Best upgrade path for a 6800

[DubyaDisciple]

I have a Athlon 1800+ with PC2100 Dual DDR (2x256MB) on a NF2. I ordered a 6800 Ultra and was wondering if I'd get decent results out of the card by throwing in a AXP 3200+ or should I buy a A64 3000+ (or so)?

I'd prefer to just buy the processor (of course), because my memory should match up well as AXPs generally dont need over 2.1GB of bandwidth to perform at their peak.. (the mem, Crucial, will not overclock well at all)

while with going A64 I'd need new mem/mobo/cpu... all that. Of course if I can get by with a $150 investment in a AXP 3200+ (as long as my memory wouldnt be holding it back significantly) is much more desirable.

I looked at the HardOCP Doom3 hardware guide and its great in telling me some answers.. but doesnt address if you dont have DDR333/400 memory on a 3200+AXP..

My thought is the memory shouldnt be a bottleneck at all on any AXP (it is in dual DDR... and I never knew AXPs to ever need more than 4.2GB/sec without using the onboard GF4MX)

thanks in advance!

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: DubyaDisciple
I have a Athlon 1800+ with PC2100 Dual DDR (2x256MB) on a NF2. I ordered a 6800 Ultra and was wondering if I'd get decent results out of the card by throwing in a AXP 3200+ or should I buy a A64 3000+ (or so)?

I'd prefer to just buy the processor (of course), because my memory should match up well as AXPs generally dont need over 2.1GB of bandwidth to perform at their peak.. (the mem, Crucial, will not overclock well at all)

while with going A64 I'd need new mem/mobo/cpu... all that. Of course if I can get by with a $150 investment in a AXP 3200+ (as long as my memory wouldnt be holding it back significantly) is much more desirable.

I looked at the HardOCP Doom3 hardware guide and its great in telling me some answers.. but doesnt address if you dont have DDR333/400 memory on a 3200+AXP..

My thought is the memory shouldnt be a bottleneck at all on any AXP (it is in dual DDR... and I never knew AXPs to ever need more than 4.2GB/sec without using the onboard GF4MX)

thanks in advance!

I just upgraded my RAM from 768 333MHz to 1GB 400MHz. In researching this I didn't find much difference between the 333/400 online, or in benchmarking. I did see articles that showed a BIG difference in PC2100 vs PC3200 though, but I can't remember where. If you google "PC2700 vs. PC3200" you'll come across it.

 

[TStep]

Here is an Xbit lab article that shows the effects of PC2700 vs PC3200, so I think you can interpolate backwards to PC2100. On QuakeIII there seems to be about a 3% increase in performance going from fsb 166 to 200. Remember that is DDR in sync, not async, so the whole system is working faster for that 3% increase. I think you can conclude with some degree of accuracy that you may see a 6-7% inprovement in bumping from fsb 133 to 200. Also note the importance of the tighter timings, as tight timing PC2700 is faster than loose timing PC3200.

 

[Marsumane]

Originally posted by: TStep
Here is an Xbit lab article that shows the effects of PC2700 vs PC3200, so I think you can interpolate backwards to PC2100. On QuakeIII there seems to be about a 3% increase in performance going from fsb 166 to 200. Remember that is DDR in sync, not async, so the whole system is working faster for that 3% increase. I think you can conclude with some degree of accuracy that you may see a 6-7% inprovement in bumping from fsb 133 to 200. Also note the importance of the tighter timings, as tight timing PC2700 is faster than loose timing PC3200.

This is more so true with amd's archetecture then pentiums. The short pipelines require less memory bandwidth to feed the processor with data to crunch in comparison to the P4's.

Anyways, Are u into overclocking? if so, get a 2500+ barton and oc it to 3200+. If not, buy a 3000+ or a 3200+ (depending on price diff if its worth it or not). If you can afford it, the 3000+A64 is much better for gaming then the 3200+, but im sure either would suit your needs fine. They are all excellent performers.