Is it really worth it to get an AMD64 processor?

[jimithing2077]

Alright here's a little situation im in right now...

Im currently in the process of figuring out what I should buy to upgrade my system. Here are the specs..

Epox 8rda+ Rev: 1.1
AMD Athlon XP 2400+
WD 80gb caviar
Kingston HyperX 512mb pc2700
LiteOn 52x24x52 CD-RW
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Antec Case (350W PS)


Now here's what I want to know: I plan on buying a 6800NU graphics card and 512mb RAM for sure, however, would upgrading my processor to lets say...an AMD 64 3400+ really make that much of a difference if i didnt do it? I was looking at some benchmarks online and it seems that scores are more related to a powerful graphics card, and not much of an impact comes from the actual CPU.

Just wondering if I would see much of a difference from keeping my old CPU and getting a newer 64 3400+ while upgrading my vid card and memory.

 

[CraigRT]

If you are going to keep the 9600 card, dont get an A64 just yet, but if you are going to upgrade the video to 6800 soon, then do the A64 upgrade, because a 6800 won't shine fully until you have a powerful CPU to back it ! it will be a lot better than the 9600, but with an A64 it would just be all that much better

 

[jimithing2077]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
If you are going to keep the 9600 card, dont get an A64 just yet, but if you are going to upgrade the video to 6800 soon, then do the A64 upgrade, because a 6800 won't shine fully until you have a powerful CPU to back it ! it will be a lot better than the 9600, but with an A64 it would just be all that much better

Yeah I see where you are coming from..

but..

lets say this: I purchase a 6800NU and 512mb RAM. Would buying a A64 3400+ be that much bigger of an impact if i just kept the 2400+?

 

[CraigRT]

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean fully, but.. it would not be quite as big of an impact as the video card, I don't think. It really does depend on the games you play.
UT2K4 for example, when going to my Athlon64, I noticed MUCH smoother overall gameplay, whereas Doom3, it only helped marginally (because I am video card limited there - 9800 Pro)

 

[jimithing2077]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean fully, but.. it would not be quite as big of an impact as the video card, I don't think. It really does depend on the games you play.
UT2K4 for example, when going to my Athlon64, I noticed MUCH smoother overall gameplay, whereas Doom3, it only helped marginally (because I am video card limited there - 9800 Pro)

yeah sorry about that, im having a hard time trying to word this..let me try again

lets say i have 2 options:
1) Keep my 2400+, upgrade from 9600pro to 6800NU, buy 512mb RAM (total of 1gb)
2) Buy 3400+, upgrade from 9600pro to 6800NU, buy 512mb RAM (total of 1gb)

The only difference between the two options is that in one I would keep my old processor, but in the second i would also upgrade my processor to a A64.

Im wondering if there would be that much of a performance difference from just keeping my old proc and getting the new upgrades...or if i get the new upgrades AND a new processor. Would the A64 help out the vid card and memory that much more than just keeping my XP 2400?

 

[Zebo]

Unles you overclock that 2400 heavily, like 2400Mhz, the A64 3400 will be twice as fast in games.

 

[Ariste]

It really depends upon which games you play. Some games are very graphics card dependent, while others will get a huge performance boost from a better CPU.

Personally, I would go with option 2 and upgrade the RAM, video card, and processor. I would do this because if you stick with your XP 2400+, your brand new 6800NU will be heavily bottlenecked by it and not be able to work to it's potential. By going to an Athlon 64 (it doesn't necessarily have to be a 3400+, by the way. Even a 3000+ will be MUCH faster than your current CPU), you will remove that bottleneck and every part of your system will benefit.

If I were you, I would get another 512MB of RAM, the 6800 NU, and an Athlon 64 3000+. The 3000+ should blow away your XP 2400+ and if it is not fast enough for you, you could always overclock it to 3400+ speeds. By doing this, you save some money on your upgrade and will still have a huge performance boost.

Good luck with your upgrade,

 

[Zebo]

I'd just get a combo deal on the a64 2800 from mwave.com with farcry for $222. OC to 3400 and get the graphics card. Screw the ram. Only one game I've found 1 gig somewhat useful , farcry...but not nessesary. You can even use your PC2700 w/o much degredation in performance.

Do you overclock?

 

[BuckNaked]

You might check the graphs here and see how the various CPU's scale with a 6800 Ultra... I know you said you were considering a 6800 NU, but the graph still seems relevant for comparing one CPU against another.

 

[jimithing2077]

Originally posted by: Ariste
It really depends upon which games you play. Some games are very graphics card dependent, while others will get a huge performance boost from a better CPU.

Personally, I would go with option 2 and upgrade the RAM, video card, and processor. I would do this because if you stick with your XP 2400+, your brand new 6800NU will be heavily bottlenecked by it and not be able to work to it's potential. By going to an Athlon 64 (it doesn't necessarily have to be a 3400+, by the way. Even a 3000+ will be MUCH faster than your current CPU), you will remove that bottleneck and every part of your system will benefit.

