Urgent PC upgrade advice

[Cotterik]

I've gone back and taken a look at the options, and the 3700+ has a cache memory of 1mb whereas the 3800 has 512. So i took your advice and went for that. So this is my updated list. Any comments?

Asus A8N-VM CSM, nForce430+GeForce 6150, Socket-939, m-ATX,GbLAN, Firew, PCI-Ex16

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2GHz Socket 939, 1MB, BOXED w/fan

Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2 DDR-DIMM 2048MB Kit w/two matched CMX1024-3200C2 DIMMs

Sapphire Radeon X1800XT 256MB GDDR3, PCI-Express,ViVo,Dual-DVI-I,Lite-Retail

that comes to just under £480

[Guest]

Ok..,...My advice if your going 2 run a Windows operating system It's allways(and i mean always) better 2 run it on A Pentium procceser cuz it programmed for(on) a pentium procceser....the procceser acts a different way, but thats more technical 2 get into....and then get a mainboard with an intell chipset....but yeah i know there is a price diffrent.....if you decide 3 go for the x64 or whats its called make sure 2 get a mainboard thats supports it...i would look for an ASUS mainboard wit ATI chipset....but thats what i would do....

erm, what? the AMD's are normally a LOT quicker, and when you talk about ATi chipsets i hope you dont mean IGP's!

[Cotterik]

ok so ive pretty much decided on everything now. im just still wondering on whether to opt for the AM2 chipset for DDR2 ram or not. I can pay an extra 50 for the 4200 processor but with 'value' memory in an upgrade package. Is it worth me doing that or spending less money for the 3700 but with better memory?

Rik

[Lagonda]

it was english, just not as we know it.

It's life Jim, But not as we know it.

[Lagonda]

Ok..,...My advice if your going 2 run a Windows operating system It's allways(and i mean always) better 2 run it on A Pentium procceser cuz it programmed for(on) a pentium procceser....the procceser acts a different way, but thats more technical 2 get into....and then get a mainboard with an intell chipset....but yeah i know there is a price diffrent.....

Bullshit mate.

And try writing some proper English.

[Zytek_Fan]

If you want to overclock get an Opteron 144

[NuclearCrap]

If you want to overclock get an Opteron 144

Opteron 144 is no good if he doesn't get serious about overclocking, he'd be happier with a 3700+ San Diego.

[Cotterik]

the question is, would i be happier with the 3700 than i would with the x2 3800 with the am2 socket and ddr2 ram?

[NuclearCrap]

the question is, would i be happier with the 3700 than i would with the x2 3800 with the am2 socket and ddr2 ram?

3700+ can easily match X2 3800+'s performance with less than 10% overclock, and that can easily be done with softwares. AM2 socket is no better than S939 as of now. And as I mentioned before, there are still some software compatibility problems with dual cores and you'll need to find certain patches to fix the problems, no matter it's AMD or Intel.

[Cotterik]

however it doesnt make my system future-proof if i choose 939. thats the problem I have.

[Lagonda]

the question is, would i be happier with the 3700 than i would with the x2 3800 with the am2 socket and ddr2 ram?

Is that 3700 single core and the X2 dual core ? I can't see why you would even consider the 3700 ? For those 400mhz ? and that extra cache ?* AM2 seems to be more future proof + lower latency memory controller. Stretch the budget and get a dual core with some more cache. You don't really need dual CPU compatible software, the OS should take care of threading. But of course Windows threading management isn't all that wonderfull.

Multitasking is incredible on dual CPU systems. I've had it for years now on my PowerMacs and I wouldn't even consider a single CPU system anymore.

*disclaimer: did some quick research and those two things seem to be the main differences. I don't know too much about AMD's line up.

[Cotterik]

well, people advised me to stay with the 939 processors. but yeah im choosing the Am2 with the dual core 3800 processor and ddr2 6400 800mhz memory. It seems to be the best way to go. you agree?

[Lagonda]

And what is the main reason to stay with 939 sockets ?

[NuclearCrap]

And what is the main reason to stay with 939 sockets ?

Just because AM2's newer doesn't mean it's more future-proof than S939, S939 has too much unused potential.

Dual-cores are good, but unless you're getting the better X2 models like the X2 4200+, it's just stuck right there with the performance of single core CPUs. 3700+ has a much better cost/performance ratio than X2 3800+, plus the San Diego core of the 3700+ makes overclocking a whole lot easier.

A slightly bigger L2 cache means a whole lot more performance.

[Cotterik]

but without AM2 i cant have ddr2 ram. i may pay £45 more for the 4200 X2. you reckon?

EDIT: the 3700+ is £145 cheaper than the X2 4200+ so im wondering if its worth the extra money or not