Which should I get?

[Mr. Rude]

I'm looking for a processor upgrade. I have a 939 socket board at the moment, AMD 64 3000 CPU with AGP (PCI-E cards were still really expensive when I bought it). The 3000 is great, but, like any computer geek I want more :devil:

So here's my quandry. Should I wait & buy an AM2 socket mobo or upgrade to a 3700 or X2 4400. Prices for the 3700 & 4400 aren't too shabby atm.

I found a couple of places to get them at decent prices..

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14634&vpn=ADA4400CDBOX&manufacture=AMD
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1366616&CatId=1949
http://www.sohodiffusion.com/produit.asp?shop=&num=2567

So...wait for new mobo....get the 3700...or get the X2 4400...

What do you guys think?:headscratch: :shrug:

Edit: I defintely want a 1 Mb L2 cache... And also, what are you considering for upgrades?

[NightWolf]

Me, I'd go with the 4400, but thats just me. If you are into Overclocking, I hear you can do some pretty good things with getting it up around 4800 - 5000 speeds. But that's just me. :D

[Mr. Rude]

Hmmm...Perhaps just a processor upgrade for now...My vid card is a nVidia 6200 with 256...So, it doesn't completely suck :)

And with Vista coming out whenever :roll: ...I should probably wait & see how my current rig will do before I dive into a new mobo/vid card combo....Keep the comments coming :)
Present MOBO & stuff

Motherboard
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 1800 MHz (9 x 200) 3000+
Motherboard Name Asus A8V Deluxe (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset VIA K8T800Pro, AMD Hammer
System Memory 1024 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (06/30/05)

Display
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6200 (256 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 6200 AGP
Monitor LG Flatron ez T710BH [17" CRT] (1402275869)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

Storage
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive WDC WD1600JB-00EVA0 (149 GB, IDE)
Disk Drive Maxtor 6Y080L0 (80 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4163B (DVD+R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:40x/24x/40x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK


Input
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Logitech USB Wheel Mouse
Mouse Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)
Mouse Microsoft USB Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 (IntelliPoint)

Network
Network Adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller

CPU Properties
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 1800 MHz (9 x 200) 3000+
CPU Alias Venice S939
CPU Stepping DH-E3
Instruction Set x86, x86-64, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 4x / 9x
L1 Code Cache 64 KB (Parity)
L1 Data Cache 64 KB (ECC)
L2 Cache 512 KB (On-Die, ECC, Full-Speed)

CPU Physical Info
Package Type 939 Pin uOPGA
Package Size 4.00 cm x 4.00 cm
Transistors 68.5 million
Process Technology 11Mi, 90 nm, CMOS, Cu, SOI
Die Size 84 mm2
Core Voltage 1.100 - 1.450 V
I/O Voltage 1.2 V + 2.5 V
Maximum Power 67.0 W

blah....blah....blah.... :)

[LostMyMind]

I do have to say that should be "Your comp. is fine"

Like I tell all my friends that ask me. What are you using the computer for? Right now, your computer will handle almost anything. So it's just for geek factor ;)

[Ringtail Z28]

RAM and video card might be the first things you might want to improve before going for a whole new Mobo and cpu. At least that's what I'm planning and I've got almost the same specs you've got.

[Mr. Rude]

But if I get a new vid card it'll be PCI-E...My present mobo is AGP :cry: So, if I move to new mobo, I'll need a new card too.

[RichS]

My first answer - if you're sure you're going to get it, I'd wait for Vista to come out and then build around that.

My second - if you need more performance right now, and are sure you're going to keep the system for awhile, I'd go for the X2 4400.

[Mr. Rude]

Good point about Vista...I'll more than likely just wait till all the bugs are ironed out. No sense in installing that OS until I'm sure I'll actually want/need it :)

[Dreamstalker]

I'd go with the 939 X2. My 939 rig is fine, and I generally don't want to blow money on massive upgrades until:
--all the bugs are worked out (or at least the major ones)
and
--my current hardware is well and truly no longer up to task

[lordlundar]

Good point about Vista...I'll more than likely just wait till all the bugs are ironed out.

So the end of time comes first then?:lol:

(It was either that or "you mean like the voice recognition?")

Now, where's my spec card? (have one for work)

Min requirements for the non-core vista:

1GHz processor
1GB RAM
128MB video card
40GB HDD with 15GB free
DVD Drive
Sound Card
Internet connection

(Wonder how that cheapskate who doesn't want to upgrade to a DVD Drive I had on saturday will deal with this:devil: )

[Acolyte]

I'd go with the 4400. I've got a 4200 and, even without overclocking (Which I'd never do without a better cooling system), it smokes. I can only imagine that the 4400 is even better.

[Mr. Rude]

Okay...I just stumbled over this mobo...it has both AGP & PCI-E x 16...AND it can through an expansion card, take an AM2 cpu...friggin sweet...check it out
http://www.shopbot.ca/r.asp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Encix%2Ecom%2Fproducts %2Findex%2Ephp%3Fsku%3D16165&catc=0&refproduct=17603&refshop=53

Next...expansion card....
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18722

click customer photo to view....

Not an SLI board but hey, the 7950 is equal to two 7900's ;)

this may be an option....2 year warranty. Although I'm not a huge asrock fan...Hmm...
:D :D