I'm trying to decide on whether i should upgrade to an AM2 processor or wait a while since they haven't been out that long. I know the conroe's are supposedly faster and give a more bang for the buck, but for some reason i kinda want to stick with amd. So i just wanted you here at pcapex's opinon on whether i should keep my current rig or go ahead and upgrade to an AM2 rig.

My current pc: obviously outdated.

amd 64 2800 s754
GIGABYTE GA-K8NS
1GB DDR400
EVGA 6600GT
80GB ata/100 HD

possibly new rig:

AM2 X2 4200 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor - Retail at Newegg.com
ASUS M2N4-SLI Socket AM2 ASUS M2N4-SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com
1GB DDR2 - still debating on the ram.
7600GT pci-e XFX Geforce 7600GT PVT73GUGD3 Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com
250GB SATA 3.0GB/s Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM at Newegg.com

It really depends on how long you think your current rig will hold out for you.
AM2 is supposed to be shipping 65nm CPUs by X-mas time and may be worth waiting for.
Although if you can stretch your current rig into mid next year, Socket AM3 will be coming out and I hear they will start putting 1MB L2 cache back on more of the AM3 chips than they have for AM2.

As for your choices that looks like a nice mid-range setup but beware that these new Asus boards are picky about the RAM they accept if it is over PC2 5400.

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 I'm trying to decide on whether i should upgrade to an AM2 processor or wait a while since they haven't been out that long. I know the conroe's are supposedly faster and give a more bang for the buck, but for some reason i kinda want to stick with amd. So i just wanted you here at pcapex's opinon on whether i should keep my current rig or go ahead and upgrade to an AM2 rig. My current pc: obviously outdated. amd 64 2800 s754 GIGABYTE GA-K8NS 1GB DDR400 EVGA 6600GT 80GB ata/100 HD possibly new rig: AM2 X2 4200 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor - Retail at Newegg.com ASUS M2N4-SLI Socket AM2 ASUS M2N4-SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com 1GB DDR2 - still debating on the ram. 7600GT pci-e XFX Geforce 7600GT PVT73GUGD3 Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com 250GB SATA 3.0GB/s Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM at Newegg.com

It would be quite a step up from your existing system. If you need ideas for RAM, you could look here(though I have been too busy to update it)
http://forums.pcapex.com/memory_ram_...tml#post580002

Quote: Originally Posted by godfoot It really depends on how long you think your current rig will hold out for you. AM2 is supposed to be shipping 65nm CPUs by X-mas time and may be worth waiting for. Although if you can stretch your current rig into mid next year, Socket AM3 will be coming out and I hear they will start putting 1MB L2 cache back on more of the AM3 chips than they have for AM2. As for your choices that looks like a nice mid-range setup but beware that these new Asus boards are picky about the RAM they accept if it is over PC2 5400.

AM-3 is stil quite a ways out, probably LATE next year...it will support DDR-3 and a fw other improvements.
will be done to the core.

If you are ready to upgrade now AM-2 is not a bad deal, it will support Quad core when that is released, so it should stil be a viable platform for at least the next 2 years.

Are you planing on Overclocking this rig at all?

The motherboard you are looking at, after reading all the rviews, seem to not have many good OC options, the worst being Ram voltage being limitied to under 2v, wich according to them, makes it difficult to use DDR2-800.

The video card is definately midrange, I would go with something a bit more powerfull unless you are planning on adding a second card down the road.

If you plan on keeping this rig for awhile I would suggest 2 gigs of ram and a different video card.

X1900 GT Probably the best card under $200.

You didn't really say what you use your comp for, so I'm not sure if you really need a good video card. For about 50 bucks more than the GT you could get the XT which is much better. btw: the X1900 XT seems to kick the crap out of the 7950GT.

Quote: Originally Posted by bigmoneyhvywght If you plan on keeping this rig for awhile I would suggest 2 gigs of ram and a different video card. X1900 GT Probably the best card under $200. You didn't really say what you use your comp for, so I'm not sure if you really need a good video card. For about 50 bucks more than the GT you could get the XT which is much better. btw: the X1900 XT seems to kick the crap out of the 7950GT.

