which upgrade option is best for this situation?

[imported_GLO]

I have to decide whether to buy a 1.5year old hi-spec system or a brand new current system.

I know the crew here a can highlight the benefits and pros and cons for each config.

The choice is between an older AMD Opteron rig and or simply a newer mobo,cpu and vga card. Presuming that the total cost will be very similar which ever way i go. Comparing the cost of buying the old system at todays prices, versus buying a new system with more recent technology for similar (but not more) money.

Old (about 18months old)
cpu: AMD Opteron 170 Denmark 2.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core
mobo: ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce SPP 100 ATX AMD
vga: Gigabyte GV-NX62128DP NVIDIA GeForce 6200 128Mb PCIe

New: An example could be the following but could really be anything quite new, but it must not exceed the replacement value of the components in the old system.


To give you an idea, the replacement system listed above would wither be used as replacement build for my HTPC or to replace my desktop. their details are below

current HTPC config
cpu:Intel P4 3.0c 512KB, 800MHz, Socket 478 Northwood Hyper Threading cpu,
mobo: Asus P4P800 E-Deluxe
vga: Asus 9600xt/TVD

current desktop config
cpu. P4 2.4
mobo: Asus P4S800 All in one
vga: onboard vga


The Desktop get used daily, but the HTPC does the hardest work with Mpeg encoding and DVD ripping and creating. and burning.

Which ever system is left, if will be turning into a file/media/internet cache server.

Thanks in advance for all contributions to this thread.

 

[jpeyton]

Budget?

 

[imported_GLO]

The budget is whatever the replacement cost of

cpu: AMD Opteron 170 Denmark 2.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core US$190
mobo: ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce SPP 100 ATX AMD $150
vga: Gigabyte GV-NX62128DP NVIDIA GeForce 6200 128Mb PCIe $100

prices listed are new, so i guess that as they are used, a total budget would be US$300-US$350 (just so that a line is drawn in the sand)

I am asking whether its better to buy this used setup, or spend the same amount on different gear.

 

[jpeyton]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ AM2 & Biostar TForce 550 Motherboard $160 Newegg
Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Heatsink/Fan $10 Newegg
Connect3D Radeon X1900 GT $125 ZipZoomFly
1GB DDR2 667 RAM $65 Newegg

$360

The X1900 GT will set fire to a GF 6200.

 

[imported_GLO]

Any intel options?

Otherwise, how does the Athlon64 X2 3600+ compare to the Opteron 170?

Note: i am not a gamer at all, but am a big HTPC user.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: GLO
Otherwise, how does the Athlon64 X2 3600+ compare to the Opteron 170?

0.1GHz slower.