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Rate my (possible) future rig

fustercluck

fustercluck

Diamond Member
Time to upgrade again, and i've got my eye set on some nice hardware. Just upgrading my CPU/Mobo/Ram, that's enough to empty my wallet. Here's what i'm looking at right now:

2 sticks of 256 Kingston HyperX PC3200 $90+$5 shipping

LANPartyUT nForce3 250GB $129+$5 shipping

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $204

So how's that look? Should i be applauded or booed? Guess i'll find out 😀. Hope that ram is good for overclocking, i know the mobo is. I'm going to wait for the AMD price drop, so it will probably end up to be less than $433...just thinking of that number makes me cringe. :frown:

Side question here, would I notice a fairly good boost in performance upgrading from my Pentium 2.4b? Judging by the benchmarks, i'm not sure if it would be worth it to upgrade.
 
How were your temps when you first got your 3200? Do you remember? From what i've found so far it doesn't seem like temps are that much lower with tne A64s.

 
I'd just get one 512MB stick of RAM or take the 1GB plunge. You'll overclock better with one stick.
 
Originally posted by: MDE
I'd just get one 512MB stick of RAM or take the 1GB plunge. You'll overclock better with one stick.
Click to expand...

I agree. The recent review showed that the 754 setup, and the great DFI board, perform better with one stick of ram..Would definitely get a one piece 512m. Later, you could always add another.
 
What about the graphics card? its no point getting such high end components to have a sucky gfx card
 
Alrighty, one 512 stick of ram it is. I thought i read somewhere that 2 sticks of ram were better for AMD mobos because of dual channel...err...something, i dunno.

I don't need to upgrade my whole computer, just cpu/mobo/ram, i already got a 9800 Pro.

Do the A64 3200's come at a default speed of 2.2 GHZ? I've seen a lot of stuff where people say they've overclocked their A64 3200 to 2.2 ghz, at newegg it says the Operating Frequency is 2.2 ghz already though, i'm confused.

So is it worth around $400 to upgrade from a 2.4b to a A64 3200? I can't wait to get rid of this rig.

Thanks for the replies.
 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
Alrighty, one 512 stick of ram it is. I thought i read somewhere that 2 sticks of ram were better for AMD mobos because of dual channel...err...something, i dunno.

I don't need to upgrade my whole computer, just cpu/mobo/ram, i already got a 9800 Pro.

Do the A64 3200's come at a default speed of 2.2 GHZ? I've seen a lot of stuff where people say they've overclocked their A64 3200 to 2.2 ghz, at newegg it says the Operating Frequency is 2.2 ghz already though, i'm confused.

So is it worth around $400 to upgrade from a 2.4b to a A64 3200? I can't wait to get rid of this rig.

Thanks for the replies.
Click to expand...

only the s939's support dual channel.
The Clawhammers come with a 2 ghz clock speed but a 1mb cache, the newcastles come with a 2.2 ghz clock speed but a 512kb cache 😛
 
Clawhammer 3200's are 2 GHz, 1MB L2; Newcastles are superior at stock, 2.2 GHz, 512K L2.

Dual channel isn't present on the S754 platform, only S939, and it makes very little difference at the same clock speed, usually <8%. Additionally, low latency stuff like HyperX PC3200 is a waste--latencies make a difference of <5%.

If I were you, I'd get a 3000+, a cheaper motherboard (still with an NF3 250 though... Chaintech maybe?), and 1 GB of Corsair Value.
 
Nice to see the positive replies - I'm going to be building myself a socket-754 system this week too, I think. Only differences will be a Chaintech VNF3-250 MB and a 300+ rather than a 3200+. Might try my hand at OCing a bit, though. How well does the stock cooler work?

Nate
 
NTB, i think AMD prices are going down Oct 15th, so you might wanna wait till then to buy.

Is the HyperX good for overclocking? It's hard to beat at that price.
 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
NTB, i think AMD prices are going down Oct 15th, so you might wanna wait till then to buy.

Is the HyperX good for overclocking? It's hard to beat at that price.
Click to expand...

What makes you say that? just curious. Right now I'm looking at $164 for a retail-boxed chip and $71 for the motherboard.

Nate
 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
Originally posted by: NTB
Originally posted by: jacktackle
NTB, i think AMD prices are going down Oct 15th, so you might wanna wait till then to buy.

Is the HyperX good for overclocking? It's hard to beat at that price.
Click to expand...

What makes you say that? just curious. Right now I'm looking at $164 for a retail-boxed chip and $71 for the motherboard.

Nate
Click to expand...


Read it here: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=18887
Click to expand...

If that chart is right, then I'm only $1 off the proposed price drop anyway 😛

Nate
 
I think those are the current prices...i dunno.

Anyways, is there any other reason to go with an Athlon 64 besides the fact that they're 64 bit? By the time most stuff is 64 bit i'll probably need to upgrade again.
 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
I think those are the current prices...i dunno.

Anyways, is there any other reason to go with an Athlon 64 besides the fact that they're 64 bit? By the time most stuff is 64 bit i'll probably need to upgrade again.
Click to expand...
They're still blazingly fast at 32 bit stuff.
 
Originally posted by: MDE
Originally posted by: jacktackle
I think those are the current prices...i dunno.

Anyways, is there any other reason to go with an Athlon 64 besides the fact that they're 64 bit? By the time most stuff is 64 bit i'll probably need to upgrade again.
Click to expand...
They're still blazingly fast at 32 bit stuff.
Click to expand...


Are they faster at 32 bit than a normal athlon xp 3200 though?
 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
Originally posted by: MDE
Originally posted by: jacktackle
I think those are the current prices...i dunno.

Anyways, is there any other reason to go with an Athlon 64 besides the fact that they're 64 bit? By the time most stuff is 64 bit i'll probably need to upgrade again.
Click to expand...
They're still blazingly fast at 32 bit stuff.
Click to expand...


Are they faster at 32 bit than a normal athlon xp 3200 though?
Click to expand...
Yes, and faster than a P4 3.2 at most stuff as well.
 
Maybe i'll just get the A64 3000 instead, they seem to overclock to about the same speed the 3200's do, am i right? It's pretty close anyways, and the A64 3000 is $40 less.
 
Think i'll buy this stuff tonight, gonna keep doing research though 😛

So again, that ram will be good for overclocking? Hard to beat that price.
 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
Think i'll buy this stuff tonight, gonna keep doing research though 😛

So again, that ram will be good for overclocking? Hard to beat that price.
Click to expand...

If that RAM is BH-5 Chips and you are going to be overclocking, then it will probably run happily at 3.3V @ 240mhz 2-2-2-5. The lanParty supports much higher voltage adjustments along with other better overclocking options. If you want to push your cpu to the max, i'd get it over Chaintech board. However, if you are just aiming to go from 2.0 to 2.4 on air cooling, then save the money and get the cheaper 3000+ and Chaintech board.

Also i'd go with 1 stick of 512 anyways since A64 isnt dual channel on socket 754.
 
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