Please suggest which MB/CPU

[Yuniverse]

I'm looking to upgrade my system.
I don't want to spend too much money, but, I would like to keep it reasonably current. (perhaps something like or above AMD XP 2500+ Barton) AMD isn't set in stone, but it seems like it carries more bang for the buck(value). I've been away from CPU/MB world for couple of years. Please advice me on what to get.

I don't play much games but i would like to keep myself somewhat up to par a year or two from now.

I would like onboard audio, lan, USB 2.0, AGP x8, Dual Channel DDR at minimum. (in terms of MB)

Sorry for asking for so many things, but please also advice me on CPU fan - less noise the better(with adequate cooling at minimum).

Thank you,

Yuniverse

 

[Markfw]

Sounds like an Athlon64 3000+ may work for you. The motherboard and memory are the same price as the socketA Barton, and the cpu is about $125 more. See my sig for my recommendation.

 

[Yuniverse]

hmm... Thanks Mark. I'll keep that in mind.

Please keep the advices coming, thanks.

 

[Soulkeeper]

well it all depends how much money you want to spend i guess and if you want to have an upgrade path
most of the systems out today don't seem to have an upgrade path as the sockets are changing for both amd and intel soon for their desktop chips

if you want to go the amd route then here are two options:

cheaper:
abit nf7-s (nf2 ultra-400) (great onboard nvidia sound)
2500+ (it should oc to 3200+ on default voltage no problem)
2 sticks of pc3200 or better memory either 256mb or 512mb each depending on how much money you wanna spend

more expensive:
either a socket 940 board paired with an opteron
or a socket 754 board paired with an athlon 64

if you went the intel route you got a few choices too

i would get an i865 or i875 chipset if you go the intel route
and maybe something between 2.4ghz and 3.2ghz depending on your budget


hope this helps

 

[Yuniverse]

Thanks Soulkeeper.
please keep advices coming.

 

[xerocool]

P4 3.4 EXTREME EDITION

just kidding, those things run about $1000+ just for the chip. if you're looking for best bang for the buck, AMD with overclocking is the way to go IMO. otherwise, you could get an INTEL p4 for about $60 more (for the "same" speed) and overclock that too, but it's all about the same.

if you want it to last 3 or 4 years, i'd say go with an AMD 64 and one of it's 754 mobos (that way if things switch to 64-bit programs, you'll already have your foot in the door, and if they don't it's still a DAMN fast system)

but if you're looking for just 1 to 2 years, i'd say go with a p4 just cuz they really are alot faster than AMD's (as a whole), and even with a price gap of $60, you're still gaining more because you can overclock it as well.

btw, both options i listed are about the same price the AMD 64 and p4 (for speeds around 3.0 to 3.2 GHz)

i own both AMD and Intel systems, and really there's not a bad choice. although intel prices just went down recently (within the past few days) of all their chips because their new Prescott cpu just came out. and they're not planning another price drop for a while. so you might want to take advantage of that fact.

if you go intel route i can definitely say to get either the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe or Abit IC7-Max3 (both of these are INSANE mobos), though you might not want the Max3 just because i doubt you'll use alot of its features, so you might just want an IC7 or even an IS7 (much cheaper).

if you go AMD route, i can't give you any suggestions for 64 mobos cuz i don't have any exp with them yet, but if you get a famous Barton core (those 2500+'s you've read about), get a nForce2 Ultra board (Asus made the last one if I remember correctly, but it's a saturated and developed market so more manufacturers are pretty good about these). also, if you get a Barton core, try getting a cpu that was manufactured before week 39 (i think it's 39) of last year because all chips made after that have their multiplier locked and is a bit harder to overclock.

that's just my 2cents, hope it helps! :beer:

 

[McArra]

another vote for A64 3000. For Mobo and cooling: Asus K8V dlx and Zalman 7000al/cu (silent and really powerful).

 

[Yuniverse]

Thanks... I'm thinking of 64 3000... but P4 is also tempting

*bump*

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

If your going to go with AMD you probably want to wait a week or two. Since they are poised to drop in price soon to stay competitive with intel's price drop.

 

[adams828]

Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
If your going to go with AMD you probably want to wait a week or two. Since they are poised to drop in price soon to stay competitive with intel's price drop.

i agree, the 15th i think is the official date for the new pricings. if you really don't do anything extensive (like games, serious video/audio, etc) and want the cheap/value solution, i'd say go with the 2500+ imo, if $ is tight but you need to upgrade now that's the best solution. yes, the a64 "isn't that much more and is faster", but if you don't have the $, you don't have the $ (speaking from my point of view). but with that in mind, i'd say the a64 after the new pricings should be a great "bang for buck" choice

 

[Yuniverse]

Cool... thanks for the info on the imminent price drops...

 

[Yuniverse]

shameless bump

 

[Soulkeeper]

have you decided what platform you wanna go with ??

once you get that decided then you can give us a price range and we can better suggest stuff

 

[Yuniverse]

Because of the coming price drop, I think AMD will be the better choice value wise...

maybe A64 3000 ??? I guess it'll depend on how low it will drop compared to other processors.
I'm thinking of spending around $300-500 to upgrade CPU, MB, and 512 to 1GB of RAM.

 

[RussianSensation]

Are these price drops in 2 weeks a scheduled confirmation by AMD? or the general consensus of the market for AMD to try and stay competitive with Intel, because the prices are already competitive as it stands right now:

Competitive Processor Pricing

 

[CarpeDiem99]

Originally posted by: xerocool
P4 3.4 EXTREME EDITION

Can I get a prometia to go with that?

 

[Yuniverse]

any imminent news of price drops? I know that 2500+ barton's been dropping, but i'm looking at 64 3000+

 

[Mloot]

I thought I read somewhere that an A64 2800+ was going to be introduced soon. If that's true, it should be priced lower than the 3000+ and still offer good performance.

Found the link, but I guess you have to consider the source, too.