cheap upgrade or no?

[Sniper82]

got a 1800+@2.2ghz was thinking about buying a used Mobile 2600+ that does at least 2.4ghz(maybe more). Would I see any difference by doing this? Will have about $25-$30 in it after selling my current chip.

Or just wait another 6-8 months and go Nforce 4/A64?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Is the CPU your main bottleneck for whatever is annoying you with its slowness?

 

[Sniper82]

My video card is but I am waiting on companies to release the 6600gt AGP version. Figured why I was waiting I could get a mobile and o/c it a little more. Would another 200-300mhz plus 512k L2 (versus 256k on the CPU I got now) make much difference performance wise? Or should I just put the extra $25-$30 toward the card?

 

[Rike]

I'm in a similar situation (2100+ @ 2300GHz). I've decided to wait for the A64's to get SSE3 and then bite the bullet. I've almost bought a bartron core more times than I can count. But the gains just don't justify the money. (No, I don't NEED SSE3, but I always like to get my money's worth. Besides it makes a good marker. Got to pull the trigger some time.)

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Rike
I'm in a similar situation (2100+ @ 2300GHz). I've decided to wait for the A64's to get SSE3 and then bite the bullet. I've almost bought a bartron core more times than I can count. But the gains just don't justify the money. (No, I don't NEED SSE3, but I always like to get my money's worth. Besides it makes a good marker. Got to pull the trigger some time.)

I forgot what i heard about sse3 but it was somthing that wasnt a valid reason for not buying it not like not me using it refresh my memory what it is?

 

[Rike]

SSE3 is part of the reason that P4's still beat up A64's some apps (mostly video/audio encoding and 3D rendering). These special instructions are like short cuts for the processors to get some types of work done. Processors that don?t have the special instructions can still do the same work but they have to go the long way. They are only an advantage if the program is coded to use them.

And no, it?s not a great reason to wait, but like I said, I needed a marker, so I just chose one.


Edit: Sorry, getting a bit off topic. Sniper, just wait a bit. I can't see that it's going to hurt. BTW, I'll be upgrading my vid card soon also. HL2 just isn't all it should be. 😉

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Rike
SSE3 is part of the reason that P4's still beat up A64's some apps (mostly video/audio encoding and 3D rendering). These special instructions are like short cuts for the processors to get some types of work done. Processors that don?t have the special instructions can still do the same work but they have to go the long way. They are only an advantage if the program is coded to use them.

And no, it?s not a great reason to wait, but like I said, I needed a marker, so I just chose one.

Oh yeah the what 2 programs that take advantage of them. They dont win by much in those cases anyways.

Hey im waiting until Q3 2005 to upgrade. Im holdin on lol.

-Kevin

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: Rike
SSE3 is part of the reason that P4's still beat up A64's some apps (mostly video/audio encoding and 3D rendering). These special instructions are like short cuts for the processors to get some types of work done. Processors that don?t have the special instructions can still do the same work but they have to go the long way. They are only an advantage if the program is coded to use them.

And no, it?s not a great reason to wait, but like I said, I needed a marker, so I just chose one.

Oh yeah the what 2 programs that take advantage of them. They dont win by much in those cases anyways.

Hey im waiting until Q3 2005 to upgrade. Im holdin on lol.

-Kevin

While I admit I am no programmer, I understand that SSE3 makes coding multimedia and multithreaded programs in C++ more efficient. Also, if you think about it, why in the world would AMD go to the trouble of including SSE3 in their next stepping of the A64 and Opteron if it wasn?t used?

Sniper: Sorry, I didn?t mean to hijack your thread. This SSE3 discussion belongs in the Highly Technical forum. I?ll drop it here.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you are sure you can sell your current CPU, then for sure I'd probably do it because overclocking fun is worth more than $30 to me 🙂

Besides you can probably get that boy to 2.5-2.6ghz if you try hard. Performance wise, it might not be worth it and since you already have a decent setup why the hassle? But if you enjoy overclocking and don't mind spending $30, I'd do it.

On the other hand, you can already get 6600GT AGP. Sure it costs $225 on Pricewatch vs. $180 for PCIe version. However, think of it like this: $225 - $30 you'd spend to get the mobile, so your cost is now $195. So get the 6600GT AGP now and enjoy playing games on it now, not 2 months from now when the price falls to $180 for the AGP version.