AGP owner but wants a Core 2 Duo

[thewalrusking]

Hi I have a delimna that I was imagining was quite common but I cant find a lot of info on it. I have an 6800GT AGP board that I feel is quite good still, but I also have a AMD Athlon XP 2500+ that I dont think is that good anymore.

Though suprisingly its much better than youd expect, for instance only now do i see a slowdown ion alot of games with settings around medium, some high, some low.

Anyway I think I want to upgrade now due to the low prices that are around. Im planning on getting a 6320, or 6420, or maybe a 4x00, but Im leaning towards e6320 due to its price and overclockability. BUT I need to buy a mb that accepts AGP boards.

This ASRock is AGP/PCIe but is this a bad board? The feeling I get is that they have to cut some performance from this to get both types working, Ive seen benchmarks where this comes in last, though slightly, and Im afraid there are better options.

My question is, is there any regular AGP Core2Duo boards available? Im not against getting an entirely new board when I upgrade the gfx card so I dont need a PCIe also board. What are my options. (Also I will buy either DDR1 or DDR2 ram, but would like to buy DDR2 667 ram if I can so I dont need to buy it when I get the new board.

Oh and im aiming at under $300 for chip, mb, Ram.
(meant to put this in mb forum but somehow i put it here)

 

[EvilRage]

See this thread, someone mentiones a socket 775 board with an AGP slot (and DDR Ram, too) and that sounds like what you need. I think you'll have to do a search on Newegg though.

 

[oynaz]

It is not cost effective to use your 6800GT with a Core 2 Duo CPU. You can get a 7600GS for around the same price as the additional money you spend on the AGP port.

 

[Gusty987]

You need the AsRock 775 Dual-VSTA. It will work with your old DDR too.

 

[thewalrusking]

Originally posted by: Gusty987
You need the AsRock 775 Dual-VSTA. It will work with your old DDR too.

sad thing is as my CPU is a 333mhz so my ram is only DDR2700 not the better 3200. It sucks, if I were to run it at 333mhz could I? Cause while I know itd be running under powered it would save me 50 or so bucks, temporarily, and then I could buy the Ram a week later, see im trying to go as cheap as poss.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Gusty987
You need the AsRock 775 Dual-VSTA. It will work with your old DDR too.

Yeah, I've got a new AsRock sitting here right now.

But I got this one at Newegg, for $45.
Unfortunately, it's now out of stock. I bought mine the day that the E4300s dropped in price, since I figured there'd be a lot of demand for the motherboard.

It seemed like a good solution to let me avoid buying a new video card and new memory, but lets me use the ultra-cheap E4300 processors.

 

[bigsnyder]

The advantage to the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA (which has been replaced by the 4CoreDual-VSTA)
is that it supports DDR and DDR2. It also supports AGP 8x and PCI-E (x4 bandwidth vs a true x16 slot)
video cards. If you are not a diehard overclocker, then this board works great to smooth the transition
to newer components.

C Snyder

 

[Zepper]

OP,

Your link is broken.

.bh.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: thewalrusking
The feeling I get is that they have to cut some performance from this to get both types working, Ive seen benchmarks where this comes in last, though slightly, and Im afraid there are better options.

There is no point worrying over a few benchmark points if your goal is to get a NEW CPU and MB to run using your OLD AGP card.
Just think about it for a few minutes...

 

[ribbon13]

yes, and they are fringe boards.... VIA! realtek's infamous 'value' 883 chip... the price of using obsolete components weighs high. credit card debt? a baby? a wife? gambling? drugs? these take away from our geek society brothers! Buy a new video card for the love of god! should have made the jump with asrock's 939 boards

nah, seriously though, if I were you, i'd systematically get that hun dan gou shi of a board, get :
$80 - one nice 1GB stick of CAS4 DDR2-800
$193 - one nice processor
$66 - hun dan gou shi motherboard
promptly sell your old cpu motherboard and ram
promptly purchase another nice stick of that ram

watch in awe as your new C2D system takes two trips to haul ass. The sleek bipolar processing god leaning against a brick wall, looking cool through his $6 shades and his greasy bangs, smoking a cigarette, constantly waiting for the motherboard and video card to give him his fix... more data into the stream!

buy a nicer newer pci-express video card
sell old video card
buy nice motherboard
sell hun dan gou shi motherboard!

there ya go buddy, best advice for ya
edit:edit

 

[corkyg]

I think you're letting the tail wag the dog.

 

[Stumps]

Asrock 4coreDual VSTA....very nice and very cheap.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=4CoreDual-VSTA&s=775

 

[Blain]

VIA chipset... :thumbsdown:

 

[Puffnstuff]

You really should abandon agp altogether and get a new setup.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Blain
VIA chipset... :thumbsdown:

Yeah. That's why I got the Intel 865-based AsRock board. Every time I've purchased a Via chipset-based board, I've regreted it.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Time to make the leap, sell the old tech stuff for what you can get then

budget C2D P965 or 650i board $125
E4300 $125
2gb value DDR2 $80
Text
8600gt $150


Then when the new DX10 cards are out and prices drop, sell the 8600 and get a better card.

 

[elcamino74ss]

I'd go all new. I did the same. I had a s754 2800A64 with an evga 6600gt AGP and went to an AM2 3600+x2 on a Gigabyte SLI board. I also upgraded to a 7900gs and with some mild OC seems to be a nice upgrade for low net costs. I spent about 200 on board, cpu, and 1gb ram, then 160 on the vid card. I just sold off my 6600gt for $50 and may unload the old board, cpu, and ram for $100ish so my net out of pocket hasn't been too bad. Sell off those parts while you can before they end up in box in the closet and you end up tossing or giving away in a few years.

 

[Nathelion]

honestly, if you want a cpu upgrade, doesn't it make more sense for you to get one of those dirt cheap AMD processors on the market and just keep your old board? Otherwise, you might as well go all out and get all new stuff. I mean, pairing a high-end C2D with an obsolete video card in the interest of gaming performance just doesn't make sense. So patching up with a new AMD or getting all new stuff seems like the best idea to me.