AXP-m to low end A64 worth it?

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sandmanx

[H]F Junkie
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I'm currently running an Athlon XP-m [email protected] for my main box at home. I'd like to move to an X2 next year once DDR2 platforms come out, and I feel I've gotten all I can out of my AGP GF6800GT. Since I see this is most likely at least a full year out, I'm thinking of moving to an A64 now, with a board that supports AGP.

I plan on picking up a cheap venice core, new PSU, new MB, new RAM, and a new waterblock. I'd like to keep to around the $500 mark if possible. Currently I plan to pick up a 3200+ venice core A64, 1GB of quality ram, and a new PSU since my Whisper 421 won't be ATX 2.0 compatable. What I'm up in the air about is a motherboard and waterblock, and if it's all worth it.

What MB that supports AGP socket 939 would be a good choice? I don't want to spend any money on a new video card, and the selection seems to be limited at newegg for AGP socket 939 boards. I'm thinking now I might just keep the board for a while and move to an X2 next year, as I don't think I'm going to miss PCIe support anytime soon.
 
i think you might get a bit more out of a good gpu upgrade, though that would mean going pci-e, which means replacing the cpu and mobo too, kinda a tough situation eh? :(

here's my vote. if you can manage to find an opteron 144, go for it over the 3000+, the cache will help in gaming, and it'll probably oc better anyhow.
for the board, that's a tough one. this epox caught my eye a while back:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123222
but it looks like you gotta wait a few days for it to be in stock. if you don't care about some added features, get the cheaper version :D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123230
 
I moved to Athlon 64 and still have yet to find a processor that can even match my MHZ of my old 2500+ :mad:

It's worth the upgrade to PCI-E though.
 
MrFace said:
I moved to Athlon 64 and still have yet to find a processor that can even match my MHZ of my old 2500+ :mad:

It's worth the upgrade to PCI-E though.
Click to expand...

You must have had some really bad luck with the A64 processors. I don't think I had a single one that wouldn't do 2.4Ghz or so...even my 130nm 2800+ s754....well....maybe my CBBID Winchester :p .

The PCIe upgrade is worth it. The way I look at it is that you might as well have a video card that you can use with other newer systems when the video card becomes less than useful for your main gaming rig. In 2 years when that happens, you may or may not have an AGP system around.
 
kirbyrj said:
You must have had some really bad luck with the A64 processors. I don't think I had a single one that wouldn't do 2.4Ghz or so...even my 130nm 2800+ s754....well....maybe my CBBID Winchester :p .

The PCIe upgrade is worth it. The way I look at it is that you might as well have a video card that you can use with other newer systems when the video card becomes less than useful for your main gaming rig. In 2 years when that happens, you may or may not have an AGP system around.
Click to expand...

With my 2800+ I had bad luck. I just got a 3500+ and new mobo/ram/video card built last night :D

First thing I did was push it to 2.3ghz, rockin hard! time to update sig
 
I went from a NF7-S/AthlonXP-M 2600+ @ 2.5ghz TO an Abit AV8/AMD64 939 3500+ @ 2.6ghz (Newcastle) and just swapped over memory and video card.

I noticed a definite increase in speed and all around smoothness in games.

picked up the mobo and cpu on ebay for 175.00 :)

I was thinking about buying that asrock mobo with agp and pci-e...
 
Sniviler said:
I was thinking about buying that asrock mobo with agp and pci-e...
Click to expand...

Only problem is it doesn't have much VCore range (if any). So you'll pretty much be stuck with whatever you can get on stock volts...which is a lot on some CPU's.
 
AGP 939 choices are indeed limited. Can you get some more OC out of your CPU? I'd just wait till DDR2s come out.
 
diapickle said:
AGP 939 choices are indeed limited. Can you get some more OC out of your CPU? I'd just wait till DDR2s come out.
Click to expand...

My CPU is a very weak overclocker. It tops out about 40MHz faster, on a much faster bus. It wasn't worth screwing with, because it didn't gain much speed and it chewed a lot more power down(measured with a kill-a-watt meter).

I forgot to mention I'm not a big gamer. I bought the 6800GT for Doom3, and the only game I've bought since then is SS2, and it played well enough, but the CPU was struggling. I'll mainly use it for folding and converting some laserdisc into dvd format, so I want something that won't take forever to create dvd roms.

I'm not that concerned about video performance, as I said, the 6800GT is good enough for me for now. Unless not going PCI-e is going to hold me back that much, I'll just keep the AGP card for another 1-2 years. I got about 2.5 years of service out of my previous GF3, so as you can see, I don't upgrade video cards that often. By the time I'm ready to upgrade again, ddr2 will be mainstream, and I can get everything new at that point.
 
My CPU won't OC at all, despite the somewhat-OC friendly board it's in (A8V Deluxe), good 939 board w/AGP by the way.
 
i am in the same exact boat as you.
have a XP-M 2500+ and wanting to go 64.

and while i appreciate a new toy, thats what i see it as for now.
my setup handles everything that todays world can throw at it and thats all that i need for now. I know it is having a difficult time with a few games and the apps load, but its ok for now. And tere are no worthy games comming out anytime soon, so there is no rush :D (unlike last chrismas)

I dont see a point in getting an 939 agp, i think that it would be a waist of money.
it might have been a good idea back when PCI-e cards were not around, but now, a 7800gt simply smokes almost every card out there, and they are comming down in price.

if you want something cheap
cheack out the newegg offer from eVGA for the 7800GT for 379 and a free Mobo from Jetway (it descent, not great) the entire package is only 379. add to that a Opte from dave for 130 and transplant your ram and your set.


there you go, your 500 dollar upgrade

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238

the eternal question... when to upgrade :rolleyes:
 
I enjoy my modest gaming performance - by modest i mean playable at all settings (with little/no AA ofcourse) - with the pc in my sig...

Opty 165 Dual core and AGP 6600
 
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