Question On Processor Upgrade

[Nedlinin]

Ive been looking for a while at a new processor for my old 1.8 Ghz Celeron -- Ive been looking at both Pentium and Athlon but as Ive never had an Athlon Ive got a couple of questions...

(NOTE: Kinda getting it for gaming so keep that in mind

1. -- 64 Bit? Worthwhile? Couldnt find much in the way of software using the 64 bit capabilities(especially games...nada)

2. -- Heat? Ive heard that they have a tendancy to get rather hot -- any real big problems in that area?

3. -- Pros and Cons? -- Just list a few

4. -- Anything else you think would influence my decision?(I havent bought the mobo or anything yet so some help in that department would be nice)

5. -- Upgrading... At the moment I have only enough money to buy the Mobo and CPU -- I want something that when I upgrade my GFX card to something along the lines of a Geforce 5700 Ultra or Radeon 9800 Pro that will not be slowed by the power ofthe processor

[Byron]

1. 64 bit is worthwhile, They are starting to incorporate 64 bit instructions into games, so in the near future you will see a boost from 64bit over 32 bit..

2. Heat is not an issue. I run my socket 754 3200+ @ 40C load on air, i've seen lower on the 939 .90nm chips.

3. -They smoke intels in gaming.... Hands down, you would have to buy a $800 intel chip to compete with a $250 amd chip in gaming.

-Ready for the next generation of operating systems... If you get an intel, and a 64 bit os comes out in a year, that intel is crap.. useless...

5. An athlon 64 will not be slowed down by a 9800 pro nor a 5700 ultra. Many peeople run 6800gt's and ultra's on their 64's, and they perform great.

 

hope that helps :-P

[zigen]

1. Many software developers are integrating into 64 bit.

2. Heat is really not an issue as most to all AMD's run as hot or colder than P4's (excluding the Prescotts cuz hey run like a grill...) My AMD 2800+ (2.08Ghz) OC'ed to 2.375GHz (1.75Vcore) loads around 42C

3. Pros- FAST, great stablity, usefulness of 64 bit. Cons- none that i can think of

4. AMD 64's KILL the p4's in gaming... even the P4EE cant stand a chance to the FX-55

5. No, those wont be slowed down the power of the CPU

[fire_storm]

Defantly amd64 are worth wild I could see a differance when I went from my amd xp to my amd64 improved speed in my games also my computer runs faster. Plus youll be ready when they come out with 64 bit aplacations. Plus amd64 with service pack 2 (windows) offers avanced virus protection.

[Nedlinin]

one more question -- Any suggestions on which processor?

 

I max out for processor around 150$ thats why Im looking at Athlon in the first place -- any help in that department would be very appreciated

 

Also for motherboard(if you could list a good combo itd be nice) -- I max there around 120-150$

 

Thanks for all the help so far

Edited November 28, 2004 by Nedlinin

[fire_storm]

amd 64 3000 is about 147 dollars.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-486&depa=1

 

Also with motherboards most people will say get MSI of DFI I hear this one is good.

[Nedlinin]

amd 64 3000 is about 147 dollars.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-486&depa=1

 

Also with motherboards most people will say get MSI of DFI I hear this one is good.

Hmm... another question for the "wise ones"

 

What does it mean when it says the FSB is intergrated into the chip?

How can you tell what the FSB IS on a chip like that?

 

Also you never listed a motherboard -- hows this "MSI K8N Neo Platinum" (no link forgot to copy and closed window already :-p)

Edited November 29, 2004 by Nedlinin

[fire_storm]

OK fsb intergrated into the chip usually means 800 fsb. But you should allways check with your motherboard manufactor to see what the fsb of the motherboard is. Hears the link the the msi one.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-130-457&depa=1

[CNUco2007]

You can get an Athlon64 3000+ 939Pin for 156 plus shipping here. I just bought one from them but haven't used it yet cuz i dont have a rig to put it in yet. still buying parts lol. Its just sitting on my desk. all well. I'm ordering the MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum cuz i hear it overclocks like a beast hitting 290FSB in some cases. Thats 2.6Ghz on the processor (assuming everything can keep up.)

[fire_storm]

Get the 939, its newer and plus in the futchure you regrate getting a 754 instead of a 939. I am because couldn t find a 939 3400 for 230-240 dollars.