Trying to decide on an upgrade path.....

[prozpris]

Well, I'm actually building my first system, and need some opinions.

I have just a few more parts to purchase, and they happen to be the most vital parts. That being the mobo, processor, and RAM. At the moment, I'm trying to decide on whether to purchase:

Abit NF7-S w/ Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton 333mHz FSB)
~$175.00

or

MSI "K8T Neo-FIS2R" K8T800 Chipset w/ Athlon64 2800+ (Socket 754)
~$300.00

I'm trying to decide if the extra $125 is worth it. I'd like to not have to upgrade for a while (except for new vidcards) after I build this system. (Heh, I've been using a k6-2 500 for the last 5 years ) And I probably won't be overclocking.

Methinks the second option might allow me to not have to upgrade for a longer period of time, and would give me better overall performance. The first option is considerably cheaper, but would I have to upgrade sooner than I would like to? And remember, I'm not particularly interested in overclocking. So, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance

 

[PeteRoy]

Yes go with the second option, you could also buy an Intel Prescott, their not expensive.

 

[StrangerGuy]

If you want a cheap and very fast option, get a mobile Barton with NF7-S and overclock to the 2500 MHz range.

 

[prozpris]

Thanks for the responses fellas.

If you want a cheap and very fast option, get a mobile Barton with NF7-S and overclock to the 2500 MHz range.

I don't know. Right now I'm not interested in learning to overclock....We'll see.

 

[niall]

Hey, I'm about to retire my K6-2/450 myself, walk with me into the 21st century.

Upgrade path depends on what you want to do now and in the future. An A64 system will allow you to get the 64-bit Windows (whenever it's released and patched stable), but if you're fine with XP, the Barton 2600+, while a bit slower in absolute benchmarks, will still feel like smoking fast, considering where you're coming from.

Another difference, from what I gathered, would be future video card upgrades; an A64 system can take advantage of and better use the new cards that just came out (6800, X800), so if you wanted to switch in a year or two when they're priced closer to what us mere mortals can afford, it'd be another possibility. The Barton would limit you there. What card did you already buy?

I'm not really one to overclock either, but I have to admit, since you'll have to play a little with the BIOS settings anyway, were you to get the Barton you could adjust the CPU front side bus to 200MHz and the Barton won't even blink from its normal 166FSB, no need for any special cooling. But for that you'd need DDR400 PC3200 memory instead of 333/PC2700. The NF7-S can take it easily, and it won't diminish the life expectancy of the CPU.

Yeah, things are a lot more complex than in the good old easy K6-2 days; I've been checking forums and tech sites for six months myself before feeling I knew enough to buy anything...

 

[duragezic]

I agree, if you go with the Barton then definitely overclock. Switching the fsb to 200mhz is simple, and pretty much garuanteed. Like niall said, it wouldn't even blink. PC3200 ram is only a couple more bucks than PC2700.

But obviously the A64 is the better choice for the longrun. Since you listed it as an option even with being $125 more, it must be in your budget so it would be the one to go with...

 

[Kaido]

Check it out - Newegg has the retail athlon 64 2800+ for $185...if you buy the Abit KV8 motherboard with it you save $82. The motherboard costs $95. Soooo....total is just under $200. The combo should be the first one listed on the page. Note - looks like the motherboard is sold out right now...keep checking tho if you're interested in the deal.

 

[sisooktom]

I can understand you not wanting to OC. That being the case, I'd definitely pony up for the A64.

 

[prozpris]

Hey, thanks for all the help, guys!

Niall, yes, finally! This machine was a piece of junk from the beginning, and I've been never able to use it the way I would've liked to. Right now, I haven't bought a card, but will buy a 9800pro.

Kaido, that combo is an excellent deal. As trivial as it might sound, I hate the fact that the board doesn't have firewire. Honestly, I don't know if I would ever need it, but it would be nice to have just in case. Nevertheless, that combo is an excellent option. Hmmmm......


Thanks everyone!

