seeking s939/pci-x upgrade advice

[malistrais]

Greetings all.

Just signed up, but I've lurked off and on over the past few years. I'm currently facing an upgrade dilemna, and hoped I could get some opinions.

My Rig:

A64 2800+
Abit KV8-Max3
2 x 512 DDR400 Mushkin Green
ATI Radeon 9700tx (flashed to Pro bios)

The system runs all my current games fine, but the 9700 is beginning to die. I want to switch over to PCI-X (and s939, of course), but my impatience led me to pickup a BFG 6800 OC locally a few days ago. It runs great, boosting my 3dmark05 scores from about 1900 (with the 9700) to over 3800 (after I successfully unlocked the pipelines and shaders).

Now, my dilemna... It sounds like s939 and PCI-X is really the way to go, and I really want to get back on the right side of the technology curve. I spent about $325 on the 6800 (w/ tax, etc.), but can add another $100-150 to it to upgrade everything to s939/PCI-X. So... my options...

1. Stick with the 6800 OC.

2. Return the 6800 OC, sell my s754 gear, and Pick up a s939 3000+ A64, a NF4 or ATI s939/PCI-X mainboard, and a sub-$200 PCI-X 6600GT.

My primary question is performance related. Would the old 754 setup still outpace the new 939 setup (simply because of the 6800 compared to the 6600)? Or would the dual channel ram, faster HT bus, and newer tech offset that reasonably? I'm ok with the s939 setup running slighly slower if it future proofs me.

Most importantly, the Wife has already approved the extra money spent to go PCI-X. I just want to make sure it's the right way to spend the money right now.

Well, if you got this far, thank you. Any and all suggestions, comments, etc. welcome!

-Mal

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Originally posted by: malistrais
My primary question is performance related. Would the old 754 setup still outpace the new 939 setup (simply because of the 6800 compared to the 6600)? Or would the dual channel ram, faster HT bus, and newer tech offset that reasonably? I'm ok with the s939 setup running slighly slower if it future proofs me.

If you unlocked the pipes of the 6800 I'm afraid the 939 setup you're proposing would be more than "slightly slower". The faster HT bus makes no difference at all, and dual-channel improves about 3-5%.

So the question is, do you want to spend more money to have a slower system just so it's future-proof? That's up to you I guess.

btw: it's PCI Express or PCI-E. PCI-X is a totally different beast.

EDIT: and welcome to the forums

 

[malistrais]

Thanks for the reply! And for clearing up the PCI-X part of my post. That's what I get for trying to "look" smart.

So, even with the slightly faster cpu and other small increases in performance, the 6800 OC is going to be noticeably faster? Perhaps I overestimated the 6600 GT...

What if I was able to swing a 6800 GT instead of the 6600 GT? More money, of course, but would that make it "worth it"?

Thanks again for the reply and the welcome!

-Mal

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

It's entirely up to you as to what you want to do.

My suggestion -- do you feel a need to be upgrading? You're obviously feeling some anxiety about doing so ...

RE: CDGNR's post, he said if you "unlock the pipes" on the 6800, meaning make it more than what it currently is (similar to how you flashed the 9700 you've got). The difference between a 6800 and the 6600GT isn't that much, as far as I'm concerned. Yes, yes, people can spout off bandwidth and pipes and everything till they're blue in the face, but the difference between the two cards really isn't that much. If you managed a full unlocking, then you'd be more like comparing a 6800GT and a 6600GT, in which case the 6800 would blow the 6600 away, even if it had a faster CPU/HT/dual-channel.

Since the K8 architecture isn't as pipeline-intensive as the P4 architecture, dual-channel doesn't impact it as much. Differences between comparably equipped s754 and s939 systems have been about 3-5%, at most, just like CDGNR said. The difference in HT is practically nil.

The question to ask yourself -- "Do I want to spend $150 extra right now for no performance improvement (maybe even a slight decrease) just so I can future-proof myself? Or is that $150 better saved for later when I do decide to upgrade to the next-greatest-thing?"

OTOH, if you can get a 6800GT, then yes, you're going to notice a performance improvement over your current setup. The question then just becomes is 20fps and future-proofing worth the extra money?

HTH & welcome

 

[akugami]

If you already got the S754 board and stuff and you just bought a brand spanking new processor. I'd say stick with what you got for now. Upgrade 12-18 months down the line by changing the mobo, cpu and videocard and possibly ram if AMD has affordable dual cpu chips out that use DDR2. I really don't see a compelling reason to upgrade from a A64 system now to another A64 system. Now...if you had an AthlonXP system I'd say go for the upgrades.

 

[ribbon13]

AMD chips gain is minimal in the way by the bandwidth offered by dual channel, why increase latencies and price for nothing? Why are people pushing DDR2?