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Do I need an upgrade ? P4 over Athlon 64

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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>

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Well it all depends i guess. Everybody has different opions. How far can your mobo cpu be upgraded to. If you can put a better cpu in I would probally just upgrade the cpu , more memory, and I'm not sure if you meant radeon 9800 pro or not but upgrading the card. then save the rest of the money you have just a little bit longer when the socket 939 get a little cheaper. I guess you would get some inprovements going with your AMD idea but i think you could get great results with just upgrading with what you have now and sticking with it for a while. See what some of the other guys say i'm still new to this .
CPUs Expert

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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Hi Ken Roger , welcome to the forums.

for gaming, and go with A64. I get 88.7fps doom3, 66.5fps in farcry @ 1024x768 res , quality, no AA/AF settings.

with my old P4 3.2E , i got 79.4fps doom3, and 59fps in farcry at same settings with same video card.

AMD advantage= intergrated memory controller allows fast access to system ram, which immensely helps gaming scenarios.

------
A64 3400+ Newcastle
1GB PC 4000 Kingston HyperX
Asus K8V basic Bios 1004
PNY Geforce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3
73,225 Aquamarks

You need a gb of ram for most of the new games. My XP-2500+ plays Doom3 fine until a lot of stuff starts happening. Game loads slow too. Stuck in 2 X 512mb HyperX and stutters went away plus much faster loads. 512mb just not good enough for this game.

Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot

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.

Or... You can slap in a 6800GT and more ram and be set for a while. The 6800GT does have a huge advantage over that 9800pro in almost any system. If you have the C version of your chip, then your ram and video card will be more than hapy to transfer on a 939 later on down the line. I get superb performance in my 2.8B with a 6800GT over my 9700pro in all games.

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"
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