Upgrade AMD 1900XP -> 2600XP worth it?

[Radianation]

I'm running an A7N266-E motherboard with AMD 1900+ XP chip and 2 512mb PC2100DDR.

I use the computer for audio recording/sequencing (Steinberg Nuendo mostly). On the side I play CounterStrike.

I'm eager to upgrade my system, but I'm wondering if it's worth it? I've been pricing out new AMD 64 chips and the Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard, but the prices are still so high compared to the older chips.

My question is: Would it be worth it to upgrade my CPU from an 1900 to a 2600XP (max. that this motherboard will supposedly handle) for roughly $80?

In roughly 6 months I plan on upgrading the entire system to a newer machine. Also, will the difference in CPU make much of an impact on my gaming? I run an Nvidia GeForce 3 ti500 (sold my Radeon 9800 AIW because it was not performing well with this mobo).

Thanks for your help.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Don't bother with this upgrade

----------------
Please vote in this poll: <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=39560#39560" target="_new">Should Tom Fire Omid?</A>

 

[Fallen]

He's right....save your money.

 

[baldurga]

Yep, 6 months are not a lot. And definetely a clearer picture on the hardware industry. Doesn't make sense.

I recommend you to overclock a little bit your CPU <b>IF</b> you think is not ok on some areas. I have mine running at 150 FSB rock stable. At that kind of overclock PCI/AGP bus is on the save side.


Still looking for a <b>good online retailer</b> in Spain :frown:

 

[endyen]

So here is a different slant. Buy an xp2400+ for $72. Its only a little money but it will give you a 25% speed gain. Newegg seems to have the t-breds which may come unlocked. If they do, and your mobo can use it, these chips can run at 16 X 133 no problem. If it runs at 2.0 gigs only, you will still be able to measure a difference in your apps. For me just getting to play with a new chip is worth the few bucks.

 

[P4Man]

I doubt you'll notice a difference in gaming as long as you hang on to your GF3. As it is, your cpu and GPU seem pretty well matched, upgrading your cpu won't do miracles (as did upgrading your GPU). I wouldn't do it, save some money until you're ready to get a real upgrade.

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

 

[endyen]

He may not notice much in gaming, but in Nuendo the extra speed will be usefull.

 

[P4Man]

I guess it might, but then i'm not sure if Nuendo will benefit from bigger cache. Some apps just scale with clockspeed and very little with extra cache (in fact, most streaming apps like encoding do), and then the jump from his current cpu to a 2600+ barton may not be all that impressive, and only a fraction of what the PR increase would indicate, and therefore hardly worth bothering with.

If nuendo is one of the apps that loves the extra cache, it could be a worthwhile upgrade.

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

 

[endyen]

He has a 133 fsb mobo, cant use the barton. I believe Nuendo is very fpu intensive, so speed helps.

 

[eatmeimadanish]

I build digital audio gear for a living. Nuendo is designed to reference hardware through ASIO, which is designed to really bypass the cpu and bus to reduce latency. The CPU is then used to overlay effects and antialias. Effects rely on RAM more then anything else. My suggestion is that you load up with at least 1 gig of RAM (the more the happier) and don't worry about CPU speed. Your bottlenecks are RAM for effects and mastering and HDD speed for number of tracks. Beware of RAID controllers, they are fast but sometimes not very efficient with extensive streams of data (some mobo's have the option in the RAID setup for AUDIO/VIDEO production, I suggest you use it) Some of the rigs I built still use the 900mghz duron processor and run like champions.

P.S. Nuendo does not use system cache as much as one might think. Since cache is used for repeated data and not so much for dynamically changing streaming audio data.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Eatmeimadanish on 02/27/04 05:26 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[hogfather]

The 2400 is dirt cheap, I think its worth it, perhaps it is worth waiting, but I'd be inclined. Thinking of doing it myself.
ps if you get a 2600, make sure it is 133fsb, not 166.

XP2000, 256ddr 2100ram, GF4 MX440, XP Pro