Should I? (worth it)

[mpasternak]

I'm running a P4 3.2e right now.... and it's primarily a gaming machine

is it worth it to go out an buy a AMD FX55 and new MOBO? or should i just stick with what i have.

I for the most part am intel fanboi... but since i got the 3.2e i've been far from impressed. runs too hot, runs too slow. (forced to use watercooling just to keep temps under 50)

only problem is I'd be stuck with AGP with whatever i go with (just baught a 6800gt last month and not about to lose out on it)

 

[mpasternak]

added question

any good boards out there that support AGP and PCI so i can upgrade later to a PCI board

 

[BePe86]

You could wait for the FX-57, which should be coming out soon. New features include 90 nm process (less heat, less power), higher clockspeed etc.

 

[mpasternak]

here comes a heated debate....

what about the dual core AMD's. id seriously consider getting one of those (especially after the stress test performance)

it looks seriously promissing in the future. and if they support existing motherboards too.

SLI doesnt look likely for me in the future (Or ATI's Crossfire)

but I really want to dump the Intel platform. i'm tired of having a heater running in my room all the time. water cooling keeps the pentium cool enough, but the heat just gets dumped into my room. my room hit 30c yesterday... and my computer STILL crashed (Got a warning from the bios on reboot saying Overclocking failed)..... I DIDNT OVERCLOCK!?!?!?!?. i used to be an intel fanboi... but after this CPU. ive just about given up

 

[mpasternak]

I'm not done spammin my own thread....
ok, ONE more question

Whats the difference....
Athlon 64
Athlon 64 FX-55
Sempron
Opteron

 

[fishmahn]

You can get an nForce3 Ultra board (Socket 939) that has AGP. DFI, Asus, Abit, etc. are all good mobos.

Currently there aren't any AGP AND PCI-E boards worth anything (the ones that exist put an AGP connector on a PCI slot, so your video card is severly crippled). ULI has a chipset with both AGP and PCI-E, hopefully soon someone will build a mobo off it.

I'd get a 3200-3700, the FX-55 isn't that much faster and it a lot more money. Definitely a Venice or San Diego core if you can. Of course, if money is no object...

The X2's won't help much on games today unless you also do something else while gaming (convert DVD, downloading, compressing, etc.) In the furture, games will likely be able to make use of the multi-cores however.

The differences:

Athlon64: The mainstream AMD cpu. 1.8-2.4ghz clock (2800-4000 PR rating). Multiplier unlocked downwards only (i.e, if stock mult is 10x, you can bios change it to 7x, but not 11x) Sold for Socket 754 (single-channel memory) or 939 (dual channel memory). Socket 754 isn't getting any new A64's, and fastest one is 3700+ running at 2.4ghz, but it's a little cheaper for those on a budget. In Socket 939 the new revisions, aka Venice and SanDiego are the ones to get, though.

Athlon64FX: The ultimate CPU of the Athlon64 line. The FX-53 is basically identical to the A64-4000+ (2.4ghz, 1mb L2), and the FX-55 is 2.6ghz, 1MB L2. Multipliers unlocked both up and down. Definitely the enthusiasts CPU... and the price reflects it.

Sempron: The budget line. Some Semprons are Socket A (the old Athlon XP), some are Socket 754 (Athlon 64's without the 64-bit stuff). Only get if money is a real crunch (though they're not bad CPUs)

Opteron: Basically Athlon 64 for servers. Socket 940 only, requires Registered RAM (which is a little slower, but less prone to errors). Comes in single-cpu (the 1xx series), dual cpu (the 2xx series), and multi-cpu (the 8xx series - up to 8 I think) versions. Though the chips are similar priced to the corresponding A64, motherboards and RAM are much more expensive.

Mike.

 

[Hatphones]

my suggestion:

get an nforce 4 ultra board, almost any will do, but the chaintech vnf4 ultra or BFG nf4u boards are the best choices imo. (the bfg is really just a souped up version of the chaintech board, however)

then , since it sounds like you have a decent budget, ($1000 for dual core, are you F***ing crazy?!?!)
you should go ahead and buy a athlon 64 4000+ SAN DIEGO CORE
it must be san diego, as that is the 90nm version with im of cache, the same core that the fx-57 will use when it comes out, except that the 4000+ will probably be able to hit 3ghz with water cooling (or really good air cooling)

then ghead and buy 1gb of either some good samsing tccd memory, (like the patriot xlbk , or ocz platinum rev.2) or two 512mb sticks of crucial ballistix (best choice for that mobo)

leadtek 6800 gt video card, oc it to ultra levels easily.

get a pair of seagate 7200.8 250GB drives (they have ncq at a good price point) or, for a budget, one 200gb.

nec nd-3520a optical, cheap, fast, does everything.

as far as case and psu, its really up to your aesthetic preferences, but id recommend an ocz modstream psu, and a case with at least two good 80mm fans in it.

this system ought to run hella-cool and hella-quiet even with a little oc-ing. (new rev. e athlon 64 that i recommended runs below 40c even at load, stock hsf)

*whew*

also, just fyi the diff between reg athlon 64 and the FX series is only the unlocked multiplier (the same core used in the fx's is available in a reg athlon 64 at a 200mhz loss, and amd will continue to release them that way)

one more thing: why not sli? with the sort of money you're talking about theres no reason you cant use all of the prev recommendations with and asus a8n-sli mobo and upgrade room for sli in the future. (dfi lanparty sli-dr is actually better choice, but you would need a different 6800 gt model with a single slot cooler to fit two in for sli)

ok im done time to lay down

There is no patch for human stupidity

 

[Starfishy]

only problem is I'd be stuck with AGP with whatever i go with (just baught a 6800gt last month and not about to lose out on it)

I wasn't sure if you read this part of his post. I think he wants to do an upgrade that doesn't include buying a new graphics card.

