Does this upgrade look worthwhile to you?

<Dubz> · 15 Sep 2006 at 03:42

Just after opinions really...

Current items..
AMD 64 3400+ (Socket 754 , standard clock 2400/200 DDR).
DFI Lanparty NF3 250
6800 Ultra (AGP)
Zalman CNPS7700-ALCU

Thinking of getting..
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) standard clock 2000/200 which i hope to clock to 2400 to match my current chip and from what i see from the 3800 overclocking thread this should be ok?
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI
Leadtek GeForce 7950 GT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-091-LT)
Zalman CNPS9500-AM2 Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754)

I dont want to go to DDR2 yet as i have not long forked out for the new Ram that i have (g.Skill 2GB)

The new stuff will cost around £420 and my friend has offered to buy my old stuff above for around £160, seem worthwhile?

Feel free to add any suggestions for differant products, Also would there be much advantage in getting the 512Mb version of the Gfx card over the 256? maybe slightly high clock CPU like the 4200?
(trying to save some pennies).

Site doesnt say which version of the 3800 the chip is, manchester or toledo?

pastymuncher · 15 Sep 2006 at 09:44

You are not supposed to talk about prices in this bit but your mate is ripping you off. On a well known auction site you should get around £80-100 for the cpu alone as they are becoming quite rare these days. As for the 6800 Ultra you should be looking at around £140 at least on the same place. Not sure about the mobo but as it's a good clocker then it should get some interest.

Have you tried clocking your rig at all for some more performance? I really don't see a X2 3800+ as much of an upgrade 2.0ghz/512kb L2 compared to 2.4ghz/512kb. Games might actually run slower if they are not dual core optimised. On top of that you are probably going to get stuck with a pc you can't upgrade. I believe 939 cpu's are no longer made and it is only left over stock that is available which will probably dry up soon. The only way you colud upgrade then was to pay a premium at auction, so you are probably better off going straight in for one of the 4400+ (£158) or even a 4800+ which can be had for under £200 at some places.

For an extra £60 you could get a 6400 Conroe and yes i know you would have to get DDR2 as well but that would give you a massive increase in everything.

mp260767 · 15 Sep 2006 at 13:36

as mentioned, have a look at the conroes, i know asrock do a dual ddr/ddr2 mobo, sure some others would as well to save on having to buy new ram straight off, not sure how much the performance will be hampered tho.

maybe check the Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT similar price to the 7950.

<Dubz> · 15 Sep 2006 at 19:28

i must admit after finding some reviews on the board and they were march 05 and realise that this would still be an outdated system.

I've not had any luck overclocking my current setup but thats probably more to do with me not getting the combinations right.

Not keen on ATi as the last 2 i had the first i sold almost straight away and the second lasted my around 2 years but had to be RMA'd 4 times.

<Dubz> · 18 Sep 2006 at 07:22

any other opinions?

Sir Random · 18 Sep 2006 at 12:27

I would definitely consider going for a conroe setup. Socket 939 is now old-tech, which makes it a bad investment. As suggested above, you can probably get a DDR/DDR2 mobo so you can still use your old ram, but I would suggest selling that ram too, and going DDR2 if possible.

<Dubz> · 18 Sep 2006 at 21:40

Sir Random said:
I would definitely consider going for a conroe setup. Socket 939 is now old-tech, which makes it a bad investment. As suggested above, you can probably get a DDR/DDR2 mobo so you can still use your old ram, but I would suggest selling that ram too, and going DDR2 if possible.

yeah from what i've seen the options of boards that support both DDR and DDR2 are pretty limited with probably no way of overclocking etc.