upgrade to 64 bit? or wait?

[emt8q5]

Hi all. For the past few years, I have used my laptop as my primary computer due to school, however I am getting into graphic design work (i.e. photoshop, illustrator) and web design (via dreamweaver and flash) and while my laptop (1.7 ghz pentium-M w/ 758 mb of RAM) is handling stuff OK, the performance coudl be much improved. I'm getting sick of having to hook up my laptop to my LCD monitor all the time as well.

Essentially, I want a desktop that can pretty sufficiently handle Adobe and Macromedia's stuff as well as some gaming. I already have an ATI x800 video card, as well as a decent LCD monitor and a nice case with ample cooling and an Antec 500 watt power suply.

From what I understand, upgrading to a 64 bit processor is a given? If I do this, should I go ahead and install the Beta version of windows xp 64, or can I still see an increase in performance in regular windows? Socket 754 or 939? I'd like to go with AGP instead of PCI-E, however if AGP is at a dead end, than I might as well upgrade, but is now the time? Also, I'm not sure what kind of MOBO to get? What kind and how much RAM should I get? is 1536 enough? And finally, should I use a SATA harddrive(s)?

That's all, Thank you in advance for any and all help.

Eric.

 

[dug777]

with that gfx kard i'd say unless u want 2 do some fairly serious gaming then stick with AGP job u have (ati has recently announced that the x850xt is coming 2 agp so its clearly not dead yet) rather than jumping on the PCI-E bandwagon

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: dug777
with that gfx kard i'd say unless u want 2 do some fairly serious gaming then stick with AGP job u have (ati has recently announced that the x850xt is coming 2 agp so its clearly not dead yet) rather than jumping on the PCI-E bandwagon

I agree. PCI-E is not needed yet, nor any time soon.
As for the XP 64 Beta, I have searched about this myself and I kept reading the same things. Finding hardware drivers is a PITA and it currently offers no real advantages over the 32 bit XP. I would wait.

 

[emt8q5]

Would I still see a significant performance upgrade from a 64 bit processor though?

 

[aatf510]

You would see performance increase with a 64-bit desktop processor (A64 or 6XX series P4) because they are fasteer 32-bit processor not because they have 64bit capability. The apps and OS we are currently using are not 64-bit ready, all the program (also a new OS, BTW WinXP-64 beta sucks for now) has to be recomplie in order to take advantage of a 64bit processor.

 

[SalientKing]

DO IT!

why? well.. why not?

A64 3000+ 754 $155
nforce 3 250gb $78
1GB corsair value ram $140

so yeah... DO IT!

 

[PCHPlayer]

Originally posted by: emt8q5
From what I understand, upgrading to a 64 bit processor is a given? If I do this, should I go ahead and install the Beta version of windows xp 64, or can I still see an increase in performance in regular windows? Socket 754 or 939? I'd like to go with AGP instead of PCI-E, however if AGP is at a dead end, than I might as well upgrade, but is now the time? Also, I'm not sure what kind of MOBO to get? What kind and how much RAM should I get? is 1536 enough? And finally, should I use a SATA harddrive(s)?

- You will see a significant performance increase from that old laptop to a AMD 64.
- I would stay away from windows 64 for now.
- Socket 939 is more future-proof, but minimal performance gain. I'd get one with both AGP and PCI-E (if they exist).
- At least a Gig of RAM, 1536 is even better
- Go with SATA for new drives. More future proof, but no real performance gain unless you are taking advantage of NCQ.

On the other hand, if you are not a continual upgrader (as most of us here at AT are) then go with the cheapest solution that provides the performance you require (Socket 754, PATA)

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: PCHPlayer

- You will see a significant performance increase from that old laptop to a AMD 64.
- I would stay away from windows 64 for now.
- Socket 939 is more future-proof, but minimal performance gain. I'd get one with both AGP and PCI-E (if they exist).
- At least a Gig of RAM, 1536 is even better
- Go with SATA for new drives. More future proof, but no real performance gain unless you are taking advantage of NCQ.

On the other hand, if you are not a continual upgrader (as most of us here at AT are) then go with the cheapest solution that provides the performance you require (Socket 754, PATA)

His laptop is not old at all, and it's indeed quite fast.
Considering that a 2.0GHz Pentium M easily outperforms a 3500+.