 

[mpasternak]

yup, this will be an upgrade, NOT a brand new system
here's what I"ve got currently
P4 - 3.2e 800mhz fsb, Socket 478. Hyper thread enabled
Gigabyte GeForce6800Gt AGP 8X
ASUS P4P800SE Mainboard
2x512mb OCZ low latency dual channel kit PC-3200 DDR400. (CAS2.5) I think
AQUAGATE(RL-HUC-E8U1/E8U2) from Coolermaster water cooling kit
120gb Western Digital 7200rpm w 8mb Cache (SATA)
16X Dual Layer DVD burner

what else? 480w power supply if I remember correctly
Antec Lanboy Pro Case

 

[P4Man]

You'd be *nuts* buying anything new, especially if you already have that watercooling. No system on the market will give you any measureable performance increase, at least not for single threaded code.

Now if for some reason you crave better multithreading performance, maybe you should be more specific as to what your requirements are, but if its just for general usage and gaming, forget the upgrade and stick to your system. its within a couple of percent of the fastest systems out there, and with the water cooling, it should be cool and quiet enough as well.

If you got money burning in your pocket, get a new display or something.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[mpasternak]

P4 man,

thanks, I think that may be what i do... and as for display ve got a 20" Benq LCD and a 27" LCD TV connected up

any recommendations then of what I could do to help increase performance...

 

[P4Man]

>nd as for display ve got a 20" Benq LCD and a 27" LCD TV
>connected up

Ah.. well.. then I suggest you give that money you want to get rid of so badly to charity, or buy your girlfriend/wife a nice present, or go on a vacation or something.

(Why do I feel like a poor sod now ? )


= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[mpasternak]

hahaha, dude, don't feel poor
I don'th ave a lot of dough, i just have budgetted beyond belief. I make below the average income for my area, but i've managed to budget things really well. I keep into account i'm a techno junky and always gotta buy the latest fads and toys. it's not thati have the money, it's that I have a craving for them. and I got an itch thats all.

maybe i'll just get a new hard drive... i've seen 16mb caches out... and whats that drive with a 4gb memory? will that improve my performance much?

 

[P4Man]

Ah, the idrive or whatever they call it. Yeah, good idea, that might give you a quantum leap forward for things like windows boot or game load times. Looking forward to a review of those. Don't expect games to run any better (only load much faster), but overall that is potentially the biggest speed booster you could get.

If you want to go really nuts, someone at aces recently suggested using two (or more) of those cards in RAID0, so you'd have a more reasonable 8+GB drive, as well as (I assume ?) considerable faster performance since the SATA channel speed will be what is holding you back, not the ramdrive itself.

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[HansGruber]

P4 3.2 should run without heatproblems, you just need better cooling.

But at the prize of better case and cpu cooling you can buy new MB and CPU :lol:

<A HREF="http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=574&cid=3" target="_new">S-939 AGP boards compared</A>

<A HREF="http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=607" target="_new">Maybe this one</A>

<A HREF="http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-AMD_Processor_Upgrade_Athlon_64_3700_2_4GHz_1MB_L2_Cache_939_pin_PIB" target="_new">AMD 64 +3700</A>
or
<A HREF="http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-AMD_AMD_Athlon_64_X2_4400_2_2GHz_Socket939_2MB_BOXED_w_fan" target="_new">AMD X2 +4400</A>

Maybe better cooling is cheaper..

ps. those are NOT cheapest prices, i was just too lazy to find em..


edit: <A HREF="http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-AMD_AMD_Athlon_64_3000_512K_90nm_Rev_E_ADA3000BPBOX_939_Retail_Box_w_Fan_Starts_May_20_ADA3000BPBOX" target="_new">AMD 64 +3000</A> For budget system, then overclock it to 2.6Ghz or beyond..<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by HansGruber on 06/09/05 03:07 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[mpasternak]

if I can find one, i'll give ya a review. I'm always willing to buy and test out new technology for everyone's benefit

 

[liquidpaper007]

I know asrock has boards that have pcix and agp and other boards that have 754 and 939 and weird stuff like that.

 

[endyen]

Your room was at 30c? WTF, spend the money on air conditioning. Then you may even be able to Oc that scotty.
You could also buy a beer fridge, and run a few coils of tubing through it, to keep your coolant chilled.

 

[mpasternak]

Did someone say


BEEEEER FRIDGE!!!!!!!