Worth a CPU upgrade?

[Ryeguy_24]

I have a 4 year old CPU, it's the Intel Pentium 4 Northwood 2.4 ghz.
(RAM: 512 MB RDRAM)

How much performance gain will I get by upgrading to an Athlon64 x2 3800+ (along with a new motherboard). I'm in the $300-$400 chip range.

I'm a huge multi-tasker. WinRARing frequently. Frequent bottlenecks.
Should I bother with the processor upgrade? Or just increase my RAM to a 1 gb.
Thanks.

I want to upgrade but don't know where to put the money for a performance increase.

Regards,
Ryan

 

[ShortyNumber45]

the performance gain would be drastic. definitely you should upgrade to that CPU. adding 1GB of RAM will not take effect on multi-tasking.

 

[mpjesse]

Unfortunately WinRAR does not take advantage of dual core processors. However, doing other tasks while unRARing a file will certainly take advantage of dual core.

At any rate, like everyone said, you'll see a major performance boost. Keep in mind that you'll also need to get new memory and possibly a new video card should you decide to upgrade.

AGP is scarce in Socket 939 boards these days.

-mpjesse

 

[ShortyNumber45]

how did you know?

 

[Ryeguy_24]

So, with my budget I brought up 3 $400 dollar chips.

Athlon 64 x2 4200+ (Manchester)
Athlon 64 4000+ (ClawHammer)
Opteron 170 Denmark

What do you think would be my best choice? I frequently unrar and perform many other tasks (if I can). Minimal gaming. Multi-tasking is a big part of my day.

Thanks sooo much guys.


- Ryan

 

[mpjesse]

Of those choices I would go w/ a X2 4200+. I personally have this CPU. I love it! Also it sounds like you do a lot of the same things I do... i can personally vouch for the performance of this bad boy.

-mpjesse

 

[Ryeguy_24]

Excellent...

Any other important pieces that I should consider. I'm upgrading an old Dell Dimension 8200. I could care less about the video card but what about PSU, RAM, and Hard drive. Should I be ok with a 250W psu, 1gig of ddr400?

Oh and i'm considering the ASUS A8N SLI Premium

- ryan

 

[o1die]

If you upgrade the 8200, I would ebay the dell case, board, cpu, and power supply together. They might bring in more than selling the whole system. Check the hardrive specs. You need at least an ide 100 2 meg cache drive. If it's any slower, I would replace that also. Your memory is the only other component worth using. For the upgrade, consider a bare case and premium power supply, such as an antec, ocz, seasonic, enermax, or fortron fsp. 400 watts is the minimum for sli, and most people use 500 or more. I recently checked out an e-power tagen puma II 450w for around $50 on pricewatch. It's a great value.

 

[pat]

how did you know?

www.danasoft.com