Upgrading my CPU

Foxtrot

Foxtrot

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Right now I have an Athlon 2800+ XP and a 6800 GT, so there is a bit of a balance problem. I was thinking of upgrading my processor, is there a socket A processor that I could get a reasonable performance increase from? If not, what is the next cheapest thing I could get for the most amount of performance? Also, would getting a new processor even help me out that much? Could I OC it to make up for it?
 
Absoutely not. Socket A is deader(not a word) than socket 754. Best bet would be to get a socket 939 processor.
 
holydeadpenguins said:
Absoutely not. Socket A is deader(not a word) than socket 754. Best bet would be to get a socket 939 processor.
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Are you sure? That is pretty expensive.
 
If its a barton just change the fsb to 200 and you have a 3200+
 
I don't think it's unbalanced that much. I wouldn't upgrade yet but if you really want to then you should go with Athlon 64 Socket 939 (Winchester or Venice core if you plan on overclocking). What is the codename of your CPU, Thoroughbred B, Barton?
 
Ti133700N said:
I don't think it's unbalanced that much. I wouldn't upgrade yet but if you really want to then you should go with Athlon 64 Socket 939 (Winchester or Venice core if you plan on overclocking). What is the codename of your CPU, Thoroughbred B, Barton?
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I think it is a Barton. I am wanting to upgrade my PC for BF1942, I want to run the game on max (or near max) settings.
 
I really need an answer, does anyone have a link to benchmarks? I couldn't find any useful ones.
 
Reaktor4 said:
Whats the question?

can you be more specific?
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Will I be able to run Battlefield 2 on max settings with my computer? If not, what processor should I get that would be enough of a performance increase to be worth my money, I also don't want to spend too much money. And how much is my CPU bottlenecking my card?

And benchmarks showing the 2800 XP through to the FX whatever, or atleast compared to the 3400+.
 
well first of all whats your budget if you are looking for a new cpu?
 
bryanf445 said:
well first of all whats your budget if you are looking for a new cpu?
Click to expand...
I only have $700 and I would like to spend as little of it as possible :P So my budget is about $400 and I want to get a stick of RAM for $70.
 
There are cheaper motherboards, but with a cheaper price, it usually means it has a bigger chance of being faulty. I would recommend that motherboard. I have it and I have had no problems with it ever. It is a great motherboard.

That processor is worth it. It is the latest installments of AMD CPUs. It is a Venice core which means it will run cooler than the rest. I don't remember where I saw this (Might have been Tom's Hardware), but they overclocked that CPU to 2.8 GHZ from 2.0 on stock cooling without any thermal paste with the original voltages. And 2.8 GHZ was stable for them. Plus, there temps were still low.
 
Shamrock said:
There are cheaper motherboards, but with a cheaper price, it usually means it has a bigger chance of being faulty. I would recommend that motherboard. I have it and I have had no problems with it ever. It is a great motherboard.

That processor is worth it. It is the latest installments of AMD CPUs. It is a Venice core which means it will run cooler than the rest. I don't remember where I saw this (Might have been Tom's Hardware), but they overclocked that CPU to 2.8 GHZ from 2.0 on stock cooling without any thermal paste with the original voltages. And 2.8 GHZ was stable for them. Plus, there temps were still low.
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I want to find some benchmarks on this then, but what is wrong my the processor I linked? People seem to dislike the 754 socket. And wow I forgot to link it...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103484
 
Socket 754 is a dying breed. Plus, it does not utilize dual channel memory which is why you need to go S 939.
 
Shamrock said:
That processor is worth it. It is the latest installments of AMD CPUs. It is a Venice core which means it will run cooler than the rest. I don't remember where I saw this (Might have been Tom's Hardware), but they overclocked that CPU to 2.8 GHZ from 2.0 on stock cooling without any thermal paste with the original voltages. And 2.8 GHZ was stable for them. Plus, there temps were still low.
Click to expand...

