Which processor for an upgrade?

[Guest]

I searched a bit and couldn't really find anything on the forums.

I just got a bit of an overpayment return from my college so I'm looking to upgrade my computer (mostly the processor).

This is what I have now:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester (socket 939) processor
Abit A8N SLI (socket 939) motherboard
Rosewill 550W modular power supply
Sapphire Radeon X1800XT 512MB pci-e video card
G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) RAM (timing: 2.5-3-3-6)
Creative Sound Blaster Live 24-bit sound card
BenQ 16x DVD burner
Western Digital Cavier 250GB SATA harddrive
Windows XP Pro

I mostly want to upgrade the processor to an FX-60. But it looks as if the Opteron 185 is similar? I have no real intentions of overclocking, but I do game. I can't find any real benchmarks comparing the two processors anywhere.

I don't have any intention of upgrading to AM2 any time soon either, this computer is only ~8 months and I don't feel like changing motherboards yet. I'm probably upgrading to Vista Business sometime soon too, since I have a copy of that ready to go (just hesitant to upgrade).

I don't mind getting OEM if that factors into anyone's advice at all.

Thanks.

 

[HA_ZEE]

The Opty 185 and the FX60 will perform the same. The main difference is the unlocked multiplier on the FX60 (easy to overclock). Both of these CPU's will set you back over 300 dollars, the return in performance may not be linear to the amount you are spending considering you already have a dual core CPU. The system you have now is not that bad, you may want to save for a future build where that kind of money could purchase a true "jump" in performance. If you must purchase one of those two processors, get the one you can buy the cheapest. Tigerdirect has some combo deals with the FX60 that look attractive.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1947

Here is a Opty 185 at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103002R

Have fun.

 

[dragonsprayer]

plan A - your gut instinct fx-60 i lov fx-60's the sound of them just gives you cred!

 

[waleedhk]

get a e4300 an a s3 mobo but since u have no intentions for overclocking so i will go for a fx60 its made for games. but a 2.5ghz e4300 can beat that fx60

 

[m25]

Just wait I'd say. Just look around; it's full ow news and rumors that AMDs Barcelona will outperform Core2 chips by a good 30-40%, so you might upgrade to a Core2 system but in 2-4 months find yourself with a still non-cutting edge CPU, just like I found myself getting a S939 system 3 months before Core2 was released.
With your system you can surely hold till the picture has been further cleared.

 

[waleedhk]

Just wait I'd say. Just look around; it's full ow news and rumors that AMDs Barcelona will outperform Core2 chips by a good 30-40%, so you might upgrade to a Core2 system but in 2-4 months find yourself with a still non-cutting edge CPU, just like I found myself getting a S939 system 3 months before Core2 was released.
With your system you can surely hold till the picture has been further cleared.

wat will be its price(barcelona)??

 

[AdamBomb42]

Quit being a wussy and overclock that processor! Once you get over that misconception that you are going to destroy your computer by overclocking it, a whole new world will open up to you. And that's all I got to say bout that.

 

[m25]

Just wait I'd say. Just look around; it's full ow news and rumors that AMDs Barcelona will outperform Core2 chips by a good 30-40%, so you might upgrade to a Core2 system but in 2-4 months find yourself with a still non-cutting edge CPU, just like I found myself getting a S939 system 3 months before Core2 was released.
With your system you can surely hold till the picture has been further cleared.

wat will be its price(barcelona)??
If we're lucky, an intro of $500 for the cheapest quad will be nice and prices will still drop after that because or the frictions with Intel's quads

 

[waleedhk]

it meant i was really dreaming that barcelona will be less than 250$ :lol: wat other chips by amd will be comming out, is any of them lesser than 200$ :roll:

 

[m25]

Well, maybe not in 2007, because just think that a 1.8GHz (the lowest clocked) K10 core, if multiplied by 1.7 (the 70% of gain over K8 they talk about) gives 3.06, and that is GHz of a K8 CPU, which means that a dual core K10 of 1.8GHz will (most probably) perform like a 3.0GHz dual core; the actual X2 6000+, besides being a lot more OC-able and consuming less power. So if you see where the 6000+ is priced now, I would hardly believe it will drop so quickly by 50%

 

[KBM]

If you don't have any serious performance issues, why upgrade?.
Besides, S939 is a dead end. I wouldn't invest more on that platform.
If you want more performance overclock it like mad.
If still not happy, go for a C2D.

 

[nh484000]

If you don't have any serious performance issues, why upgrade?.
Besides, S939 is a dead end. I wouldn't invest more on that platform.
If you want more performance overclock it like mad.
If still not happy, go for a C2D.

I have to agree here. Your at the point where it may not be worth upgrading. DDR memory is longer being used 939 are no longer made. I would keep that system, or sell the whole thing when you can still get a decent amount of money for it (because its still a good computer, so no real reason to sell) and upgrade to a whole new system.

I found myself in the same boat like 5 months ago. I had a 3500+ on an Asus An8, with 2 gigs of cosair. I upgraded to a dual core and thats all i think i need for aleast a year. But because your already running a dual core i dont see it being worth your money.

I would try to overclock that CPU if you feel like you are upto it.