Help me select cpu + mobo

[Hussain]

First of all i don't live in usa so my options are somewhat limited . Secondly i am a hardcore gamer and don't do much else on my pc. Here is my problem.

Recently i bought an x850 pro agp and was able to unlock the extra four pipelines but then my motherboard went bad on me. I gave my barton 3000+ to my sister and proceeded to buy new mobo + cpu for me. So here are my options:

Option 1:
Athlon 64 3500 plus motherboard = 200 dollars
and i keep my existing 1gb ram and graphic card.

Option 2:
Amd x2 4200 + motherboard = 280 dollars
Sell my 1 gb ram and buy new ddr2 1gb ram = 40$
Sell my x850 pro (unlocked) and buy 7600 gt= 80$


So is it worth it because both processors are clocked at 2.2 gigahertz. From what i have heard all games now are single threaded, so no use having a dual core processor. What do you think.

Thanking you.

P.S: Can somebody tell me what kind of mobo is this for gaming.

http://in.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=68&model=1119&modelmenu=2

 

[happy medium]

1.Buy a 3800x2 for 136.00$ and overclock it to 2.3 very easily. From newegg.com
2 sell your apg card and buy a pci-e 7600gt for 130.00. (Since you don't game much)
3 grab a pci-e AMD board cheap that can overclock for about 130.00$
4.ram which i'm sure many can help you with

 

[Blain]

"i am a hardcore gamer and don't do much else on my pc."

I'm cheap...
I'd go for the $200 option, especially since you're not multitasking.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Blain
"i am a hardcore gamer and don't do much else on my pc."

I'm cheap...
I'd go for the $200 option, especially since you're not multitasking.

TRue that!

If anyone told me that they needed a board and CPU I"d steer them to a pci-e board. That was my point.

 

[Roguestar]

Get the single-core if you're just gaming. Save the cash for an x1950Pro AGP.

 

[Hussain]

Actually i just bought the 850 pro agp a month ago and after overclocking it gives me approximately the same benchmarks as 7600gt.

Also i mentioned usa to show that i don't have all the options that people in usa have. My options are simply limited to only the above two. So kindly tell me what is the performance boost i am gonna get by buying a amd 4200 am2 processor as compared to amd 64 3500 in games. Any benchmarks would be much appreciated.

If all the games are going to play the same on both these processors than i would much rather stick with my 850 pro because taking a loss on a 1 month old graphic card is really gonna feel bad. Also it is gonna save me 200$ in cash.

 

[Hussain]

Also somebody please look into specs of the motherboard i posted above and guide me about it's specs.

 

[chris huff]

Don't know if you have access to this, but here is what I'm going to do.

ASRock 775Dual-VSTA MB - $56.00 Uses AGP or PCI, uses DDR or DDR2

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 - $180.

So, for about $240, you get a C2D and a mb that will allow you to upgrade to PCI and DDR2 when you are ready.

BTW, the MB got good reviews Here at Anandtech

 

[Hussain]

Sorry i don't have accss to the board you mentioned. But the board i mentioned has a pci express slot as well but it only takes ddr ram which is fine by me.
I am only asking that what is the performance boost i am going to get with amd 4200 am2 processor as compared to amd 64 3500+ in games and is it worth the extra 200 bucks. any reviews of amd am2 4200 would be helpful.

 

[chris huff]

You can play around at Toms CPU Comparitor to get a rough idea.

It looks like it will be a decent bump for you.

 

[Blain]

The Asrock 775Dual-VSTA uses a VIA chipset. :thumbsdown::roll:

 

[Hussain]

what is core for am2 4200 and 3500. i mean there are several 4200 and 3500 plus listed there. I am still waiting for an expert opinion by highly skilled members of this forum

 

[Aluvus]

If all you're really concerned about is gaming performance, there is very little benefit to the dual core processor, and certainly not enough to justify the extra expense and hoops it would involve in your situation.

The Asus A8V-X is based on a VIA chipset (which most people are not fond of). You can find a review of its bigger brother (with more built-in features, and a different Southbridge) here. Skimming the customer reviews of other A8V boards at Newegg, nothing sticks out as glaringly bad. But I have no personal experience with them.

