Need a push off my Socket A ass

[ARME]

I need everyones help. I want to finally get off this socket a processor but I need help.
Right now I have:

Motherboard
amd 2800+
IDE 120gb HD
ATI x800xl agp
patriot 1gb 184 pc2700
X-FI

All I want is a new motherboard and processor. I plan on keeping everything else and performing no further upgrades. So what processor/motherboard should I get. Keep in mind the motherboard has to be agp and be able to accept my old HD and ram. I want the processor to be good enough so it won't be a bottleneck for the x800xl and a motherboard that can overclock the cpu. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a 939 3800+. What do you guys think? Is it a waste to get anything better? Thanks.

 

[Ricemarine]

Probably a nforce3 motherboard and a 3800+?...

 

[Conky]

Get an ASRock 775-DualVSTA and an E6300 from Newegg.com and thank me profusely afterwards.

You won't be able to overclock much but for $246.11 you will have a very fast system to start with.

 

[AllWhacked]

Depending on how much you want to spend, you can go the way Beachboy suggested, which is perfectly viable. Or if you don't mind a crappier board and live near a Fry's electronics, they usually run a promo to sell a retail e6300 w/ an ECS board (same chipset as the ASrock) for $170 or $200 for an e6400. Or you can get an OEM A64 3400 w/ Biostar nForce 4 board at NewEgg for $100.00. Just remember to buy an after market Heatsink.

 

[cmv]

If you get the Asrock board verify that your AGP card is 100% supported. I brought one of the P4Dual Asrock boards and when I use a Geforce 4 MX card in the AGP slot the CPU usage is very high. I stuck in a PCIe 6200 board and it went back to normal. I do not know if the AGI Express slot is ALWAYS like this or if the supported boards will mean no such high CPU usage. I have to try another AGP board I just got today (MX 440) out of curiosity.

So I'd double check that... But the Intel Dual Cores are tasty!

 

[Mogadon]

If the op goes with an e6400, e6600 then he'll need to buy different RAM.

He wants to use the same RAM he has and only upgrade the CPU and mobo, not spend as much.

 

[cparker]

I second the motion for the Newegg Biostar/3400+ 100 buck combo. I have a few of those combos and they are very fast. I run Vista RC1 on one of them, and it's a joy. For you it would be an incredible bargain. I'm not sure about your RAM so you might want to double check to be sure your ram would work with it.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Mogadon
If the op goes with an e6400, e6600 then he'll need to buy different RAM.

He wants to use the same RAM he has and only upgrade the CPU and mobo, not spend as much.

Not true. The ASRock 775DualVSTA board uses DDR or DDR2 (but not both at the same time). It's a good transitional board.

 

[ARME]

Thanks everyone. Your replies are very motivating.

I'm pretty sure 3400+/Biostar is pci express. So no go there. If a MB supports DDR pc3200 and I have pc2700 it's fine right?

When I use the HD I have now do I need to reinstall windows? Or can I just install the new mobo drivers and be ready to rock?

Also, what kind of price drops do you expect on these up until X-mas?

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: Beachboy

Originally posted by: Mogadon
If the op goes with an e6400, e6600 then he'll need to buy different RAM.

He wants to use the same RAM he has and only upgrade the CPU and mobo, not spend as much.

Not true. The ASRock 775DualVSTA board uses DDR or DDR2 (but not both at the same time). It's a good transitional board.

I think this is the winner....

I cannot promote anyone to buy an AMD system at this point unless they have a sckt 939 mobo and just want to upgrade to a dual core cp[u...Otherwise if you need to buiy a mobo, or even new ram and n\ew mobo and perhaps pci-e vid card...I can only go C2D...


All of my quad opteron systems are being swapped out currently now for OC'd C2D systems.

It also gives you a path to a quad core Kentsfield...If you buy sckt 939 mobo you still are not set for next generation DDR2...the Assrock at least has the dimm slots for you when you are ready....You wont be able to run a quad core AMD, which will require a new socket. It makes the best sense....


Edit: i think you need to get new ram no matter which way you go...that ram sucks!!! It will hamper either system....Get some new decent 533ddr2 memory...Under 100 bucks I think...

 

[modestninja]

Originally posted by: ARME
Thanks everyone. Your replies are very motivating.

I'm pretty sure 3400+/Biostar is pci express. So no go there. If a MB supports DDR pc3200 and I have pc2700 it's fine right?

When I use the HD I have now do I need to reinstall windows? Or can I just install the new mobo drivers and be ready to rock?

Also, what kind of price drops do you expect on these up until X-mas?

You will need to reinstall windows.

 

[bob4432]

i had a really good run with a gigabyte nf3/opteron144 setup for a bit. i was going to get one of the hybrid m/bs that run everything but figured i would be better off just having a simple nf3/agp setup. with the prices where they are i would pick up a 3800x2/opteron165/170 and a nf3 board for ~$200 and be done with it.

you will be running your ram out of sync but that is not a big deal on the 939 platform

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: modestninja

You will need to reinstall windows.

There's also a repair installation.