Need Advice-£700 For A Big Upgrade

brisck1

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Hi guys, it's been nearly 2 years since I last upgraded my PC and i've been putting abit of money aside each month for a new upgrade as it looks like my motherboard is about to pack up.

Trouble is im not quite sure what to get with my money as im abit behind on technology these days.

I dont need a case, monitor,PSU(already have 500w) HDDs, Graphics card/soundcard or DVD/CD-ROMS as I think I will keep these from my old system and I also have 1 GIG of DDR400 Ram which I'd like to keep too.

With this in mind, im wondering where to go next? - Athlon 64 or Pentium4?

I'd like to buy for upgradeability in the future and use my machine for heavy 3d and games use.

Any suggestions to help me find the bst rig would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Rob
 
64's are better for games, apart from Doom 3 for some reason

go with a 64
 
If your current gfx card is AGP then you're limiting yourslef in terms of future proofing. NForce 3 motherboards are decent, and support AGP.

It'd be better to get a Nforce 4 mobo, and a PCI-e gfx card imo. Especially if you want this pc to last you as long as your old one (it will save you money in the long run - and upgrading will beno problem)

Whatever you get it's worth waiting for the new A64's that are coming out this month (Venice cores)

(for £700 I'd get a new mobo, cpu, ram and gfx card - and sell the rest. Do a little mild overclocking and you're laughing)
 
well obviously you'd need a new motherboard, so check for the best 64bit sockets.

dont go for pentium unless you arent thinking of gaming, 64 athlon is good but the athlon fx-55 is just...unbelievable...

besides the chips are like £600 for the best so id say get a 64 as theyre cheaper and more than capable of lasting for a good number of years.

however id say get 512 more RAM to prevent bottle necking, also go for SATA hard drives and cabling...much much faster than normal, improves loading times = faster PC in terms of gaming and windows.

yeah doom 3 doesnt like 64..its weird.

also ive heard of something along the lines of the fx-55 bit not working on 64 bit, but the 64 working on both????? thats wrong but it something along those lines...

oh yeah the A8N-SLI DELUXE motherboard from ASUS is the best on the market at around £130. supports Nvidia's dual card tech...leads the pack in all honesty.
 
DFI Nforce 4 is the way to go if you want to overclock :) (best all round pci-e mother board imo)

The pc I put together for my brother is running at 9*300 (TCCD memory running at 1:1 :)) with a vcore of 1.5. Prime and game stable.

It's not ofetn you see a 3000+ Winchester completely owning a FX55 at stock (then again, who'd buy a fx5 and run it at stock? :)) - TCCD and DFI is the way to go if you want to.
 
"Whatever you get it's worth waiting for the new A64's that are coming out this month (Venice cores)"

Warbie can you give me, or point me to some more info on these Venice core tech? - what benifits will it have over the AMD64's out now?
 
If you're not planning on overclocking, then not alot. There may also be a slight improvement mhz for mhz over the Winchesters (but sod all really) It's the improved memory controllers on these chips that has so many people waiting.

Have a quick google.

They're out this month, won't cost any more (possibly £10 - £20 extra due to supply) so it just makes sense to wait imo.

After the mobile Bartons, the Winchesters are the best chips i've come by for overclocking. The venice cores look even better (i'm going to pick up 2 or 3 3000+'s and see just how good :))
 
are the venice cores skt 939?? how long will amd use the skt 939???
 
Yeh - they're 939.

Not sure how long this socket will be used - it's the safest bet to stay future proof imo though.
 
I would recommend an Athlon 64 on Socket 939. From there you can choose AGP or PCI Express and still upgrade to the newest CPU or even dual core. :)

It uses DDR400 (PC3200) and supports dual channel memory. There are several models out there that are 90nm which run a lot cooler than the already cool Athlon 64's. =p

Unless you are doing final 3D rendering, audio or a lot of photoshop work then I wouldn't even consider Pentium 4's. If you do the above, check benchmarks based on the program and what kind of work you will be doing. Programs and formats will perform differently on Athlon and Pentium systems (Some better on one, some better on the other).

For games then Athlon 64, no doubt. A 3500+ would be a good choice. 3200+ is good as well.
 
oh so when the dual cores come out they will be using 939?
 
The first dual cores will be on Socket 940 (Opteron) then late late this year they will be on Socket 939. They might move that date up though.
 
I agree with ASUS the socket 939 athlon 64's are the best right now. Now only do they feature top performance in games like Doom 3 They usually offer top application performance or close to the top. Future upgradability is also one of the features with the socket 939 CPUS's with both dual core and windows 64 bit editon avaliabe when you have the cash.
 
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