Processor and motherboard upgrade

Wintermute · 07-21-2004, 11:46 AM

Well if I buy Doom 3 then my poor old 1.1 Thunderbird just isn't gonna cut it. I have been looking at overclockers.co.uk's bundles of memory, processor and mobo for between £200 ($400) and £500 ($1000). Can anyone give me some advice as to what the advantage of an AMD 64 vs an XP is and similarly for Intel chips?

Thanks,

**=DdogG=** · 07-22-2004, 10:24 AM

a64 (especially the socket 939) is where amd is headed, so upgrading later will be easier. it is a 64 bit processor, so there is future proofing there, and it is generally faster than a comparably speeded amd xp or intel. the cost is slightly less than a similar intel chip, but well above that of the xp line. the xp line however, is at its end, so getting a 3200 now will max out your mobo. When I bought my computer, I got a 2500 and waited for the price on a 3000 to drop. then I snagged the 3000 for 130. US.
I do suggest going with an fx model and not the 64. the 64 is the celeron or duron of the 64bit line. the socket 754, while viable in the short term for upgrading, is possibly not got the future the 939 has.... I think the 940 is also on its last leg... (remember slot A?) hope that this helps without getting technical on you.

Wintermute · 07-22-2004, 03:26 PM

Thanks for the advice. I think I will probably go for a 754.
An AMD Athlon 64 3400 (Socket 754) is £223.19 Inc VAT
while an AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Socket 939) is £328.94 Inc VAT

I find it hard to justify the extra 1/3 cost + the extra cost of the board. I usually only upgrade to when forced to and so by the time I next upgrade I doubt either 754 or 939 chips will be on the market.

Does the 64 bit thing have a relevance to software? Will the next OS be 64 bit and require a 64 bit chip? I don't really know what 64 bit means except that consoles used to be rated in bits back in the day.

**=DdogG=** · 07-22-2004, 04:06 PM

current procs are 32bit. a 64 bit one can, under certain circumstances, run 2 lines of code side by side for better performance (rarely), but mostly, it just runs 64bit at a 1600 fsb and 2000 mhz. and if you ever do need 64 bit for longhorn or whatever, you are ready. the performance is substantially better than the 32bit version.

07-21-2004, 11:46 AM	#1 (permalink)
Wintermute Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Age: 24 Posts: 1,166	Processor and motherboard upgrade Well if I buy Doom 3 then my poor old 1.1 Thunderbird just isn't gonna cut it. I have been looking at overclockers.co.uk's bundles of memory, processor and mobo for between £200 ($400) and £500 ($1000). Can anyone give me some advice as to what the advantage of an AMD 64 vs an XP is and similarly for Intel chips? Thanks, __________________ Wintermute Play EVE online. It's like being an accounting addict in space. www.MakePovertyHistory.com

07-22-2004, 10:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
=DdogG= Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ennis, TX Age: 31 Posts: 1,692	Re: Processor and motherboard upgrade a64 (especially the socket 939) is where amd is headed, so upgrading later will be easier. it is a 64 bit processor, so there is future proofing there, and it is generally faster than a comparably speeded amd xp or intel. the cost is slightly less than a similar intel chip, but well above that of the xp line. the xp line however, is at its end, so getting a 3200 now will max out your mobo. When I bought my computer, I got a 2500 and waited for the price on a 3000 to drop. then I snagged the 3000 for 130. US. I do suggest going with an fx model and not the 64. the 64 is the celeron or duron of the 64bit line. the socket 754, while viable in the short term for upgrading, is possibly not got the future the 939 has.... I think the 940 is also on its last leg... (remember slot A?) hope that this helps without getting technical on you. __________________ Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

07-22-2004, 03:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Wintermute Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Age: 24 Posts: 1,166	Re: Processor and motherboard upgrade Thanks for the advice. I think I will probably go for a 754. An AMD Athlon 64 3400 (Socket 754) is £223.19 Inc VAT while an AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Socket 939) is £328.94 Inc VAT I find it hard to justify the extra 1/3 cost + the extra cost of the board. I usually only upgrade to when forced to and so by the time I next upgrade I doubt either 754 or 939 chips will be on the market. Does the 64 bit thing have a relevance to software? Will the next OS be 64 bit and require a 64 bit chip? I don't really know what 64 bit means except that consoles used to be rated in bits back in the day. __________________ Wintermute Play EVE online. It's like being an accounting addict in space. www.MakePovertyHistory.com

07-22-2004, 04:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
=DdogG= Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ennis, TX Age: 31 Posts: 1,692	Re: Processor and motherboard upgrade current procs are 32bit. a 64 bit one can, under certain circumstances, run 2 lines of code side by side for better performance (rarely), but mostly, it just runs 64bit at a 1600 fsb and 2000 mhz. and if you ever do need 64 bit for longhorn or whatever, you are ready. the performance is substantially better than the 32bit version. __________________ Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

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