Would this be a decent upgrade

[ShmooDude]

I was originally going to do a full blown upgrade shown in this thread here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1586262&enterthread=y

Since then I have a slightly damaged northbridge on my current motherboard (Iwill XP333-R) and it is only barely functional. I have to put the memory in DIMMs 1 and 2, DIMM 0 almost doesn't function at all and DIMM 1 barely functions. It seems that as long as I leave them in this configuration and don't try to mess around with it anymore it will run more stable for the moment.

Recently I was browsing around and found this:
http://www.partspc.com/store/product2333.html

Which looks like it could be a decent upgrade for my machine as a stopgap measure. My thinking behind this is to wait on the full fledged overhaul till the nextgen cards come down to decent prices (or possibly a high end current gen card). Based on the Tom's hardware CPU chart:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/index.html?modelx=33&model1=78&model2=64&chart=25
I should see a roughly 50% increase in speed (granted this was tested with a GPU superior to mine, but it still gives me a general idea to compare the two CPUs).

Mostly what I'm asking is will I be able to get away with this for a while. ATM I am mostly playing World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. I also have FarCry and Half-life 2 which perform dismially with the visuals turned up. Will I see any noticeable difference in performance with this upgrade or am I strictly GPU limited at this point? I know (or think I know) from various comparisons such as this one here:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2281&p=4
That my GPU is certainly not performing at its peak.

Ok, my great appreciation for everyone that read through all that and gives their expert opinions.

P.S. There shouldn't be any compatability problems with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144310
memory should there?

 

[ShmooDude]

Shamless bump for advice

 

[ShmooDude]

One last attempt at getting input...

 

[ShmooDude]

39 views and no comments, guess I'll have to make this decision on my own

 

[Cheesetogo]

I would highly recomend that you get an Athlon 64 rather than a sempron, since your going to be gaming. You could get a 3000+ venice or winchester and a motherboard for around $250. Hope you get more help.

 

[ShmooDude]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
I would highly recomend that you get an Athlon 64 rather than a sempron, since your going to be gaming. You could get a 3000+ venice or winchester and a motherboard for around $250. Hope you get more help.

Could, but that'd mean getting an AGP s939 at over 2.5x the cost. This was basicly gonna be a cheap stopgap measure so I can put off a big upgrade till later.

 

[Chode Messiah]

You can oc ur xp1900 to 3200 speeds easy until u upgrade. I did it with a 1700+ and it ran like a champ. That'll last you enough time to allow u to get a pci-e board, and an x2 proc.

 

[ShmooDude]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
You can oc ur xp1900 to 3200 speeds easy until u upgrade. I did it with a 1700+ and it ran like a champ. That'll last you enough time to allow u to get a pci-e board, and an x2 proc.

I can't even overclock to a 2000+, its a Paliamo core (notorious for being unoverclockable) it doesn't overclock at all.

 

[ShmooDude]

Anyone know anything about the retailer?

 

[ShmooDude]

Well judgeing from reseller ratings I'd be taking a big risk buying this combo, even though it is a great price. I just wish there was a reputable company offering good combos like this.

 

[rise]

i also would get a skt 939 with pci-e , not later as the new mobo will last you some time being compatible with x2's.

you can wait on pci-e but as next gen games come about soon your 5900 will increasingly hogtie you with its inferior dx9 capability. in other words, if i was buying a new mobo today there is no way i would get an agp board. thats imo.

get a quality nf4 board, a 3000+ and a 6600gt and you'll be set for a while.

 

[RussianSensation]

Ok I just dont see how the performance improvement will be 50% for you.

A64 2800+ vs. Sempron 2800+ vs. AXP1800+ (because they didnt have 1900+ with DDR266)

Doom 3 = 79.70 vs. 57.20 vs. 41.30 (92% vs. 38%)
Far Cry = 154.6 vs. 115.2 vs. 83.4 (85% vs. 38%)
UT2004 = 125.2 vs. 94.8 vs. 69.4 (80% vs. 37%)
Wolfenstein - 138.9 vs. 113.6 vs. 82.4 (69% vs. 38%)

Now A64 2800+ s754 costs about $100 on pricewatch. But you can also get 64 2800+ and mobo for $134

For $40 extra you are getting much larger increases in performance than sticking with the old XP platform. You could then get $200 6800nu AGP and try to unlock its pipelines for a slightly underclocked 6800GT. Now that's bang for the buck. Keep the current ram.

I am also wondering what you meant by a full system overhaul? Because S939 supports dual-core processors so you technically have up to 4800+ to upgrade to in the future if you go that route. Problem with S754 is that it's still AGP and you have almost no upgrade path. Maybe it would be wise to go S939 $100 mobo, A64 3000+ venice, and X800xl or even 6600GT PCIe.