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Life expectancy of XP processors

P

Parasitic

Diamond Member
I am contemplating an upgrade right now to A64, but don't know if I should do it. The main issue is that my XP 2500+ Mobile still runs fine...so I don't know what I should do.

This is what I have:

Abit NF7-S Rev 2
XP2500+ Mobile @ 200*10 (I've tried and it seems to peak 2.4GHz)
2*512 Mushkin PC3200 Level I (Mosel chips, CAS 2.0-3-2-6 at 200 by SPD)

Upgrading to A64 will offer me some benefits:
1. Faster processor
2. More sATA ports (currently running a Raptor 36 with a Plextor DVD-RW, but can use more sATA ports to house another Raptor)
3. I can hook up half a gig more memory with 4 slots onboard (have 2 sticks of Corsair XMS3200C2 lying around)

But obviously it'll cost some dough. I also have to drop my Radeon 9700 which still works fine as is.

So...how much more life is there on my feeble XP setup?
 
Also is NF3 Ultra a bad choice for Venice? I've looked at the combination at Newegg with a retail 3000+ and an Epox board...seems like a good intermediate upgrade.

Now, is 3000+ much faster than my 2500+ overclocked?
 
I would not go with an NF3 for a Venice. If anything, just get the A8N regular non-SLI/Deluxe. I mean you'll get more benefit out of that than going with an NF3.
 
the x700's on pci-e are comparable to the 9800 pro and dirt cheap now, the x700 is 75 bucks now and the x700pro is around 100 retail

the 6600gt are around 130-140, there is an x800 (maybe pro) that is 170 and has a 30.00 mail-in-rebate

a 3000+ is a little faster than a xp-m overclocked to 2.5/2.6

but with a decent board (like the epox nf4) you should be getting 2.5-2.7 on the 3000+

your ram is fine, if you have a decent psu, selling your board/cpu/videocard and going to socket 939 is not as much as you think
 
Nforce3 boards are agp not pci-e. So you could keep your 9700. I would recommend going pci-e though if your upgrading to 939 anyway. Newegg has pci-e socket 939 boards ranging from 68.5 $ to 135 $. A decent one will get you to 2.5 - 2.7. It should be a nice performance increase.

You could try running some bechmarks and compare them to a review or results posted here to get an idea of what to expect.
 
Originally posted by: Parasitic
I am contemplating an upgrade right now to A64, but don't know if I should do it. The main issue is that my XP 2500+ Mobile still runs fine...so I don't know what I should do.

This is what I have:

Abit NF7-S Rev 2
XP2500+ Mobile @ 200*10 (I've tried and it seems to peak 2.4GHz)
2*512 Mushkin PC3200 Level I (Mosel chips, CAS 2.0-3-2-6 at 200 by SPD)

Upgrading to A64 will offer me some benefits:
1. Faster processor
2. More sATA ports (currently running a Raptor 36 with a Plextor DVD-RW, but can use more sATA ports to house another Raptor)
3. I can hook up half a gig more memory with 4 slots onboard (have 2 sticks of Corsair XMS3200C2 lying around)

But obviously it'll cost some dough. I also have to drop my Radeon 9700 which still works fine as is.

So...how much more life is there on my feeble XP setup?
Click to expand...

I dunno man, I think these are perfectly fine platforms ATM. I mostly game and do office apps though.

Why not crank your multi up to 11 ?

Re: ram timings, you'll get a bit better performance with the last value set 10 or 11 instead of 6.

BTW, you can drop another slab of ram in there, borrow a stick of one gig and put it in slot #3 for a balance DC config. Although the mobo manual says only FSB 333mhz is supported with 3 sticks, others with 3 are running at FSB 200mhz and higher.

Even if it was a problem, just up the multi on that unlocked mobile to get the CPU back to 2 -2.2 ghz.

Fern
 
Originally posted by: Fern
Originally posted by: Parasitic
I am contemplating an upgrade right now to A64, but don't know if I should do it. The main issue is that my XP 2500+ Mobile still runs fine...so I don't know what I should do.

This is what I have:

Abit NF7-S Rev 2
XP2500+ Mobile @ 200*10 (I've tried and it seems to peak 2.4GHz)
2*512 Mushkin PC3200 Level I (Mosel chips, CAS 2.0-3-2-6 at 200 by SPD)

Upgrading to A64 will offer me some benefits:
1. Faster processor
2. More sATA ports (currently running a Raptor 36 with a Plextor DVD-RW, but can use more sATA ports to house another Raptor)
3. I can hook up half a gig more memory with 4 slots onboard (have 2 sticks of Corsair XMS3200C2 lying around)

But obviously it'll cost some dough. I also have to drop my Radeon 9700 which still works fine as is.

