64 bit processor....thinking about buying

[Viper_7]

ok before i buy a 64 bit amd processor, can somebody plz tell me why they are so good.. i know its because it has 64 bits, but what does this truely mean, also, do i need to upgrade my ram from pc2700 to higher...and also would not having sata hdd's be a bottleneck, do i need to upgrade my hdd's too? any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TheRod]

ok before i buy a 64 bit amd processor, can somebody plz tell me why they are so good

First, they are not SO GOOD. You probably talk about the Athlon 64. They are better than Athlon XP and they give you the 64 bit extension. So when Windows XP 64 bit will bbe out, you will be able to install it and run it. You will be 64 bit ready.

i know its because it has 64 bits, but what does this truely mean

I will not explain you avery aspect of 64 bit computing, search in the Tom's Hardware archives and read the articles/reviews about the Athlon 64 and Opteron, you will understand it better.

do i need to upgrade my ram from pc2700 to higher

Not necessay, if you don't overclock your Athlon 64 DDR333 will be enough!

nd also would not having sata hdd's be a bottleneck, do i need to upgrade my hdd's too?

No, all the Athlon 64 motherboards supports IDE drive and SATA are not faster than IDE drives. Most of today's SATA drives are identical to IDE drives, it'S only the connector that have changed. The core logic and hardware pieces are mostly the same.

By the way, if you plan to buy an Athlon 64, the best chipset now is the VIA. The nForce3 150 is not as good as the VIA. But, if you wait about 1 month or 2. You will be able to get a nForce3 250 based motherboard that will perform well.

Another thing... If you can wait a couple of month, boards will come with PCI-EXPRESS slots that will replace AGP and PCI in a near future. But don't worry, if you buy a motherboard today with AGP and PCI slots you will easily be ably to upgrade your video card or PCI card in the next year at least. Companies will not stop making AGP/PCI cards for a year at least.



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[trooper11]

welll its not really the 64bits part that is the reason to get one. in normal, 32bit areas, the athlon 64 excels for things like gaming, compiling, office apps. The thing is not to think of the athlon 64 as a 64 bit processor that is just about adding 64bit , it has alot more that adds to its performance, the 64bit extensions are just a bonus for use in the near future.

 

[dh1]

I just recently upgraded my old tired, clocked-up 133Mhz box to 64 bit; I've waited a long time for the "next generation".

I bought an Asus K8V Deluxe MB, AMD 64 3200+ CPU, 512 Mb DDR RAM, DVD R, a new case etc. Cannabalized the ATA 133 HD and CD RW from the old box and installed the (free) Fedora 64 bit OS.
http://fedora.redhat.com/

I'm happy

The MB and CPU cost $509 at a local retailer.

I'm not one to upgrade often. I tend to use a computer until it dies; I'm still using an old 80386/33, Win3.11. So, with a few hardware/software upgrades, I expect this box to last me a long time - unless I win the Lottery and get crazy.

Long story short, don't waste your time and money on small, incremental upgrades; wait for "next generation" hardware - the software always follows the hardware.

 

[TheRod]

I'm not one to upgrade often. I tend to use a computer until it dies; I'm still using an old 80386/33, Win3.11. So, with a few hardware/software upgrades, I expect this box to last me a long time - unless I win the Lottery and get crazy.

Wow! What can you do on this PC? The aplications that ron on this OS are so out of date now!

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Would you buy a GPS enabled soap bar?