If I were you, I would get another 512MB of RAM, the 6800 NU, and an Athlon 64 3000+. The 3000+ should blow away your XP 2400+ and if it is not fast enough for you, you could always overclock it to 3400+ speeds. By doing this, you save some money on your upgrade and will still have a huge performance boost.

Good luck with your upgrade,

hey thanks a lot for the input, everyone especially...yeah i think i might bump it down to a 3200+

whats a good mobo to go for? Right now im lookin' towards the MSI K8N Neo Plantinum..good choice?

 

[jimithing2077]

Originally posted by: Zebo
I'd just get a combo deal on the a64 2800 from mwave.com with farcry for $222. OC to 3400 and get the graphics card. Screw the ram. Only one game I've found 1 gig somewhat useful , farcry...but not nessesary. You can even use your PC2700 w/o much degredation in performance.

Do you overclock?

no ive usually kept everything stock

I havent really ever explored overclocking, or what settings to exactly play around with in the BIOS. Im sure if i knew what to do i would tho

 

[Ariste]

whats a good mobo to go for? Right now im lookin' towards the MSI K8N Neo Plantinum..good choice?

I wouldn't go with the K8N Neo Platinum right now. I've heard a lot of reports that it is a very buggy board. I'd look into something like the Epox EP-8KDA3J. From everything I've read it is a very stable board and is one of the best overclocking boards if you decide to go that route. I've also heard good things about the Chaintech VNF-250. It doesn't have many features, but it is stable and a great overclocker.

Hope this helps,

 

[jimithing2077]

Originally posted by: Ariste

whats a good mobo to go for? Right now im lookin' towards the MSI K8N Neo Plantinum..good choice?

I wouldn't go with the K8N Neo Platinum right now. I've heard a lot of reports that it is a very buggy board. I'd look into something like the Epox EP-8KDA3J. From everything I've read it is a very stable board and is one of the best overclocking boards if you decide to go that route. I've also heard good things about the Chaintech VNF-250. It doesn't have many features, but it is stable and a great overclocker.

Hope this helps,

Ariste, I think i might lean towards the Chaintech. Currently im running an Epox board and very impressed with it, however im not a big overclocker and the Epox board is running pretty high in the price range. THe chaintech looks to be just as stable and a LOT cheaper

BTW: Im not sure where to post this, but how much do you think i could get for an Epox 8rda+/XP 2400+/9600 Pro? If i do upgrade ill sell these in the FS/FT forum, just wondering what you guys think i could sell all 3 for as a bundle

 

[Zebo]

Overclcoking is easy.. On your $77 chaintech board just leave it a default Vcore...mabye 1.6 max if you need it..very doubtful... then set HTT to 250, mem to 133 which will give you PC2700, same ram as you have. Then the chip is now 2250Mhz instead of 1800.

 

[Ariste]

Ariste, I think i might lean towards the Chaintech. Currently im running an Epox board and very impressed with it, however im not a big overclocker and the Epox board is running pretty high in the price range. THe chaintech looks to be just as stable and a LOT cheaper

BTW: Im not sure where to post this, but how much do you think i could get for an Epox 8rda+/XP 2400+/9600 Pro? If i do upgrade ill sell these in the FS/FT forum, just wondering what you guys think i could sell all 3 for as a bundle

I think you're looking at the wrong Epox board. The EP-8KDA3J is not the same as the EP-8KDA3+. The J version is only $99, which is not that much more expensive than the Chanitech. The only difference between the J version and the + version is that the J version has less SATA connectors. It is exactly the same otherwise.

If you still decide to go with the Chaintech, though, you will be fine. I've only heard good things about the Chaintech. I think that the Epox has more features, but both should perform about the same.

Good luck,

 

[jimithing2077]

Im not sure where to post this, but how much do you think i could get for an Epox 8rda+/XP 2400+/9600 Pro? If i do upgrade ill sell these in the FS/FT forum, just wondering what you guys think i could sell all 3 for as a bundle

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: jimithing2077
Im not sure where to post this, but how much do you think i could get for an Epox 8rda+/XP 2400+/9600 Pro? If i do upgrade ill sell these in the FS/FT forum, just wondering what you guys think i could sell all 3 for as a bundle

It might be better to simply go take a look around both in that forum, and on eBay, even parts individually, and see if you can sell them as a bundle, or individually. should be able to get like $200 for that i would think? maybe a little more, i really don't know what people would pay.

 

[jimithing2077]

MB nFORCE3-250 EP-8KDA3J EPOX RTL 1 $99.00
CPU AMD 64 |3200+ ATHLON 64 512KRTL 1 $216.00
DDR 512MB PC2700 HYPERX -KINGST RET 1 $115.00

Subtotal $430.00
Tax $.00
Shipping and Handling $.00
Total $430.00


Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.....the feeling of pride after a great newegg.com shopping spree

Ill soon let everyone know how well the upgrade went! All i need now is to sell my old setup so i can afford my eVGA 6800NU

 

[Zebo]

I think that ram, and the one you have above is winbond BH_5...definity Ch-5 which will run PC3200 easy. Probably at very low latency like 2-2-2. Good luck.