 

[duragezic]

Who cares about it. If in the odd chance that a peripheral came out that you wanted to buy was firewire it would probably be available in usb too. I'm sure those with firewire are the minority, they aren't gonna leave the majority out. THe a64 + mobo for under $200 is a good deal.

 

[niall]

prozpris: Firewire may only be of help for digital video downloads from a digicam or the like, and even then you can buy a PCI card for (proportionately) peanuts, probably around $40. That sounds like an excellent deal if you can get it.

My 450MHz machine is still chugging along beautifully and deals with everything I throw at it, but I've come to the point where my applications are bogged down with lack of raw processing power. Fifteen photoshop layers for an ad take an inordinate amount of time to process when changed. Time for an upgrade while I have the money.

 

[prozpris]

Yup, as soon as Newegg gets that mobo back in stock, I'm gonna try to get it.

Thanks again guys.

 

[BillClo]

Another consideration with the A64 route is that once the 90nm process CPUs are released near the end of the year, you may be able to upgrade to a faster CPU later on. That A64 2800 ought to hold you 6-9 months or even a year, til the new process settles in, and the speeds go up.

 

[prozpris]

Unfortunately, the deal was killed before I got a chance to jump on it. Consequently, I just ordered the the NF7-S w/ Barton 2600+. I'm gonna do like you guys said, and try to bump the FSB up to 200mhz. Any suggestions about doing this?

Also can someone recommend a cooler that is better than the stock HSF.
I saw this one on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-150-010&depa=0

Now, if for some reason I'm not able to get the FSB quite up to 200mhz, is me using PC3200 ram gonna cause any trouble? Lastly, what is some good PC3200 RAM?

Thanks in advance....

 

[niall]

Using memory that is rated for higher speed than what you used it for is absolutely no problem; in fact, it tends to get faster and better.

I tested a 2500+ at 333FSB and told the motherboard to use the memory at 1:1, so at 333FSB as well. My OEM memory is now timed at 2.5-3-3-7, which is definitely not shabby.

 

[3LEMENT0]

I heard that for a few more bucks the Speeze "falcon rock" is pretty good HSF, it also has a copper core. If you're OCing just up to specs of 3200+ I think that should do fine. There are a lot of Overclocking tips and post in the forums and a lot of people have Oced barton so I'm sure you'll get any questions answered. If you're gonna OC to the maximum though I think you need better a better cooler such as thermalright, thermaltake and zalman which would cost you around >$30. Also update your bios and use memtest or windows memory test to check memory stability and prime 95 for system stability. I have almost the same setup and just finished building it a month or so back (best bang for the buck):

AXP Mobile 2600@ 2532Mhz
NF7-S V2
1Gig OCZ RAM
thermaltake extreme volcano 12

Good Luck

 

[prozpris]

Niall,

Great. So, just in case my 2600+ doesn't feel like overclocking, I can hopefully tell my NF7-S to run the cpu fsb at 1:1 with the memory. BTW, can you recommend some good dual channel memory?

3LEMENT0,

Thanks for the info! Like I said I will be only trying to move the FSB up to 200mhz, nothing more. (Unless I'm extremely fortunate to get an unlocked cpu )
So, I'm hoping that FalconRock will fare better than the stock HSF.

Thanks guys! Any more suggestions are welcome.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: PeteRoy
Yes go with the second option, you could also buy an Intel Prescott, their not expensive.

dont listen to him. thats about the dumbest thing anyone could get for that price range. prescotts, speed to speed, are slower (200MHz like) then the northwood till they reach the 3.5GHz mark. the athlon 64 2800+ is your best bet. newegg recently had a deal where you could get the a64 2800+ and mobo deal for $230 or so.

 

[niall]

Prozpris: unfortunately, I'm not going the dual-channel route, so I couldn't help you there, but I'm sure others can jump in and give recommendations of their own. I can say that you pretty much need two identical sticks, such as the ones sold in pairs, for stable dual-channel; this is somewhat more expensive than sticking two OEMs of the same size, but as I said, it's stable. Munchkin, Corsair, Kingston are good brands; look around what's available for you.