advice on upgrade- old s478

[cbg]

Im curently running a:

s478 p4 2.4,
768mg single channel DDR
ti 4200.

I need to upgrade with a very small budget, in small steps, i was thinking about:

Corsair Value Select PC2-5300 1X1024MB DDR2-667

ECS RS485M-M

AMD Sempron 3000+ Processor Socket AM2 Manila 1.6GHZ 1600FSB 256KB L2 Cache 62W 90NM

my intention is to add a graphics card later, and another stick of ram then eventualy a new processor.

i had a couple of questions:

Will the sempron be similar in performance to the old P4?
Can you use a single module of ram in a dual channel board?
will the intergrated graphics be on par with the ti 4200 for my old games until i replace it with a new card?

Any advice welcome
Thanks

 

[cbg]

Thanks, good advice the athalon 64 3000+ is only $17 more up here in canada.

Im not commited to AMD, but is there a scoket 775 solution that can come close in price and still allow me to up grade to a better proccessor?

 

[cbg]

Thanks again,

i meant is there an intel LGA775 solution, that has integrated graphics and will allow for a core2 upgrade sown the road?

I just read that PSU articel you have linked, on your sig, good article, i was wondering if my power suplly will be adequate. turns out it more than adequate lol

 

[Datman]

http://www.asrock.com/mb/index.asp?s=775
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=4CoreDual-VSTA&s=775

And an E4300 C2D.

Use your current memory and graphics card.

 

[jeff_2087]

The Asrock+E4300 would let you easily upgrade in many small(ish) steps, but what combination of RAM sticks gives you 768 megs? The 775Dual only has two DDR slots. So unless you've got a stick of 512 and one of 256, going to the 775Dual would mean sacrificing some RAM until you can buy DDR2.

 

[cbg]

I have a 256 stick of 266 and a 512 stick of 333.

Although i like the idea of having a core2 system now, the AM2 solution with intergrated graphics, ddr2 ram and amd 64 3000+ seems like it would faster for both games (due to the faster graphics) and windows apps (due to ddr2), i guess what im asking is wouldnt the old ddr memory bottle neck any advantages of the core2duo?

 

[jeff_2087]

Yes, the old DDR would seriously hamper the e4300. But, the e4300 is dual core and miles faster than the 3000+, so overall, it's possible that the e4300 would still be faster for most apps.

Of course, that's not really a fair comparison, because the 3000+ rig is significantly cheaper. For the price of the e4300+Asrock, you could skip the 3000+ and get your board and ram plus an X2 3800+. That, I think, would outperform the e4300 in apps and games.

So if you're willing to spend ~$250 US, I think you'd be best served by your board and RAM combo with something like the X2 3800+.

However, being stuck with integrated graphics is a bit of a downer. If games are important and you don't want to pay for the 3800+ and a graphics card, you could go for the 3000+ and a Geforce 7300GS.

But it's probably best to get the 3800+ and suffer integrated graphics until you can buy a more decent card like the 7600GT.

 

[Datman]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2810
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2813
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2800