Where to head next for system upgrade

[vetteguy]

My current system has been working fine, and seems to run things pretty fast. However, in the past few days I started doing some benchmarking (Sandra and 3DMark 2001SE) and haven't been impressed with the results. (Especially the 3DMark, at 8747). Anyway, here is my current setup:

Athlon 1.4GHz
Asus A7M266 Mobo
2x256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR
Maxtor ATA133 80GB 7200RPM drive
Lite-on 40x CDR
Soundblaster Audigy Platinum
Visiontek Geforce4 Ti4600
Generic NIC

Let's assume I was going to upgrade at least the processor/mobo/RAM in the near future. What are some suggestions? I was thinking like an XP2200+, but I've been reading a lot that says one of the new P4 2.4's would be nice. What do you think? How much of a boost would the XP2200 be? What about the 2.4? And if the P4, should I go DDR or Rambus? This is kind of a "in theory" question, as I probably will wait a little while at least before doing anything, but I'm just kind of curious. Thanks!

 

[Dudd]

Play a lot of 3dmark do you

 

[Antoneo]

Are you planning to overclock?

 

[vetteguy]

Originally posted by: Dudd
Play a lot of 3dmark do you

Yep.

No, I am not planning on overclocking (at least not at this point). I seem to have enough cooling problems no matter what I do, so I don't need the extra headache.

 

[Judgement]

If you aren't experiencing any slowdown in games you play, or any other apps you might be using... who cares what the benchmark says.

All that matters is that what you spend time doing on the PC is fast for your needs... if it already seems fast enough to you, then upgrading won't seem like a very big performance difference.. if you can even notice one.

If you really want to upgrade I guess the XP 2200 would be the best option since you wouldn't need to get a new motherboard also.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

You look fine to me bud. Maybe wait until Barton arrives and see if it's an option for the A7M266. If so it's just a drop in replacement and will give you SSE, more cache, prefetch, etc. That way you'll have more money for Hammer or a faster P4.

 

[Earwax]

If you are really serious about raising your 3dmark scores the XP2200+ would probably be the cheapest way to go, and maybe some pc2400 or even 2700 RAM. I get a 9800 out of my Ti 4400 with an XP1800+ and pc2700 RAM, but by OCing up to a XP2100+ I can break 10000.

Although there's nothing wrong with a near 9,000 mark and the XP2200+ is pretty steep a price to pay when you compare it with the cost of the 1800. Really you're probably better off waiting for awhile.

 

[vetteguy]

Originally posted by: Judgement
If you aren't experiencing any slowdown in games you play, or any other apps you might be using... who cares what the benchmark says.

All that matters is that what you spend time doing on the PC is fast for your needs... if it already seems fast enough to you, then upgrading won't seem like a very big performance difference.. if you can even notice one.

If you really want to upgrade I guess the XP 2200 would be the best option since you wouldn't need to get a new motherboard also.

Well one of the things I will want to get when I do upgrade is a new motherboard, I want one of the new ones with onboard USB2.0 (I have an external 2.0 drive and I'm sure more will be coming) and onboard serial ATA (for the cables). Also, if it had onboard RAID I might be interested in a RAID-0 setup. I guess from what I'm hearing there isn't a lot to be had right now in the way of upgrades.

What about any P4 people? How would a 2.4 or 2.53 compare to my current setup?

 

[Antoneo]

What about any P4 people? How would a 2.4 or 2.53 compare to my current setup?

I have a P4 1.6A and plan to overclock. Right now I can't since I have to wait out an RMA for GF4 Ti4200 but many people have hit 2.1 (FSB 133) and 2.4 (FSB) so you might want to think about that. Temps are fine even with the stock cooling (have to switch out thermal pad into AS3 or grease).