Torn between two upgrades.

[powerMarkymark]

I am upgrading one of my machines (Big Bertha) and I am having trouble deciding which Mobo/CPU combo to go with.

EDIT: The sytem will be mostly for gaming.

Choice #1- Asus P4P800 865PE with Intel P4 3.2ghz 512k 800mhz

Choice #2- Asus K8V-DX K8T800 with AMD Athlon 64 3200+

I have read alot of articles and that has not helped as both seem coparable in speed.

I would like to hear drom owners of both out there please.

I have heard that the Athlon 64 is still to new to buy. Thus the motherboards are also very new. Is this true?

Your insights would be apreciated.

TIA

Mark

I will be putting 512Mb of Kingston Hyper X Dual Channel Memory and ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128 in my final choice running Window XP Pro.

 

[Markfw]

What do you do with it ? Gaming ? Encoding ? Compiling ? This would be important in deciding.

As far as the Athlon64 being new. they are already on the second generation of motherboards. I have generation 1, and its great ! Generation 2 must be out of sight !

Unless you do nothing but encode (which I do, but I don;t live for it) then the Athlon64 is the way to go.

 

[oldman420]

i agree with mark my next upgrade will be to that setup

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: oldman420
i would go with the p4 my reaserch shows that this is a strong chip and has good support frm the mb the a64 is fast but i bet theres buggs in it still

What research would that be?

 

[anthrax]

The Athlon 64 will probabaly give you higher frame rates..

 

[mamisano]

As others have said, Athlon 64 is the strongest gaming platform out right now. Also, go for 1GB of Ram which makes a big difference in today's games.

 

[ath50]

They will both be plenty stable with the right hardware.

If you're going with gaming, get the A64
If you're more into encoding get the pentium
But if you're paying this price range for a processor you're probably going to be doing one of the above or you'd be better off with a cheaper one...

 

[apoppin]

toss a coin

:roll:

they are both GREAT ways to go!



(just make sure it is a NW, not a Prescott if it's Intel; chose the latest ver of the A64 - either way you'll have a super-fast/super-stable machine . . . a64 faster 4 gaming; p4 faster 4 encoding . . . )

 

[RussianSensation]

There is no point in spending extra $50 US on 3200+ A64. Get 3000+ and a decent Nforce 3 250 board with a workable agp/pci lock ala Chaintech VFN3-250 (or something along those lines) board on Newegg.

 

[powerMarkymark]

The sytem will be mostly for gaming.

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
There is no point in spending extra $50 US on 3200+ A64. Get 3000+ and a decent Nforce 3 250 board with a workable agp/pci lock ala Chaintech VFN3-250 (or something along those lines) board on Newegg.

yep that shoulds like GREAT deal to me

 

[powerMarkymark]

Originally posted by: JBT

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
There is no point in spending extra $50 US on 3200+ A64. Get 3000+ and a decent Nforce 3 250 board with a workable agp/pci lock ala Chaintech VFN3-250 (or something along those lines) board on Newegg.

yep that shoulds like GREAT deal to me

Last time I checked, us Canadians could not order from Newegg.

My supplier has the ASUS SK8N NFORCE3 S940 800FSB 8X W/ AUDIO motherboard....................good Nforce board?

 

[Markfw]

Its a great board if you are buying an FX51/53. You need a socket 754 or socket 939 Nforce3 250 chipset, or a VIA Kt800pro chipset.

 

[AristoV300]

Wow both good choices, I prefer the Intel. Can't go wrong either way. If you want a 3.2 your better off getting a 2.6 and OC it to 3.25, they'll do it right out of the box, and save alot of cash. Also go with 1 gig of Ram. As for the VC get 256 9800pro they are only a few bucks different, especially since the X800 are out now.

 

[powerMarkymark]

Originally posted by: AristoV300
Wow both good choices, I prefer the Intel. Can't go wrong either way. If you want a 3.2 your better off getting a 2.6 and OC it to 3.25, they'll do it right out of the box, and save alot of cash. Also go with 1 gig of Ram. As for the VC get 256 9800pro they are only a few bucks different, especially since the X800 are out now.

If the 2.6 oc's to 3.2 then the 3.2 will oc to how much?

The vid card is already bought.

 

[MAME]

A64 for sure

 

[SniperWulf]

I'd go with the a64 setup. Like a MSI K8T Neo or MSI K8N and an a64 3000+

 

[FiberoN]

Athlon64 3200+ + MSI K8N Neo = gaming heaven

 

[StrangerGuy]

A64 all the way. If you are gaming then it is a no-brainer to go for A64. Screw the P4.

 

[BlvdKing]

A64 for games

 

[GeneralGrievous]

I'd honestly save more cash, grab a mobile barton, and upgrade your card to an X800 XT. And also get yourself another 512 mb of ram.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Go Athlon 64.

If money is a problem, then go with the 3000+ and get another 512MB of RAM.

If not, then get another 512MB (for 1GB total) and get the 3200+ and an X800.

 

[powerMarkymark]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Go Athlon 64.

If money is a problem, then go with the 3000+ and get another 512MB of RAM.

If not, then get another 512MB (for 1GB total) and get the 3200+ and an X800.

Well there seems to be a consensus here.............think I will go with the 3000+ and get another 512MB of RAM.

Thanks everyone.

 

[LostHiWay]

Like someone else said...get the MSI K8N Neo. You may have to hunt for it a bit (being in Canada) but it's worth it. Pair it up with a Athlon 64 3000+ and overclock it as far as it will go. Much better deal than getting a 3200+ (both CPU's will overclock to about the same speeds)

 

[FiberoN]

you can find it on newegg or zipzoomfly.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-457&depa=0
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241132
And yeah, if you are on a budget, get the Athlon64 3000+, it's just as good.