 

[bob4432]

do you have any other options besides the am2 x2 4200 and 7600gt in pci-e?

 

[Hussain]

No these are my only two options.

 

[Hussain]

why is VIA chipset not popular. What was considered a better chipset at the time.
what is a southbridge. does having a different southbridge make a difference.

 

[bob4432]

personally i would go the cheaper, $200 route. basically, once you get over say ~ a a64 3200 (2.0GHz) the cpu no longer becomes a bottlneck. the actual speed may be a bit slower but a a64 3200 is very safe. you with a 3500 is very good.

as far as benchmarks, i too have seen where you can get the x850 to be pretty = to a 7600gt, with sometimes the x850xtpe's beating the 7600gt, so that card is no slouch.

imo, i would say with great certainty you will not see any benefit with going with the 4200 setup and there is no reason for you to get it. games are prety much gpu limited and cards are pretty =, or can be made that way with a bit of o/cing the x850. personally i play bf2 and coh. with bf2 i don't see a difference between my current rig in sig from when i had the p4 @ 2.8 northwood and a x800xtpe. if i benchmark there is a difference but i am over what i can actually see either way, so over ~40fps.

i hope this helps. i may not be the expert you are looking for but this is what i have experienced firsthand and read probably thousands of times on different forums.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: happy medium
1.Buy a 3800x2 for 136.00$ and overclock it to 2.4 very easily. From newegg.com
2 sell your apg card and buy a pci-e x1950xt for 250.00. or 8800gts if you have money.
3 grab a pci-e AMD board cheap that can overclock for about 130.00$
4.ram which i'm sure many can help you with

EDIT for sleepyness : I was a little tired forgive me. I just got out of bed when I wrote this originally.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: happy medium
1.Buy a 3800x2 for 136.00$ and overclock it to 2.4 very easily. From newegg.com
2 sell your apg card and buy a pci-e x1950xt for 250.00. or 8800gts if you have money.
3 grab a pci-e AMD board cheap that can overclock for about 130.00$
4.ram which i'm sure many can help you with

EDIT for sleepyness : I was a little tired forgive me. I just got out of bed when I wrote this originally.

First of all i don't live in usa so my options are somewhat limited

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: happy medium
1.Buy a 3800x2 for 136.00$ and overclock it to 2.4 very easily. From newegg.com
2 sell your apg card and buy a pci-e x1950xt for 250.00. or 8800gts if you have money.
3 grab a pci-e AMD board cheap that can overclock for about 130.00$
4.ram which i'm sure many can help you with

EDIT for sleepyness : I was a little tired forgive me. I just got out of bed when I wrote this originally.

First of all i don't live in usa so my options are somewhat limited

No places with international shipping? Sucks!

 

[thuganomics]

Get a Core2Duo instead of AMD x2, its a huge difference when i changed from X2 4200+ to my E6300.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: thuganomics
Get a Core2Duo instead of AMD x2, its a huge difference when i changed from X2 4200+ to my E6300.

it made a huge difference where? not gaming i would suspect and that is the area of greatest/only concern

also, he gave us the options he has which are unfortunately limited but fine for his needs since you make do with you have

 

[Hussain]

Thankyou for all your help. Just one more thing what's wrong with via chipset and what is better chipset for motherboard than this one.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Hussain
Thankyou for all your help. Just one more thing what's wrong with via chipset and what is better chipset for motherboard than this one.

usually the intel and nvida and amd/ati chipsets perform a bit better. this was not always the case though. it seems the enthusiast crowd likes them more, i think better o/cing. it seems they don't offer as much as the others.

for a 939 chip a nforce 4 chipset works pretty good.

 

[Hussain]

I have read different comparison specially one comparison done by xbit labs which shows that the amd x2 4200 (939 socket) at max contained a 2fps advantage over 3500+. So i have decided to shun the complete system overall and go for amd 3500+. I will try to find a nforce 4 chipset though. i think msi has one called neo-4.