I agree, no point upgrading if the performance increase is going to be under +50%.
Even the most hardcore gamers usually will not upgrade unless it adds at least 20% - 33% to their
weighted performance.
If you run HL2 at say 1280 x 1024 with 4x FSAA / 8x Ansio on your Radeon X850XT then going to a X1800 XT or X1900 XT/XTX or 7800 GTX/GTX512 might increase your
weighted minimum frame rate by +50% - in Half-Life 2 at least, which favours ATI video cards, esp if FSAA is used.
Changing platforms from a 3.4 GHz P4 will have less than a +20% effect on your weighted minimum and average frame rates... that is until much higher performing platforms become available, I am talking at least 6-10 months down the track here (Q3 2006). You don't seam like the overclocking type so rule that out too. I'd rather double my weighted minimum frame rate than double my average or maximum frame rate anyday.
Using (~) "cl_showfps 2" in the HL2 console helps measure performance current (minimum, maximum) frame rates. Where your frame rate drops under say 40 or 50 fps (colour coded in cl_showfps 2 btw) you could see if it is really justified upgrading.
The HL2 / Source engine, and Havok physics engine run quite well on Intel Pentium 4 processors anyway. I don't think AMD has a large advantage over Intel in Half-Life 2. Sure in some games they do, and in others less so.
Futuremark PCMARK 04/05 include code from the Havok physics engine so you can compare performance between platforms and the Havok code appears to favour the Intel platforms. The HL2 / Source game code 'as a whole' might favour AMD platforms though (at equal price points).
You would likely be looking around 2.26 GHz Athlon64 for similar performance to a 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 in most games. (ie: So a 2.2 GHz overclocked about 3-4%, or a 2.4 GHz. 1 MB L2 cache helps but the 3500+ with 512 KB L2 cache would be very close due to the underlying platform architecture).
The reason most people go Athlon64 3700+ is because it's AU$100 (75% the price) cheaper than an Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz CPU. There is also the ongoing cost of electricity.... and lower power consumption (both overall and CPU isolated) usually indicates lower heat output, thus easier to cool and overclock, etc. That money can then be put into other components, like getting a better video card, or more memory, etc. Because AMD CPUs integrate the memory controller their associated mainboards are also cheaper to manufacture, and this is usually passed onto consumers aswell.
The Foxconn (Leadtek Winfast) 6150K8MA-8EKRS is an exellent example of this:
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/products_motherboard_2.cfm?pName=6150K8MA-8EKRS
; it costs considerly little for a Socket 939 platform. For Intel mainboards at a similar price point you need to start looking at Celerons usually.
You might want to consider an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or 4400+ or an AMD Opteron 175 as a "transitional upgrade". At least that way you get dual-core. Then pair it with a X1900 XT/XTX or GeForce 7900 down the track if performance is your
only concern.
I'd mention Intel options here, but you've already got one and not looking at them.
- Expect to have a few issues moving to the new platform, especially if the nVidia nForce chipset and AMD are a drastic change from your past systems. Nothing major, mostly just the chipset drivers.
http://multicore.amd.com explains a few of the 'overall' differences between AMD and Intel platforms.
If building a new platform and considering AMD (as said above), many would recommend waiting a few months for Socket AM2-940 anyway..... as your current system is quite respectable.
Sources you may wish to check out:
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/default.aspx
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/opteron/Default.aspx
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/24/vga_charts_vi/page7.html
Also recommend confirming the 7800 GT/GTX/512 performance in HL2 on a few other sites, but in HL2 / Source a Radeon X850XT is a good choice.... even today.
While waiting (until the move is more justified) consider reading up on any potential issues... by the time you get one (if you do) you'll be so versed on everything 'different' it won't seam like such a drastic change anymore.
EDIT: Testing Signature block.
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