Should I upgrade?

[|MaguS|]

I currently have an AMD64 3200 Clawhammer (754) and have a MSI K8N Neo2 sitting here, I was thinking about upgrading to 939 but don't know what CPU to get that wont be a downgrade.

I was thinking about the 3500 but I dont know how that compares to the 3200 Clawhammer I have, the FX Chips is what I want but thanks to E3, PSP and moving, my budget is pretty tight currently.

Is it worth jumping over or should I wait till after E3 and buy the top FX?

OCing is not an option for me, I never OC'd a CPU and don't really want to risk it (plus Im using Geil Value Ram).

[SH64]

Your current CPU is fine .. i dont see a reason for an upgrade IMO.
heck i even have a P4:3.0Ghz & very satisfied with its performance for the time being .

[Tr1cK]

I dont think you will see much of a difference in gaming. IMO I would be planning on the PCI-E system upgrade rather than from 754 to s939 agp, unless you plan on running the 6800GT for a while.

[Daneel Olivaw]

Upgrade? You're joking right? Is there anything you're not satisfied with in your current setup? Instead of shelling out 400$ on a cpu, buy a HDTV, or projector, or the Benq 19'' 12ms...

[|MaguS|]

Got myself a Projector already as my TV in the living room...

Well my main reason to upgrade is that my current motherboard (754) is not compatible with the 6800GT, it has been proven with other users that the Biostar K8VHA Pro can only run at 4xAGP without causing Artifacts. Thats why I bought the MSI 939 board, I planned on going 939 but never decided on when or to what chip would atleast be comparable in speed.

[Tr1cK]

There is like no performance benefit going from AGP 4x to AGP 8x.
You're 3dmark scores show me you're doing just fine.

[Daneel Olivaw]

Then you have the money, so the answer is simple, buy the faster CPU, absolutely.

[Tr1cK]

Look through this if you want to find comparable CPU power:

Toms Hardware Guide (http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/cpu_charts-13.html#opengl)

[Gator]

Your computer is already great, I would leave it alone for now. The A64 3200 has plenty of power for all of todays top games, and your 6800GT does it plenty of justice. If you upgrade to a higher Athlon64 you'll probably find yourself disappointed and short cash.

Secondly, the A64 3200 Clawhammer is considered a very sought after item. Us lucky owners have 1meg L2 cache at a very reasonable price. Do you really wanna get rid of that, or spend a fortune to get it back in the FX chip? :cool:

Finally, don't get lost in the hype of dual channel memory that S939 offers, check most benchmarks on the web and you'll see that the Athlon64 really doesn't benefit from added memory bandwidth. ;)

[CainSyris]

I think that if you already own the MSI 939 board and you have an AGP board you want to use in that to get the full AGP8x, then I'd say go for a 3500+ Winchester.

It will be cool-running, be a little bit faster than the .15 versions of the same 3500+, and it will have dual-channel. So it will be a speedgrade above your current CPU. Winchesters are so cool-running that they do pretty well in the overclocking game, if you play that game, which may put you up another speed grade (or more).

However, within a few months, AMD will have another FX chip come out and there is only one FX chip to come this year, it is the FX-57. It will be based off the cooler running Winchester core, it will have be the smaller .09 size, and it will be faster than even the same clocked FX-55 or 53. Even if only by a little. You will likely pay the same for the 57 in the coming months as you would for the 55 in the current month.

Hm. I say at your level because you already have the 939 board, you should go 3200+ or 3500+ winchester and overclock it. Then when the FX-57 comes, sell the chip you had and upgrade to the fastest and be king of the block for at least six months.

That beats being stuck with a craptastic board you sound like you hate and want to dump and already have a replacement for.

[Elderblaze]

Magus, im afraid even if you get a quad pumped Cell supercomputer, it won't make EQ2 any faster, that horse is dead. The code is **** and it runs like crap on high end machines, simple answer : live with it.

Regards,
Mike

[bkswaney]

If I were u I would wait at least 6 months
before your next upgrade.

As for me I'm waiting a bit longer.
Intel is going to be releasing some mean
stuff over the next 12 months.
I knew they had something good
in the works. "lol" ;)

Here is a nice read from 2 weeks back
over at anandtech if anyone missed it. :)

The Consequence of Waking Up a Sleeping Giant: Intel Roadmaps Inside

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2329

[Templar]

that upgrade won't do anything for you. Get the 3800+ or better or just sit tight.

Simon

[einstein_314]

Since you already bought the MSI S939 board, you might as well get a processor for it. Unless of course you return the mobo. The "Winchester" 3500+ would be an excellent choice. I don't know how much of a performance boost you will get, but if you're set on getting a new CPU then go for that.

[Elderblaze]

Dident really see anything in the Intel article that got me excited, 3.8 Ghz P4's yay.. Dual core chips.. umm yay? I don't know why people are so excited about dual core. As a gamer it will only slow you down, at least for awhile. Be a year or two before we start seeing multi threaded games in mass. I'd bet a A64 4000+ would keep a 3.8 Ghz Smithfield in check, and we got 4000+ NOW. Im sure AMD will have somthing to compete even moreso soon. in summary /yawn.

Regards,
Mike

[bkswaney]

Dident really see anything in the Intel article that got me excited, 3.8 Ghz P4's yay.. Dual core chips.. umm yay? I don't know why people are so excited about dual core. As a gamer it will only slow you down, at least for awhile. Be a year or two before we start seeing multi threaded games in mass. I'd bet a A64 4000+ would keep a 3.8 Ghz Smithfield in check, and we got 4000+ NOW. Im sure AMD will have somthing to compete even moreso soon. in summary /yawn.

Regards,
Mike

I LOVE dual core setup's.
I had a K7Thunder and two 1800MP's.

For gaming it's not a boost.
But for other stuff it can speed things way up. :)
Though some games have been tuned for multithreading already.

I see Intel rebounding nicely in 06. :D
The best news is Intel has got off there
asses and got new stuff on the drawing board
instead of trying to keeping milking the poor old
beat to death P4.