Should i dump the K6-2 for a T-Bird

[Guest]

I need some feed back on a question I have. I'm about to build a new system with a K6-2 550 & Asus P5a. Problem is I purchased the MB & Processor first & added the rest of the components.

This new pc will handle everything from playing intense games to burning cd's. Has anyone had experience with the 550 MHZ and the P5-A because I was thinking about getting a T-Bird 800 & a new MB. Can anyone provide some feedback?

 

[Guest]

It sounds like it does everything you want. What are the things that you want to do that are making you look towards a new system?

Take care.

 

[Guest]

Wow. you just made me re-think my own upgrade with that question. I running an Athlon 650 slot A. and i am about to upgrade to a 1Ghz T-bird. My computer also does everything i want it to, but i think i am mainly doing it for the point itself in upgrading. 1Ghz computer is somewhat like a stone in time. the shear speed of it is overwelming im sure. thats basically my reasoning in upgrading. doesnt matter if you need one or not. does it?

 

[machow]

For tight budget guys like me the issue of whether I need it or want it is IMPORTANT. Having a 750 now is enough and until we have 1.6/1.7 then I would think of upgrading. Upgrading my computer once every year balances my account.

Smart guys are not smart; they only see things in different perspective.
1st <b>ENTHUSIAST</b>!

 

[Guest]

I work for AMD in Austin and have used our processors from 486s thru 1.2Ghz Tbirds. A 550 K6-2 would do just fine for any current apps and games that are popular today (including Q3). As for CD burning, this would be overkill unless you are thinking of ripping DVDs 🙂. If you have the Athlon bug i would definately recommend waiting for the DDR platform to become available and mature. Dont waste your $$$ on SDRAMs when all will be DDR in the very near future. Do you have any SIMMs laying around the house?

<font color=green> slice-N-dice </font color=green>

Nothing travels faster than the speed of pain

 

[Guest]

Well I wanted to play heavily graphic intensive games like Q3. I bought a big HD to partition into 3 parts each designated for a special function-- Games, Burning-MP3, & important files. I paid good money for the Asus P5-A board & heard negative things about it all along + i was planning to OC but a 550 MHZ is already pushing the envelope

 

[Guest]

Well I don't need a 1 GHz a 800 will do me fine because I can get a good cooling system & OC to 1 ghz or better. I'm not looking to spend extra $200-300 on a ghz or more when i can OC now and in a year upgrade to more than a ghz

 

[Bubba]

I would recommend upgrading to the T-bird then take the P5A and place it directly under your rear car tire and back over it several times until it is completely destroyed.
I had the P5A and a 500 K6-2. Nothing but problems.
Couldn't use all 4 IDE devices at once, couldn't burn a CD (just coasters), couldn't upgrade to a decent video card because of lack of power supplied to the AGP slot, and the ALi chipset just sucks.
Do I sound bitter?
If you have the money, get something else and slavage you sanity.

 

[Starhawk]

Bubba, you got a lemon. The P5A (6th revision) and K6-2 500MHz that I'm using to post this now has been nothing but awesome, and yes, it has a burner and an overclocked video card (Voodoo3). Very fast and stable. But to follow the thread, though, the temptation to upgrade is strong, so I upgraded my other box to a Duron 700 and it flies at high warp! You'll notice the difference, but aside from impressive timedemos you will hardly make use of it.

 

[Guest]

The K6-2 was a good CPU in it's time, but the thunderbirds and durons are alot faster (especially for games), if you're on a budget why not get a duron 800 and a new mobo ? If you get the right mobo you can always upgrade to a 1Ghz thunderbird later ?

And you never said what video card you've got ? In my experience most 'intensive' games these days benefit more from a faster video card than a faster processor ?

 

[Bubba]

Starhawk,
I hope it was just my board and not a reflection on Asus.
I just bought the A7V and I have not had any problems, yet.
Gald to hear everthing worked for you

 

[Guest]

Since the 550 MHz is rather fast, i´d say just wait until the DDR stuff comes available and upgrade then. I know it is hard, but it will be so much more fun!! (?)
Can´t you try to overclock it? or did the board already reach its limits?

Don´t upgrade untill you really get annoyed by the slow speed of your PC..

 

[Guest]

I also like playing Q3 on my OC'ed Athlon Classic 500(650 stable In the past month, I've been asked by coworkers what would be the best bang for your buck with regard to Mobo/cpu combo. I built 4 T-bird 800 systems using the ASUS A7V mobo and the owners are very pleased. I also agree that if you are a gamer, upgrading your video card is definately the best way to acheive high fps. I went from a V3 to Geforce2MX. All I can say is, WOW!

Thats my 2 cents worth. Hope it helps.
Wolverine

 

[Guest]

Ha Ha thats a good explanation of the P5-A.. I haven't built my system yet but it's no problem to change a MB & CPU

 

[Guest]

Yeah I got a Guillemot GeForce2 MX card. But like I said I haven't put the system together because i'm waiting for the monitor to come. I know the P5-A can take AGP 2x but can it take a GeForce?

 

[Guest]

Yes I shall post mine too.
My Soonerator 3: The New Power was built around an ASUS P5A and K6 3 400 with Voodoo 3 2000 PCI and it was a beautiful machine, very nice. Yes, I went for the Athalon Tbird 900 and the ASUS A7V, because I could. It is sad for my K6 3, but I shall build it again and find a home for it. You can get the Abit or ASUS mainboard and Duron for $200 so I have to ask you why not? Yes you will miss the DDR ram boards but so what, in 12 or 18 months we can both get that new stuff, have fun and never be afraid of the new technology, it is ours.

 

[Guest]

The Geforce will run at AGP2x but you'll be loosing performance, how much ? Know idea 😉

With anything other the Geforce2 Ultra I doubt you'd notice the differance though.