Need help with upgrade choices...

[dpaul01]

I'm currently running a 1.1 Athlon w/640MB ram and a 9600xt ATI. I OC to 1.3ish and I'm finally ready to upgrade. I've always waiting for big major upgrades, but I'm thinking otherwise this time. Why spend $2k at once and have a system that's top of the line for 6 minutes, overpay for it and then wait again for 2 years or more? I can upgrade over time, spend the same $2k but have a system that'll perform very well (but not the best) at all times.

I'm going to upgrade my box now, with 2 choices: I will keep existing 9600xt I just bought either way. I have an existing Antec case that is awesome, and I'll keep my other components (which are good) for now.

AMD XP
2500+ Mobile
Abit Nf7-s
512MB 3200 DDR (2x256)
Therm 12 HSF
Antec True430 PSU (or less)
COST is $396

AMD64
AMD 64 3000+
ASUS VIA K8T800
Buffalo Technology 512MB DDR PC-3200 (1x512)
Antec 430 PSU again
Keep stock HSF for now
COST is $545

Is it me or is there a huge difference in performance for $150? yeah yeah, I know all about 939 and PCI-Express et al., but by the time its worth buying these things, another year has passed. I can get 1 1/2+ years from this rig by upgrading memory, going SATA, new vid card and new CPU, for a lot less than buying a top of the line rig end of this year.

Thinking about Athlon64 3200+ also, but theres a jump inprice there. Also open to best mobo memory combos for the 64 as I'm not married to either of them.

 

[D3v1an7]

what do you use your box for or want to use the box for?

 

[stumpy]

Originally posted by blackrino9
what do you use your box for or want to use the box for?

ditto.

If you have the money the AMD64 is probably a better long term investment. Either one of those setups looks pretty solid though.

EDIT: welcome to [H] !!

 

[Novensu]

I had a Athlon XP 2500+ system like yours and upgraded to an Athlon 64 3200+ and the increase in performance is amazing. I installed Windows XP in under 15 minutes. I would highly recommend the Athlon 64 system.


~N