Upgrading from AMD 2400+

[forgiveforget]

Well, so I have been sucked into World of Warcraft and I have noticed that my hardware is started to show it's age. Here's my current specs:

AMD 2400+
Gigabyte MB
1GB PC 2700 DDR
80mb WD Hard Drive 8mb cache
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (really has an XT core and is clocked as one now)
Enermax 350watt PS

I know my CPU is really bottlenecking my video card, so I was thinking of upgrading my motherboard/CPU this summer. I was looking at an AMD64 3000+ or the 3200+. I see the difference is the 3200 has the larger 1mb cace on it.

I am really just looking for some ideas about what to do. I dont have the cash for a whole new system now (I dont think I really need it anyways.)

Should I wait on this? or grab the AMD64 now?

Thanks guys!

[Midknyte]

so you're thinking of getting an A64 board with AGP? PCIe is the way of the future. even if you upgraded, your system would be really bottlenecked by the 9800Pro at that point. I think you're better off upgrading CPU, board, and VC at one time.

you could look into upgrading your cpu to an AthlonXP mobile, then overclocking it.
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-239-1.htm

[forgiveforget]

I thought that PCIe was alot slowern than AGP..

[Midknyte]

what? no way. PCIe is better than AGP. The GPUs still haven't taken full advantage of it, but that's the way the industry is going.

[crazyCol]

Originally posted by Midknyte
so you're thinking of getting an A64 board with AGP? PCIe is the way of the future. even if you upgraded, your system would be really bottlenecked by the 9800Pro at that point. I think you're better off upgrading CPU, board, and VC at one time.

[/url]

thats what I am doing from almost the same specs as you, when I can afford it.

[forgiveforget]

ahhh, ok. I did a little more research on PCIe and AGP and found that while the difference in performance is minimal (AGP sometimes better by a little) PCIe is going to be the future, as you stated.:D

My question now...where do I look to for a PCIe based MB/CPU kit, and can I fit that in my ATX case? Or am I looking at a total new system build here?

Thanks!

[Midknyte]

there are a lot of PCIe A64 boards out there. I don't know of any that are BTX yet, so you should be fine. Only Intel is going BTX ATM.

[widget2003]

i thought BTX was deader then dead?

[pandaz3]

Here is a good board with Sata II, PCIe, 1394...... and more

http://www.epox.com/USA/product.asp?id=EP-9NPAplusULTRA

Abit has three versions of AN8 that are solid

and DFI.... I would for the Moment look here though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103436

The mobile will move you up to a 512 cache and you can really see a difference, just do a L12 mod and set it to 11 x 200 or 12 x 200 easy. It gives you full freedom ((Within the limitations of your BIOS and RAM) to do what you need. The extra cache will help your gaming.

[forgiveforget]

So if I was going the route of just upgrading from the 2400+ to the 2600+, you think that would make a difference? Enough to justify ~100 bucks or so at least?

Why the 2600+ mobile (266 FSB) instead of the 2600+ (333FSB)? Overclocking? Or is it still better out of the box? I do have PC2700 RAM so i thought the 333FSB woud be better...no?

[RamonGTP]

Originally posted by widget2003
i thought BTX was deader then dead?

BTX hasn't been brought to life yet for it to be dead... It will be the next standard.

[widget2003]

Originally posted by RamonGTP
BTX hasn't been brought to life yet for it to be dead... It will be the next standard.

yeah i heard about it about 6 months ago but i thought it was never going to happen oh well we'll see.

and forgiveforget i dont think it would be much use going from 2400+ to a 2600+ unless yeah it was a 2600+ mobile CPU cause yeah they overclock very nicely indeed like the 333FSB 2600+ would overclock to about 2.3ghz maybe a bit more with good cooling and the 266FSB mobile 2600+ would overclock to about 2.7ghz or more with better cooling.

but i reakon if you just want a bit more power just overclock your current 2400+ a bit, ive got a 2400+ running easily @ 2.2ghz which ive worked out to be about a 3100+

[Midknyte]

All the new Dell systems will be BTX. they should be released this month.

[widget2003]

Originally posted by Midknyte
All the new Dell systems will be BTX. they should be released this month.

oh well there you go then.. lol i stand corrected well i didn't argue the point but still hahaha

[pandaz3]

Originally posted by forgiveforget
So if I was going the route of just upgrading from the 2400+ to the 2600+, you think that would make a difference? Enough to justify ~100 bucks or so at least?

Why the 2600+ mobile (266 FSB) instead of the 2600+ (333FSB)? Overclocking? Or is it still better out of the box? I do have PC2700 RAM so i thought the 333FSB woud be better...no?

The Mobiles are Bartons as is the latest XP2600, but the XP2600 might be "Superlocked" to 1.9 Ghz, where the mobile also has the big cache and is unlocked.

I wish I had gone Mobile sooner.