I think they did that to the Winchester core not the Venice

There is the San diego core. I have not seen any reviews of it so I don't know if its any good
 
Shamrock said:
Socket 754 is a dying breed. Plus, it does not utilize dual channel memory which is why you need to go S 939.
Click to expand...
Dual channel memory? WTF is that?
 
well single channel memory runs at 64 bit, and with dual channel it runs at 128 bit. Socket 754 cannot run dual channel ram while 939 can
 
Foxtrot said:
Will I be able to run Battlefield 2 on max settings with my computer?
Click to expand...
I dont know anything about battlefield 2 sorry. The only way youll know is by trying.
If not, what processor should I get that would be enough of a performance increase to be worth my money,
Click to expand...
Well as i said you already have a 3200+ (once you change a bios setting) and you cant buy a faster socket a processor. So if youre spending money your gonna be getting a (i assume) socket 939 mobo + cpu. A 3500+ would be a very nice upgrade without being too expensive imo.
I also don't want to spend too much money. And how much is my CPU bottlenecking my card?
Click to expand...
Its different in different games. Not as much as you think is peobably a good answer.
And benchmarks showing the 2800 XP through to the FX whatever, or atleast compared to the 3400+.
Click to expand...
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTc1LDQ= should be useful
 
Reaktor4 said:
I dont know anything about battlefield 2 sorry. The only way youll know is by trying.

Well as i said you already have a 3200+ (once you change a bios setting) and you cant buy a faster socket a processor. So if youre spending money your gonna be getting a (i assume) socket 939 mobo + cpu. A 3500+ would be a very nice upgrade without being too expensive imo.

Its different in different games. Not as much as you think is peobably a good answer.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTc1LDQ= should be useful
Click to expand...
What would you recomend? OCing my processor (arctiv 5 thermal paste on it) or buying the 3500?
 
Id oc it first and if youre happy with that why spend the money? With ppus soon to be released you might not even need a really fast cpu in the near future.
 
First, you have 1gb of memory so save that 70$.

Next, you could go with Socket 754 or 939. The 3400+ is a very nice CPU and they even increased it from 2.2GHz to 2.4GHz since it's been out (dropped the L2 cache from 1MB to 512KB) which is a very nice performance increase even though they didn't change the model number. Dual channel memory is nice but 2.2GHz/dual channel memory setup and a 2.4GHz/single channel memory setup will trade places winning depending on the game/app.

Now the thing with Socket 754 is that if you choose to upgrade again (same situation you are in now!) you would have to buy a new board and CPU. Now if you went Socket 939 you would have the option of upgrading all the way through the 4000+ and then some CPUs (also Dual Core CPUs). No new motherboard required to upgrade again if you go Socket 939. A very very big plus point.

Of course that's not even covering 90nm and OCing.
Benchmarks in a moment.
 
If you know what you are doing when overclocking, you should go with the 3200+ instead of the 3500+ since you can acheive the same speed (2500Ghz is very easy to get) and of course it's cheaper than the 3500+.
 
Asus said:
Here is a good HL2 CPU overview.
Shows the 3200+, 3400+ and 3500+. Differences between 64bit and 128bit memory interface (Single vs Dual channel). And also DDR333 vs DDR400 etc.

Looking at the prices for a 3200+ (around 200$), a 3400+ (220$), and a 3500+ (around 270$)...I'd go with the Socket 939 CPUs. You can get a good Socket 939 Motherboard for less than 90$. That's what I would do personally.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks a lot :) Looking at those benchmarks I think I will get the 3200, is that a good choice? Also, why is this so cheap? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1226599&Tab=2&NoMapp=0
I am guessing the CPU and mobo are really low quality.
 
The mobo is definetly low quality while the CPU does not come with a cooling unit which means you would have to purchase a heatsink/fan seperately.

I still am telling you to get what I suggested. :)
 
Shamrock said:
The mobo is definetly low quality while the CPU does not come with a cooling unit which means you would have to purchase a heatsink/fan seperately.

I still am telling you to get what I suggested. :)
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I am going to get that CPU, but the mobo seems a little expensive.
 
Didn't notice, the one I linked to uses PCI-Express. :O
 
If you're going to be doing some heavy OCing then go with the msi k8n neo2 ($128). Otherwise go with the asus a8v deluxe ($114).

Check the benchmarks between the two here. Oh yeah, here is where they get the 3200+ venice core to 2.8ghz on stock cooling/voltage.
 
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