Do I need an upgrade ? P4 over Athlon 64

Well hello there good people. My name is Ken Roger, and I hope some of you can be as helpfull to me now, as you have been in the past.

I am a gamer, pure and simple. I buy my computers for the pleasure of gaming, and I am not afraid to admit it. Now I am considering upgrading my system to meet the specs of games like Everquest 2 and Halflife 2. And there Is where you guys come in. When it comes to cpu's, memory and mainboards I dont know...anything really. I jumped of that wagon a while ago, and getting into all the new stuff has proven to difficult for me. So now I am hoping some of you computer wizzes can help me.

So here goes...

I have a p4 2.4 ghz with 512 mgs of ddr ram, I have no idea of what kind it is, if its parity etc

I am considering going over to this system:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, BOXED
EPoX EP-8KDA3J Hovedkort for Socket 754 nForce3 250GB,SATA,GbLAN,ATX,Sound
2 x Corsair Value S PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB Kit w/two matched Value Select 256MB

These components will cost me about 600 USD.

I already have an Radeon 9800 pro, and I will stick with that one for a while longer I think.

Now do this seem like a necesary upgrade to take ? And is this a system you would recommend upgrading to ?

Up front thank you all

Ken Roger

PS I know this is about more then just cpu, but I see that as the most important part. Therefore I posted here
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Chissler on 10/23/04 08:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Hello Ken Roger, long time no see! I believe I'd hold off on that new system, a P4 2.4 might be "barely enough" for the latest games, but it's still enough. The long you hold off, the bigger the return when you upgrade.

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Okey, downloaded sisoft sandra. Easy figuring out stuff with that program. I have an abit BD7II. Dont know how much overclocking my system would be able to handle actually.

HAHAHAHA Kanavit, that's hilarious.

Yes, indeed to utilize the power of a 64, I have tested that with SP2 and all the crap like norton anti/firewall running, you need 1 gig of ram.

I havea 3000+ (2.0ghz), KV8 Pro Abit board, and 2 xms 512meggers of pc3200. Also, a 9800 AIWonder pro. The system works REALLY well. I am completely glad that I didnt buy 939 with a more pricey chip and a less stable/new designed and more pricey board. I think fast and silent and cold and cheap beat out all suggestions! I was going to go 3200+, the 2.2 ghz one, but then I had that reminder that so long as you are at a certain technology level, the technology (the 64 mem controller and shorter instruction processor) will carry me much farther than expected.

You can always do what I will do in a year and get a 3700 chip or maybe ( i sorta bet) a 4000 chips (the 2.6 version).

Cool and quiet enabled really makes your system cold.

My processor with a zalman on slowest setting is running at 80 degrees farenheit idle and about 100 playing super-pimp games.

thats kinda impressive eh? its the guru utility reporting this when i load it up.