So...how much more life is there on my feeble XP setup?
Click to expand...

I dunno man, I think these are perfectly fine platforms ATM. I mostly game and do office apps though.

Why not crank your multi up to 11 ?

Re: ram timings, you'll get a bit better performance with the last value set 10 or 11 instead of 6.

BTW, you can drop another slab of ram in there, borrow a stick of one gig and put it in slot #3 for a balance DC config. Although the mobo manual says only FSB 333mhz is supported with 3 sticks, others with 3 are running at FSB 200mhz and higher.

Even if it was a problem, just up the multi on that unlocked mobile to get the CPU back to 2 -2.2 ghz.

Fern
Click to expand...

Hmm...yeah, I wonder why he's running at 2GHz instead of 2.4GHz. That alone should provide a relatively decent boost in apps/games...
 
If you're buying a new board and cpu, then go with pci-e. I was in the same situation a month ago (xp-m 2.4ghz/9800p) and the system was still decent for gaming and everything else, but I was starting to feel it struggle with the latest games. Most modern games are gpu-bound at higher settings and resolutions, which means that even with an FX-57 your 9700 will not run games as smoothly as a AXP with a 6800gt. Also, there's no telling how much longer agp will be around, but its days are numbered for sure, so if you're building a new system, s939/pci-e is the way to go.
 
Originally posted by: Powermoloch
Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
You may want to check out the new ASRock board that AT just did a review/article on...

Link

(Socket 939, AGP and PCI-E, etc.)
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I agree, take a look at that board. That ULi chipset is outstanding.
 
Hey all,

Thanks for the comments. I am currently running 2.0GHz because I can keep the system running cool at a low voltage of 1.475v.
Lemme run Sandra and post the results here then (along with whatever else benchies you guys recommend).
 
Also, I've been reading reviews but those NF3 Ultra boards with Socket 939 aren't really popular...are they that bad compared to NF4? I was thinking about keeping my Radeon 9700 (well, 9500 softmod) so it seems cheap and logical to go NF3, but of course I am open to the opinion of you guys.
 
Ok, here are some quick numbers

Current config: CPU = 200*10, Memory = 200MHz, CAS 2.0-3-3-11
CPU Arithmetic
Dhrystone ALU = 8128 MIPS
Whetstone FPU = 3150 MFLOPS

CPU Multimedia
Int x4 aEMMX/aSSE = 18852 it/s
Float x4 aSSE = 20068 it/s

Memory Bandwidth (50%, default setting in SANDRA)
Int aEMMX/aSSE = 3085 MB/s
Float aEMMX/aSSE = 2889 MB/s

Overclocked config: 217*11 = 2388 MHz, Memory = 217MHz, CAS 2.5-3-3-11
CPU Arithmetic
Dhrystone ALU = 9677 MIPS
Whetstone FPU = 3763 MFLOPS

CPU Multimedia
Int x4 aEMMX/aSSE = 22510 it/s
Float x4 aSSE = 23895 it/s

Memory Bandwidth (50%, default setting in SANDRA)
Int aEMMX/aSSE = 3324 MB/s
Float aEMMX/aSSE = 3110 MB/s

How do these numbers look in comparison to you guys' settings? I find the comparo numbers quoted in SANDRA lower than expected.
 
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Also, I've been reading reviews but those NF3 Ultra boards with Socket 939 aren't really popular...are they that bad compared to NF4? I was thinking about keeping my Radeon 9700 (well, 9500 softmod) so it seems cheap and logical to go NF3, but of course I am open to the opinion of you guys.
Click to expand...

Well, DFI has an NF3 Ultra s939 board (finally). I haven't heard of anyone using it, but if it's anything like its s754 and s939 NF4 cousin, it should be a beast of a board.

Whoops, sorry...that board still hasn't reached market yet :X

Here, have an Epox.
Text

*Edit*
Ooh, wait. Possibly even better.
Text

This guy is based on the ULi M1695 chipset. Check it out, Anand reviewed it very recently. Should be on the front page of the home site. The performance of this guy is top notch, plus you can hit up PCI-express whenever you are ready to do so, while using AGP in the meantime. The thing overclocks pretty decently as well, but probably isn't going to be good for Winbond memory users.
 
Originally posted by: Avalon
Here, have an Epox.
Text
Click to expand...

I've looked at the 9NDA3J for a while; in fact, I was going to get the retail 3000+ Venice with that board. However, people say that if I want to run Venice I will need NF4 for max potential, and I can't really find reviews about the flaws of the Epox...so to be skeptical I am wondering whether I should go for it or not.

And that ULi chipset sounds promising, but I'd like more sATA ports and firewire for my iPod.

 
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