[VitalLife]

I'm upgrading from:
Athlon 1800+ XP
1 gig (512x2) Kingston PC3200
GeForce 6600 GT 128 AGP
160 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM
1 dvd rom, 1 dvd writer
550 watt PSU

Basically what I want to do is replace just the mobo/cpu right now, use the onboard video for a short while, and once Christmas arrives I'll get the best video card I possibly can (at least a 7900gs). This is what I have picked out:

BIOSTAR TForce6100 - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813138264

Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego core - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103622

The total for just the hardware comes out to $159.98. I play DoD: Source and many of the other Source games, Battlefield 2, but am looking forward to future titles. If I go by what I've said, should I be okay on upgrades for a at least a year?

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The 3700 processor is one of the better 939 processors, at least until you get onto the dual-cores and the FX range, both of which are ridiculously expensive at this time.

Should be okay for a while with that setup I would have thought.

[Neil Jones]

The 3700 processor is one of the better 939 processors, at least until you get onto the dual-cores and the FX range, both of which are ridiculously expensive at this time.

Should be okay for a while with that setup I would have thought.

[SOORENA]

Well I know that AMD is your pick right now but I think if you buy a motherboard that has a socket 775 you should be good for a year, because there is the Core 2 Duo processor that is out now and it is a pretty good CPU that you wanna upgrade to in the future. They're pretty high in price right now so you might wanna wait. Also the socket 775 supports other Intel processors that are pretty cheap right now in the market.

[Kurenai]

Dual cores are cheap right now, and biostars are crap. Buy a good quality motherboard, and I'd go at least with a 3800+ X2

[dospoy]

just to let you know,

if your waiting for xmas to buy the best video card you can, a dx10 card would probably be your best bet. I think theres a few available at newegg. they're a bit pricey though.


O yeah, and I just built 2 systems..both socket 775. I used the E6600. On one i used an ECS mobo, very lame. On the other I used an asus mobo (it worked on the first try). There is a huge difference. The motherboards were about a $200 price difference and it shows. The Core 2 Duo flies, but on the ECS mobo, it still is slower than expected.

Conclusion: don't cheap out on mobo...socket 775 can be used with a similar socket P4 or D processor, which arent that expensive.

Edited by dospoy, 09 November 2006 - 11:58 AM.

[VitalLife]

Well I've done some numbers and concluded that a Core 2 system is more than I'm willing to spend for what I would want (a E6300), plus I don't feel like buying another gig of ram. I've configured a system to my liking using X2 but I face the same problem as Core 2 with ram. As far as Biostar boards go, I've used them on several different builds and have had no issues that upgrading a driver couldn't fix (that was 1 time only). I'm confident in Biostar and the reviews for that board are good too. This is really only to tie me over for another year until my expenses settle down. I appreciate all of your replies, but I think I'll go with my 3700+ for now. Then again, by the time I actually go to purchase these parts, prices may drop on certain things. And a first gen DX10 card? No, thanks.

[Kurenai]

I'm not sure what you mean about going with another gig of ram...dual core processors, for the most part, use exactly the same RAM as their single core counterparts, and any socket 939 boards won't take anything over PC3200 anyway (or if they do, they'll clock it down). It's true that you get better performance with matched pair dual channel RAM and a dual core processor, but it's not at all necesary. The performance increase between single and dual core is so huge, if you can find a dual core 3800+, I'd go for it, as they retail for about $150 or so right now, if not less.

[VitalLife]

What I meant was that the X2 and Core 2 systems require DDR2 standard. I don't feel like buying a gig of that (because I wouldn't want anything less) because if I go the cheaper route I can reuse my DDR ram. The cost of the ram jacks my build cost way up plus the fact that the core 2 and x2 are still more expensive than the build I've come with. Sorry if I seem to shoot your opinions down, or maybe I'm just not understanding all the new hardware quite yet ( I'm stuck in socket A days). Thanks for the replies though.

[Kurenai]

Core 2 processors don't require ddr2, and other dual core series certainly do not. While some motherboards that will take a Core 2 proc require ddr2 (Intel 975BX and P965 chipsets), other motherboards will take DDR as well, and all socket 939 boards, as well as most socket AM2 boards, will take DDR.

[VitalLife]

Okay, thanks for that. I came to that conclusion because the boards I was looking at for Core 2 all said DDR667. Core 2 seems more like a reality now. Thanks again.