Upgrade mobo or just go new?

[bupkus]

Friend has:
unlocked Barton 2500+ in
epox 8K5A2+ based on VIA's KT333 chipset with
2x512 PC2700 and
Radeon 9800 Pro /128

Unfortunately the epox's multiplier options don't offer a number high enough for the Barton to do 2.2GHz.
I suppose he could replace the mobo to an nforce2, but then he could get better memory as well.
With that done, how much more would it cost to just go 64?

Since his thing is UT2004, I don't suppose he would need or even care to change his video card as he's only had it for half a year.

 

[o1die]

I would continue to use what he has and start saving for an athlon 64. Socket 754 is still cheaper than 939, and performs almost as well. Fry's sells their athlon 64 2800 combo for about $169 with ecs sis board. Or you can order a combo with epox nforce3 for $187 at one vender in pricewatch, which will give you more overclocking settings.

 

[PingSpike]

Well, his video card is still viable (provided its the 256bit one) and the barton will still be good to go for awhile if you overclock it. I might consider snagging a cheap nforce2 motherboard like the shuttle an35n-ultra, a good cpu cooler and a gig of pc3200 ram and just stick with it for awhile. When the time comes, he can use that ram on the A64 upgrade and the rest of the stuff can be had for $65-75 and would give him a welcome boost.

 

[loafbred]

I had an 8K5A2 (non+) running at 190 fsb, and the Abit NF7 which I replaced it with was a nice upgrade. I'm still using the NF7 with a 2600-m in my second machine. You can occasionally find NF7-S dirt cheap, and the onboard sound is very good.

Some PC2700 memory will run over 200 MHz (my HyperX ran 210), so he might get some more mileage from that, especially since he has a gigabyte. UT 2004 runs very well on ATI 9800's (as does just about everything but Doom3), and I personally wouldn't upgrade video for it. I think he would benefit most from an nForce2 board with SATA and a 36 or 74GB Raptor HDD for his swap file and UT 2004.