which upgrade approach?

[Squidmaster]

I'll be getting some parts to upgrade my mother's computer in short order here, and I'm wondering, with the new pinouts and PCI Express looming, should I go for a fairly robust upgrade or get a cheap standby setup till a few months out? I'll be upgrading most of the system, minus the video card, so motherboard replacement is included of course.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Crashman]

You probably won't have to do any major upgrades to your mom's system during it's usefull life, so I'd just build her the best system you can taking into consideration how much computer she actually needs. A high end system should suit the average user for 5 years or more!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Squidmaster]

That's a good point. Let me elaborate just a little here...

Our systems are next to each other, so I can pass parts to hers if I happen to upgrade. I'm not a frequent upgrader really, but it's nice to be able to just swap this or that over.

My mom's system is quite old now (P3 500, 64 MB ram, etc.) with the only new part being a video card I put in for DirectX compatibility purposes (Ti4200) about a year ago. Basically I need to just replace this system minus the video.

I'm faced with two options - upgrade my system's motherboard/processor/ram and swap over my old parts (only a year and a half old at most), or do a cheaper upgrade on just my mom's system. I guess the question comes down to how important the new pinout support and PCI Express access will be in another year or two, and if I would want to be replacing my motherboard anyway when the time comes, making this argument irrelevant.

 

[Zeekfu]

Post deleted by Zeekfu

 

[Squidmaster]

Thanks for the input, but the question wasn't ever whether I would upgrade or not. Rather, it has to do with the specifics of the upgrade, as detailed in my previous two posts. Anybody else have a thought?

Do <i> you </i> have a chicken hat?

 

[Cybercraig]

Do you have a chicken hat?
...............................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


No, but he needs one! ROFLMAO! PCI Express is not an issue here. Are you or mom going to need a 64 bit O/S in the next two years? A64 system is the only answer for that right now. Need a value system? ABIT NF7-S & XP-2500 will seem like the space shuttle to her. ABIT makes a version with on-board video too. Even Zeekfu could build one!

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Squidmaster]

Make no mistake, everybody needs a chicken hat. I really do appreciate Zeekfu's input.

Yes, A64 is what I was mainly looking into, which would mean swapping my P2.4 into my mom's system (beats the heck out of a P3-500 I'd say.) Why isn't PCI Express an issue, by the way?

Do <i> you </i> have a chicken hat?

 

[Cybercraig]

It's a smaller issue than A64 or stick with 32 bit. I think the current generation of AGP cards will be around for a while. If you're looking at A64 & PCI-Express you should find a socket 939 board to suit you. I haven't seen one yet, but since the chips are out they should be along at any moment.

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Zeekfu]

Alright, ok, I don't know what the hell a chicken hat is but..I was just suggesting you roll your parts over to hers if she is only a light computer user and buy some decent stuff for yourself. Then donate the old parts to someone what can use em. I'll take the post off, sorry for the essay.

 

[Squidmaster]

You didn't have to erase your post. I had no problem. Honest.

I'm hearing the A64 without dual channel memory performs roughly as well as an equivalent P4 with dual channel. True?

If anyone would care to elaborate on my PCI express concerns, have at it.

Do <i> you </i> have a chicken hat?

 

[Cybercraig]

Actually, the A64 will BEAT the P4 at most 32 bit things. Why are we back on P4? As Ronald Reagan would say, "There you go again!" Don't get me wrong, I love mine but there is no way in hell I'm going to ever run a 64 bit O/S with it. :frown:


"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Squidmaster]

That was my impression. We're not really "back" on P4, as such. My plan has basically been to get a moderate Athlon 64 chip and nice board to match, but I wanted some additional confirmation to ease my mind.

Do <i> you </i> have a chicken hat?

 

[Cybercraig]

I just ordered an A64-3000+ for my nephew. I figure it will take him through the next couple of years, (hopefully). In the end I just couldn't see springing for the 3200+ based on what he does with it (mostly games).


"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[endyen]

PCI express for graphics, adds bandwidth. We are using about 1/2 of the available bandwidth in agp 8X. Do we need to go to a new setup, so we are only using 1/4 of available bandwidth? New tech is usually fairly problematic, so since pci express is not urgent, it's okay to give it a pass for a while.

 

[Squidmaster]

I'm looking at various A64 mobos now. The MSI K8N Neo Platinum looks excellent, but also fairly pricey. Is there a solid board in this category that perhaps doesn't incorporate incredible RAID support, but still performs well? My plan is to buy an Athlon 64 2800+ for this system.

Also, when reading up on this board at newegg, I noticed the following text near the top:
<b> Supported CPU: Socket 754 AMD Athlon64 Processors(Supports 3400+ or up) </b>
I'm assuming this is just to catch your eye if you're looking for more and more speed, but I want to be sure the 2800+ is in fact supported as well.

Thanks again guys. Love this board.

Do <i> you </i> have a chicken hat?

 

[Zeekfu]

I saw the same thing on the msi site re: supported cpu "3400+ and up"

People in the know on this forum assured me it would support the athlon 2800+, 3000+, and 3200+ as well. Msi also replied to my question re 3200+ and I received the following reply:
-----------------
Dear Customer,

The K8N Neo Platinum will support the Athlon 64 3200+ and you should have no problem using the Corsair TWINX 1GB memory kit. The K8N Neo Platinum has begun shipping to vendors.

Thank you for contacting MSI Tech Support!
MSI Computer Corp.
Technical Support Division
Tel: 1.626.913.0828
Fax: 1.626.581.7721
<http://www.msicomputer.com>
-------------------
Now I *knew* it supported 3200+ because that is what most of the sites had used to test the board. But I asked em anyway. So presumably it will run a64 2800+ and a64 3000+ as well just as others have said. Just for your own peace of mind you might want to email and get the answer from the "horses mouth".

 

[Zeekfu]

sorry.. double post<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by zeekfu on 06/09/04 01:23 AM.</EM></FONT></P>