Is it time for me to upgrade?

[Creole]

I currently have an Athlon XP 1600 with a Shuttle AK3 motherboard. I was thinking about getting a P4 2.4 but don't know what type of motherboard? So my question is should I upgrade and if so suggest a decent low-priced motherboard. It's either this or a LCD Monitor, I have a 19" KDS Trinitron now.

[pelly]

You certainly could go with a good P4/mobo combo....great performance...

However, you should also consider going with a new Athlon XP and an nForce2.

The "best" option is really hard to tell without hearing your full system specs. Sometimes, there is a bottleneck elsewhere in the system which can be replaced for much less money...

Having an overclocking-friendly CPU, mobo, and RAM can save you hundreds in the long-run.....always a good option to consider...

:D

[Creole]

ok I also have a Visiontek Geforce4 Ti4200, 40 gig WD drive, Sound Blaster Live 5.1. and TDK 24x10x40x. By the way, I have always had amd systems.

[The Baron]

why?

Your system is perfectly adequate right now... wait for cheap hyperthreading or Hammer...

[pelly]

He's got a good point....Your system will certainly get you by until Feb/March when the Athlon 64 hits the market. At that time, you'll see cheaper prices across the boards for both Intel and "regular" Athlon XP cpu's.....Here, you can then pick and choose the cpu you like best and pruchase the appropraite platform mobo...

Don't foget, GeForce FX will be on the market as well.... :D

[Grechie]

my athlonxp 1600 has more then enough power for me and i play all the new games too

[thcdru2k]

same here

[StealthHawk]

i thought Athlon 64's were slated for the middle of next year?

othwise yeah, your system is fine, i would wait until either AMD or Intel increase FSB speed again before upgrading.

[DaveW]

I think your XP 1600 should be good for a while. Upgrading would just make your graphics card a bottleneck.

[|JuiceZ|]

yea depending upon yer cpu stepping, why not grab some faster ram and o'c 'er? Several ppl on this board in particular have 1600+ that have produced good results coupled w/ the right ram modules.

[Creole]

I have 512 PC2100

[saturnotaku]

What brand and CAS latency is your RAM? If it's Corsair, then by all means try to overclock your system. If it's generic, then I'd advise against overclocking. :)

[|JuiceZ|]

...or pick up a stick of Cosair XMS and get this party started :D

[Creole]

I have crucial and the latecy is 2.5

[fishlung]

I have a XP1800, a KT266a motherboard and a GF4 TI4400; I plan to keep this configuration for at least another year. However if a nice new GFFX somehow makes itself cheaply available, that's probably the only thing I'd be upgrading before next winter. You could fork out some money on a faster CPU, perhaps. But obviously if I were you, I would just try to be patient for now, and get your money's worth out of what you already have. It should be fine for a while yet. :)