Upgrade for my ECS MB?

[sbenninger]

Looking for some opinions here...

I have a ECS P4VXAD(VIA Chipset) with a 1.5G P4(478Pin) 400MHZ FSB and according to their website this MB can take up to a P4 2.4G 400MHZ FSB if I update the BIOS to the most current rev.

Would this be a worthwhile upgrade or am I better off getting a newer MB/CPU combo with a faster FSB? I have 512MB PC2100 DDR and would rather not have to replace the RAM as well.

Thoughts?

Thanks

Scott

 

[Vette73]

Well if you are looking for a cheap/fast system then get a Athlon XP and a nForce2 board. If you got money to burn then get a 865 board and a newwer P4 chip.

 

[pspada]

And for reference, ECS is generally considered a "budget" motherboard.

 

[sbenninger]

Yes I know it is a "budget" mb but it works great for me.I was not asking how good my mb was...I was asking if the upgrade to the 2.4G would be a worthwhile endeavour with this mb.I didn't realise you had to have an uber motherboard to ask a question or get an opinion on these forums.It gets me a 9100 score on 3dmark01 which is on the high scale for a stock 1.5G P4 Radeon 9500 on futuremark's website.So seems allright to me.

thanks for your input

 

[pspada]

My point was that if you upgrade your motherboard, you may want to consider something a little ah, sexier than another ECS, that's all. No judgement of your current setup was expressed or implied.

 

[sbenninger]

Sorry I got the wrong impression from the post. I will go for a better MB next time but 1 1/2 years ago when I got this mb it was one of the few P4 boards that supported DDR ram so I found it was the best bang/buck.

So back to my original question....is the P4 2.4G upgrade worthwhile or would my money be better spent on a new mb/cpu? I am starting to lean towards a new mb to get more performance out of my Radeon 9500 with the 8X AGP and perhaps maybe be more future proofed(Ya right) but the $200 CDN for the 2.4G is a very intriguing prospect still.

dunno

Thanks

 

[KF]

Reviews show that AGP 8x does virtually nothing over 4x. Maybe in a couple of years it will.

Since the Intel guys don't seem to want to jump on this one, for what it's worth:

The higher FSB and dual channel add a lot to P4 systems, and the higher the clock the more it needs it. If you plan on both a new CPU and mobo, you could get the faster CPU first and see how you like what it does in the old mobo. Just guessing though, I would think that a faster CPU would get you at least 80% of the performance you'd get with a new mobo/CPU. You have to judge for yourself how much the money is worth compared to performance.

However, for games I'm always puzzled that people on a budget consider a P4 system. Athlon's have killer game performance, where those AMD ratngs come dang close to the analogous P4. Therefore, if you are going to replace both the CPU and mobo ... $85 for an EPOX 8RDA+. $75 for a 2400+.

Yes Intel boards have more of a future. I don't think AMD is going to do much more with Athlon speed. They might shink the process one more time though. But converting doesn't cost anything over the Intel CPU alone, and you can always buy an Intel mobo later when the Intel mobos have advanced again, or gotten cheaper.

 

[sbenninger]

Just checked my prices and the P4 2.4 is actually $250cdn(retail not oem though) and it is $166 cdn for the epox mb and $129 for the 2400+...not sure if my PC2100 memory will work in this mb so that may be and added cost as well.

Thanks for info! I now have lots to ponder

Scott

 

[KF]

>not sure if my PC2100 memory will work in this mb so that may be and added cost as well.
PC2100 is the right memory, although sometimes mobos are picky about the brand. If you want to OC, The EPOX and many Athlon mobos can OC by setting the multiplier higher and not need faster RAM.