Well, I was planning on upgrading to another to 2gigs later along with another video card so i can run SLI.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro AM-3 is stil quite a ways out, probably LATE next year...it will support DDR-3 and a fw other improvements. will be done to the core.

Thanks for the correction, I must be getting senile in my old age.

Would this board be better than that Asus one i suggested? As in terms of overclocking, gaming, etc.
DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com

If I wasn't going to switch to Intel I would just buy the best
939 pin cpu out there now. AM2 just isn't impressive enough
over the old stuff not to wait for the new stuff. Just my opinion :-)

Lets just say I decided to go with an AM2, should I get an nForce 5 board or will a nForce 4 do just as good? Also is there any major improvements between the two chipsets?

Now, If I decided to go with the Core 2, can anyone suggest a good board for under a 100$?

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 Would this board be better than that Asus one i suggested? As in terms of overclocking, gaming, etc. DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com

I have that board, it runs fine. I didn't have any problems with it.

But I have yet to undertake in the ways of the $SOLID$Necro and begin my overclocking journey.

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 Now, If I decided to go with the Core 2, can anyone suggest a good board for under a 100$?

For under a $100. Not really. I looked at newegg and for that price the
most recommended mobo with some OC'ing abilities is an ECS board.
ECS NFORCE 570 SLIT-A (V5.1) ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com
At $150 I'll strongly recommend this mobo, Asus P5B
ASUS P5B ATX Socket T (LGA 775) Intel Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com

Quote: Originally Posted by coolerguy1984 Lets just say I decided to go with an AM2, should I get an nForce 5 board or will a nForce 4 do just as good? Also is there any major improvements between the two chipsets? Now, If I decided to go with the Core 2, can anyone suggest a good board for under a 100$?

I'll just give you my wishlist of what I would build for a friend on somewhat of a budget, and see what you think..the motherboard I chose would be as low as I would for a decent Intel OC board right now, anything less will probably be disapointing.

This rig would make a hella gaming rig, to spend any less, i would go with a single core AM-2 3500+ or Opty 939.

	Qty.	Product Description	Unit Price	Savings	Total Price
	Update	GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Model #: GA-965P-DS3 Item #: N82E16813128012 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy In Stock	$142.99		$142.99
	Update	SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (RoHS) CrossFire Video Card - Retail Model #: 100189L Item #: N82E16814102022 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy In Stock	$195.99		$195.99
	Update	OCZ PowerStream OCZ520ADJSLI ATX, BTX, EPS12V 520W Power Supply - Retail Model #: OCZ520ADJSLI Item #: N82E16817711002 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy In Stock Mail-in Rebate	$134.99	-$10.00 Instant	$124.99
	Update	Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail Model #: BX80557E6300 Item #: N82E16819115005 Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy In Stock	$180.00		$180.00
	Update	OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ28002048ELDCGE-K - Retail Model #: OCZ28002048ELDCGE-K Item #: N82E16820227030 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy In Stock Mail-in Rebate	$249.99	-$15.00 Instant	$234.99
Subtotal:					$878.96

939 basic parts list, the power supply would carry over, and select a 7900 series vid card...add another 100$ if you want to add another Gig of ram, and/or you could save a few bucks by going single core Opty 146, and the non SLI DFI board.

	Qty.	Product Description	Unit Price	Savings	Total Price
	Update	DFI LP UT nF4 SLI-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Model #: LP UT nF4 SLI-D Item #: N82E16813136158 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy In Stock	$142.99	-$13.00 Instant	$129.99
	Update	AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1.8GHz Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model OSA165CDBOX - Retail Model #: OSA165CDBOX Item #: N82E16819103588 Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy In Stock	$159.99		$159.99
	Update	G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F1-3200PHU2-1GBZX - Retail Model #: F1-3200PHU2-1GBZX Item #: N82E16820231012 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy In Stock	$114.99	-$5.00 Instant	$109.99
Subtotal:					$399.97