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upgrading comp --> motherboard & CPU only!

S

sawalski

Junior Member
trying to upgrade my computer, current stats:
ASUS A7S333 (SiS745)
AMD Athlon XP 1700 (running @ 1466mhz)
768mb DDR SDRAM
GeForce FX 5500 256mb
Creative Audigy
2 HDs:
120gig Samsung 7200RPM Ultra-ATA/133
30gig Maxtor 7200RPM Ultra-ATA/66
300watt power supply

I'm looking to get a new motherboard & processor without having to get anything else in the process
- looking for something better than/around 2.7ghz/2.8ghz
- price range between $200-$350 (MAX!) Canadian currency
(obviously, the cheaper it costs the better it'll be for me)
I Also live between hamilton and toronto in Ontario, if it makes a difference
any help is greatly appreciated! 😀
 
2.7-2.8 GHz? :Q I'm guessing you haven't been keeping up with what AMD is producing now, right?
So, what is this computerbe used for primarily?
 
well its primarily a media computer, I watch a lot of video (through comp on TV), listen to a lot of music, and I would like to play more games on it
I haven't played any new games for a while now because generally, video game specs are just too high for my comp to handle
 
also, I went into a store today just for a quote, and I was told that a good thing to invest in would be the:
Asus A7N8X-X ($80+)
or the Asus A7N8X-E ($115 or 155, couldn't quite make out what he was saying)
and that with an AMD sempron 3000 ($145)
and that would bring up below my $350 limit
 
Originally posted by: sawalski
also, I went into a store today just for a quote, and I was told that a good thing to invest in would be the:
Asus A7N8X-X ($80+)
or the Asus A7N8X-E ($115 or 155, couldn't quite make out what he was saying)
and that with an AMD sempron 3000 ($145)
and that would bring up below my $350 limit
Click to expand...


Socket A is being phased out. No point in buying new S462 stuff.
 
ya, well I dont need top of the line stuff cuz its just too expensive, plus if I go too fancy I'm worried I'll need new ram etc, on top MB & CPU
I need to stay within my price range, and get something thats at least double my current processor speed, and I'll be a happy camper 😀
 
Example good buy. That comes out to around 350 Canadian right? You don't need to upgrade your memory but you will run in single channel until you pick up a cheap PC3200 twin 512 pack. Then you will be able to upgrade to 4000+ and possibly dualcore way down the road if you wanted. (that is if you don't overclock that 3000+ to 2200-2400). Next generation graphics cards will have AGP variants from what I have seen so even there you will be o.k.
 
I'm not sure what speed my ram is ... how do you find out?
annnnd what I don't understand about these AMD chips, is how it can be that, for example, an Athlon 3000 only runs at like 1.8ghz..
if my athlon 1700 runs at 1.4ghz, would it even be worth it to upgrade to a 3000 if i'm only getting another 400mhz?
or am I way off on how this all works?
 
If you get a K8M800 s754 board with a Sempron 2600+ & 512meg PC3200 ram you're looking at a total cost of ~$200 US. I would doubt you have PC3200 ram given the rest of your system configuration. And this would be a considerable speed boost.

That would be the base minimum upgrade you would have to do.
 
Originally posted by: sawalski
I'm not sure what speed my ram is ... how do you find out?
annnnd what I don't understand about these AMD chips, is how it can be that, for example, an Athlon 3000 only runs at like 1.8ghz..
if my athlon 1700 runs at 1.4ghz, would it even be worth it to upgrade to a 3000 if i'm only getting another 400mhz?
or am I way off on how this all works?
Click to expand...

It's a new CPU core so it's faster pr. clock cycle than your old CPU. But the problem is that if you don't change your videocard you're still going to be very bottlenecked compared to gaming.
 
You should be able to find out what your ram is using CPU Z

You probably have pc2100 in that 1700+ system. That's going to hold you back a little too.

Don't look at the Ghz ratings of the chips. If you just want a quick reference, the 1700+ and 3000+ are a good indication of the relative performance. There are a lot of differences between cache sizes, fsb ratings, and general architecture that make the A64s very different than the AXPs.

Tom's Hardware has a lineup of a ton of CPUs to show relative performance.
 
i'm in the same situation as you. I want to upgrade my MB and CPU but want to keep my 9800 Pro APG video card. Most everyone has said to wait and upgrade to a PCI-E board and video card. But a few have said that APG isn't dead and that most of the newer cards will be out in APG. So i'd say get a socket 939 board with a APG slot, get a 3200+. APG will be around for a few more years.
 
Originally posted by: JE78
i'm in the same situation as you. I want to upgrade my MB and CPU but want to keep my 9800 Pro APG video card. Most everyone has said to wait and upgrade to a PCI-E board and video card. But a few have said that APG isn't dead and that most of the newer cards will be out in APG. So i'd say get a socket 939 board with a APG slot, get a 3200+. APG will be around for a few more years.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just got a 3200+ A64 to go with my 9800pro.

Even if no new AGP cards come out, I'll still be able to upgrade to a 6800 ultra someday when they're priced more reasonably.
 
which mother board did you get???

I've been looking at getting a MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA and a 3200+ That way I'll beable to get a dual core and a nice APG card when the prices come down some.
 
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