneck at all. Also, where is the data stored? Is it on a network server or on the local machine? If there's a lot of traffic on the network, that could severely affect the performance of the application regardless of the CPU speed.

Fri Mar 08, 2002 2:08 am

Yes the P4 integer unit is weak. It's missing hardware implmentations of some sutff. I don't however think it is enough to make things actually run slower.

One question I would have; is the hardware listed, the only think changing in these systems? There isn't like an OS upgrade or Office upgrade or anything going on at the same time is there?

Speed · Fri Mar 08, 2002 3:11 am

On 2002-03-08 01:08, SecretSquirrel wrote:
There isn't like an OS upgrade or Office upgrade or anything going on at the same time is there?

Or even worse, transferring the same HD to the new machine! :eek:

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall reading that the P4 needs apps compiled to take advantage of its new architecture, before it starts to perform.

lenzenm · Fri Mar 08, 2002 1:50 pm

On 2002-03-07 19:15, CThomp1984 wrote:
Here's my problem in a nutshell... Our Data Processing Dept is currently being upgraded (by me) from P3-800EB/ABIT SA6/256MB SDRAM systems to P4-1.5G/ABIT BL7/256MB SDRAM. Primarily, these people run some heavy SAS programs and Excel macros. Our end results, thus far, have shown that the P4 systems are running much slower on these programs than the P3 systems. I'm relatively new to the mobo/CPU field (within the last year) - and don't know much about all the technical specs, but I saw an article on this site about the P4 using a "weak FPU" vs. the P3 - is this the "lag" I'm seeing in SAS and Excel? Anyone who can help me with this solution has my deepest appreciation.

Craig

It's the SDRAM that's killing you. The P4 design is highly memory bandwidth dependent. Without DDR-RAM of RDRAM, the P4 will truly suffer.

Prototyped · Fri Mar 08, 2002 4:39 pm

Yes, for the best performance at a given Pentium 4 clockspeed, you really, really want to go i850 + dual-channel PC800.

There's an excellent recent article at <a href="http://www.aceshardware.com/" target="_blank">Ace's Hardware</a> that covers a wide array of motherboards with the kinds of memory subsystems available for Pentium 4s, and I'm looking forward to the technical article that they've promised as a follow-up.

[ This Message was edited by: Prototyped on 2002-03-08 15:41 ]

CThomp1984 · Fri Mar 08, 2002 6:41 pm

TO ALL WHO HAVE RESPONDED...

Thanks all very much for your responses. You have all (along with some personal colleagues of mine) have pretty much covered where my problems lie (at least with the mobo/CPU/RAM issue) and have made some great suggestions for a solution! Am taking your advice(s?) and running with them. I have grown a little richer and more knowledgeable from the experience.

THANKS AGAIN!

Craig

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