The wife recently gave me the permission to upgrade my main rig, due to its lacking speed. Thats not entirely truthful because you and me both know that a 3500+ Venice Core with a 2 gb OCZ ram, and a couple of raptors are really nothing to scoff at but i seemed to talked the wife into it.

What i need help with is whether to go AM2 or Conroe? This seems to really have me tree'd and i honestly cant decide on which road to take. Ive always used AMD but the things ive heard about the new conroe chip has me scratchin to give intel a poke and see what happens. So which is it Pimps? Anybody with personal experience out there?

This leads me to the Motherboard. I have zero experience with either of these new chipsets and could use some suggestions. Please take into mind that it has to be watercooled and it has to be able to take my abuse with overclocking. Is DFI the best route still?

Video cards......Ive always hated this part of the upgrade. The way Nvidia and ATI bite back and forth now adays im at a loss. I have been keeping a close eye on the 7950 GX2 however and i might get that unless theres something better out there.

The rest i can pretty much figure out, but if any of you could provide some sound advise on please help me out.

Well, right now if you had to do it... I really couldn't say. Maybe just pick up a cheap 939 3800+ X2. Four months or so from now the quad core core duo's are going to be out.

Quote: Originally Posted by FeRaL Well, right now if you had to do it... I really couldn't say. Maybe just pick up a cheap 939 3800+ X2. Four months or so from now the quad core core duo's are going to be out.

HAHAHHAHA
Don't go there

I just spent $147 on the 3800+ X2 CPU for the Spinner

I would go the AM2 route. Conroe might be amazing now and in the months to come but Ive got a feeling that AMD's got something up their sleeve. Plus whenever AM3 comes out those processors will be backwards compatible with AM2. In addition AM2 is quite a bit cheaper at the moment.

As for the motherboard DFI will more than likely still be the way to go. Thier new AM2 NForce 590 comes out Tuesday and looks to be amazing. If you want to save a little the Biostar Boards(The T-Force series) is incredible as well especially for the price.

For the graphics it's my inclination to wait for DX10 but if you want it now those 7950 GX2's are looking awful sweet. Plus you'll also have the option to Quad-Sli but atm that option is essentially useless.

They are both great processors in actuality and it really depends on what you will be doing on the rig day in and day out. If you want to do a lot of video editing, web design (basically anything Adobe), the Conroe will do it faster.... but they will both do splendidly.
If all you are after is OCing and gaming, then AM2 is the cheaper route (unless you are going for world records which not many of us can afford, only to have the record broken before the week is out) and there are already a couple of great boards out and the DFI on the way on Tuesday.

That said, I am loving my Asus AM2 board as it does everything I want to do daily just fine.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sparky Video cards......Ive always hated this part of the upgrade. The way Nvidia and ATI bite back and forth now adays im at a loss. I have been keeping a close eye on the 7950 GX2 however and i might get that unless theres something better out there.

The Radeon X1950XTX is looking more promising...

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3446

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3727

Beats the GF 7950 in most of their benchies.

Conroe is the way to go, don't settle for second best. AMD have there work cut out to catch Intel, and I don't even think that K8L will be good enough to catch Intel's Kentsfield. For intel boards P965 and i975 chipsets are the way to go. That is until ATI's RD600 comes out, Its supposed to be an amazing overclocking chipset. A 7950 GX2 would be a nice addition to any computer!

DFI Infinity 975x - Good Board apparently
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136168

Gigabyte 965P-DS3 - Great for Allendale's as the 965P chipset reaches insane FSB speeds
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128012

Quote: Originally Posted by eascarface I would go the AM2 route. Conroe might be amazing now and in the months to come but Ive got a feeling that AMD's got something up their sleeve. Plus whenever AM3 comes out those processors will be backwards compatible with AM2. In addition AM2 is quite a bit cheaper at the moment.

That sounds like the ticket but is there anything written on the AM3 being backwards compatible?

BTW thanks for the tips guys, its mucho appreciated. Im gonna go check out the ATI card that was recommended and see what she looks like. Please keep the advise coming.

If your looking at pure horspower its Conroe and 2 x 7900gtx's.
Check "ORB" ,nothing even compares.

That said,as with everything you get what you pay for .
The am2 & 7950Gx2 might be a better option for the average gamer with a moderate budget.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sparky That sounds like the ticket but is there anything written on the AM3 being backwards compatible?

Yup here ya go.

Hmmm thats definately an interesting piece, and it does seem to make the AM2 path clear.....or maybe not. The article says the AM2 will be foward compatible but the motherboard will not be able to take advantage of HT 3.0. Which from the looks of it is the only really major gain in AM3 socket, which is still a major gain in HyperTransport considering the AM2 socket is at 2 gbs and HT 3 is supposed to be at 5.3gbs according to the article. Thats a huge gain and i really cant see buying a chip that is capable of something and not being able to take advantage of it due to my motherboard and chipset. I have officially further confused myself on what to do hahaha. Granted AM3 isnt supposed to be released till the first half of 2007, i may be able to justify that timeline to myself and buy into AM2.

Quote: Originally Posted by Sparky Hmmm thats definately an interesting piece, and it does seem to make the AM2 path clear.....or maybe not. The article says the AM2 will be foward compatible but the motherboard will not be able to take advantage of HT 3.0. Which from the looks of it is the only really major gain in AM3 socket, which is still a major gain in HyperTransport considering the AM2 socket is at 2 gbs and HT 3 is supposed to be at 5.3gbs according to the article. Thats a huge gain and i really cant see buying a chip that is capable of something and not being able to take advantage of it due to my motherboard and chipset. I have officially further confused myself on what to do hahaha. Granted AM3 isnt supposed to be released till the first half of 2007, i may be able to justify that timeline to myself and buy into AM2.

I think the idea is to make the update path easier.

Yah, so you don't HAVE to spend for a new mobo and RAM right away.

Necro's crystal ball says that in less than a year, it will be a toss up, just like the NVIDA vs ATI situation now.

DX-10 and Quad core is just around the corner for both companies, making a choice today "Murky" at best as to wich platform will have the longest legs...AMD still has yet to do anything with the Z-Ram tech it liscenced, I do expect to see it show up in K8-L though.

Intel has the crown right now without a doubt, and ATI has the dual video card set up by a length...but the NVIDIA has the single card crown by miles...but of course it's nearly the same price as two ATI's.

My personal choice today would be the low end Conroe and a single mid to mid high end card, and then sell them on EBAY after the first of the year, and get a DX-10 card, and possibly upgrade to Quad core...though I am not convinced there will be any real world need for it unless you are Encoding or doing video editing, the current software is barely able to use Dual Core Cpu's to it's full advantage, only a few games offer support for it.

I don't see software being able to use Quad core support effectively for quite a while..that is the current opinon of John Carmack (ID software Guru) based on the length of time it takes to properly code.

Of course there are variables that cannot be seen at this point for software, there has been talk of "Reverse Hyperthreading" from AMD that would solve the software isssues of multicores using single thread software..but this apears to have been vaporware.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro there has been talk of "Reverse Hyperthreading" from AMD that would solve the software isssues of multicores using single thread software..but this apears to have been vaporware.

Yep, I believe they said that was impossible.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32885

Hmmm good point necro. Either way i go i cant really count on the longevity of either product........why cant technology just slow down for a bit and make some kick ass games instead.

Im thinkin that I may go down the AM2 road to save some cash, and just get a 7900GT so that i can actually watercool it with what i have now. That way i can also hold off on upgrading my psu for awhile too.