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Looking at upgrading my current system...

D

DEredita

Senior member

I am considering upgrading my current system. Seems a bit slow compared to the current machines out on the market today I have used, and some of the apps I use at times peg the CPU usage to 100%.

Current system:

AMD Athlon 3500+ (Winchester - 90nm)
MSI Neo4 nForce4 Platinum
2 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR400 ram (4X512MB)
ATI Radeon X800XL
74 GB WD Raptor (10,000 rpm, 8 MB cache)
250 GB Maxtor (16MB Cache)
Windows XP Pro (w/SP 2)


First off - I am not gonna dump this system yet. Looking to get another year to year and a half out of it. Looks like the only thing left is the CPU. The hard drives are more than fine, the video is good enough for what I do, and the memory is maxed out. I am not familiar on overclocking, and don't feel like learning a painful lesson if something goes wrong.

I'm strongly considering going with an Opteron 185 processor. The FX60 is $515, while the very similar (from what I can tell) Opteron 185 is $335.

Would I notice a substantial difference in doing this upgrade?


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I don't game. I do use a lot of Photoshop, Imageready, Audio editing tools, watch HD video (CPU chokes), web design, etc etc...
 
tigerdirect has the fx60 for $399, but the Opty is still the better buy. You might want to consider the X2 4800 for $250 (mwave has it in stock), that's probably the best bang for you buck if you don't overclock.
 
No way would I spend $500 on a processor for that system, don't even know if I'd go over $300. Get an X2 4400+ (4800+ if you really want to spend the money) or something since your video is fine. The dual core should help with the CPU usage issue.
 
Opty 165 and a better vid card with whatever is left. You can get good OCing Opty 165 in FS/FT or hit up Newegg for a new one for $153.99 😉
Then pick up one of these and you'll be set.
 

Here is the replies from MSI:

End User 01/22/2007 I am looking to upgrade my computer and put in a faster processor. I would like to know if the AMD Opteron 185 (socket 939)(dual-core) is compatible with my motherboard now. Would I need to update my BIOS, or should it work like Plug-n-Play?

MSI Tech. 01/22/2007 CPU supporting list link for the mb:http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/..._cpu_support_detail.php?UID=637&kind=1 It does not support Opteron 185.

End User 01/22/2007 I am curious as to why the Opteron 185 is not supported, but yet it supports the FX-60, which is identical to the 185.

MSI Tech. 01/22/2007 It is not been support it and tested but you can install and use on your own risk.


 
Originally posted by: DEredita

Here is the replies from MSI:

End User 01/22/2007 I am looking to upgrade my computer and put in a faster processor. I would like to know if the AMD Opteron 185 (socket 939)(dual-core) is compatible with my motherboard now. Would I need to update my BIOS, or should it work like Plug-n-Play?

MSI Tech. 01/22/2007 CPU supporting list link for the mb:http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/..._cpu_support_detail.php?UID=637&kind=1 It does not support Opteron 185.

End User 01/22/2007 I am curious as to why the Opteron 185 is not supported, but yet it supports the FX-60, which is identical to the 185.

MSI Tech. 01/22/2007 It is not been support it and tested but you can install and use on your own risk.
Click to expand...

now the real question is raised: where is MSI's support? surely it's not outsourced

i agree with the others with going with something cheaper. honestly you're not going to notice any difference dropping from the opty 185/fx-60 to a 4800x2 or 4400. personally i would go with a 3800x2. believe me, that $135 should do the trick. no need to spend 2.5x as much
 
I am looking for something high end on the processing side to tie me over until I build my next system in '08: dual socket 2 x quad-core processors w/ 4 - 8 GB ram. 😀
 
In this case, not supported probably just means that it'll work but you're on your own if you have any problems with it. This was pretty common with the Socket 939 Opterons.
 
Its not supported because of AMD. They don't want non-server boards supporting the server-class CPUs, Opterons, in order to make people buy the X2/FX line of CPUs instead of the Opterons. AMD lowered the price of the Opterons to make them more attractive as cheap server CPUs. They were so cheap, that many people were buying them and OC'ing them for desktop usage. So AMD had to reverse the trend (by readjusting prices), and that included making sure the mobo manufacturers' cpu list only listed the mainstream CPU's, and not the Opterons. Many people are using Opterons on non-server/workstation boards, including myself. AMD wants you to buy the FX62 instead of the Opteron 185. The Opteron 185 should work in your board.
 
if you're not a gamer, the only upgrade i see logical is to upgrade your CPU to the fastest clocked AMD 939 Opteron or X2... you'll see a huge increase in performance
 
Cool, thanks guys. I found the FX60 listed for $399 at some big name site. The Opteron 185 is $335. I was looking for a top of the line processor since it's extremely doubtful I'll do any overclocking with it. Like right now, I have my current processor bumped up to 2210 mhz - lol I truly doubt my 10mhz overclock puts me into the category of sick overclockers. LOL!!!!!!!
 
We all understand wanting to get the most kickass components we can afford, but I totally agree with everyone saying there's no reason to spend as much money as you're looking at. Looking at your list of things you do, unless you're doing some serious rendering there's no reason to get anything faster than the 4400, and even the 3800 would probably more than suffice.
 
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