Upgrading Rig

[tommyboy123x]

I'm looking to upgrade the processor from an X2 4200+ (Dual Core s939) to an FX-60 (Dual Core s939) as well as moving from 2gb to 4gb of memory. Total cost is about $400 to upgrade. Obviously it will make an improvement, but will it be enough to make it worth the $400?

Good benchmark link - Benchmark Results - Review Tom's Hardware : AMD Athlon FX-60's Dual-Core Assault


Built it in 2005 if I remember correctly:
Air Cooled
Asus Deluxe A8N-SLI Mobo
AMD 4200+ s939
eVGA 260 core 216
2gb Patriot Memory
550w PSU
150gb Raptor + 250gb WD drive

 

[Ethan_Kaizer]

I think you're better off just getting a new motherboard and CPU.

 

[tommyboy123x]

that would add another $150 for a motherboard and cpu's would cost more, I'd need new ram (i've got PC3200), and be a lot more work too haha.

replacing mobo isn't really an option at the time but thanks

 

[dario03]

It would be more work but... DDR2 ram is cheap you can get 4gb for around $50 before rebates. You can get a good board for as low as $80 or you can go higher end and spend $150 like you said so you would have ~$200-$270 left over. Thats enough for great dual core or a lot of quad cores.

Toms isn't my favorite site around but their ok and their cpu chart shows the old e6600 beating the fx60 by a good bit in basically everything.

Compare Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, AMD Athlon 64 FX-60, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (note the x2 4400+ is ddr and the x2 4200+ is ddr2)

 

[tommyboy123x]

I typically like to stay with reliable and high-end parts. The upgrade you are talking about makes sense on paper but I'd start adding a little more ram, a little better mobo, then think my psu isn't powerful enough to handle it all and upgrade that, etc. I'm waiting to get a new rig in 2011 or so when I'm out of university but I want something to hold me over till then and to get into some real gaming again and 2gb + the 4200 isn't cutting it for games like Crysis or even GTA IV.

Upgrading mobo is possible, but I won't do it. Having said that, is the upgrade I said initially worth the money or will it result in a lame 3dmark benchmark improvement with almost no notice of day-to-day / gaming improvements?

 

[dario03]

For the "is it worth it" check the link I provided it basically compares the processors your talking about. There is a improvement but only you can really decide if its worth it to you. Personally I wouldn't since unless the fx60 is a super overclocker and you have other solid components to overclock with you won't gain $400 worth of performance IMO. Is your 4200 overclocked?

BTW even with the fx60 you will have issues with gta4 since it doesn't work well on a lot of cpus except quad cores or really high end dual cores.


Onto the high end reliable parts topic.
1. good motherboards for skt775 are only like $120 (probably about that for good AM2+ boards to) you could spend more but you really don't need to.
2. 4gb should be plenty but if its not for some reason then get 8gb since it would only be like $100 before Rebate (after rebate you could get as low as $40-$50) but I never use my full 8gb and would say its a bit overboard.
3. What is your psu? if it handles a fx60 and a gtx260 c216 you should be fine.
4. If you went Intel you could get a e8400 which is about as a high end dual core as you can get and its only $165. If you want to stick to AMD brand new AMD Phenom II quad cores are at $195 to $235 which is as high end as they go.
5. If you wanted you could sell your old mobo, cpu, and ram to gain a bit more for a upgrade budget or to spend less than $400.

 

[tommyboy123x]

I appreciate the help but I'm not upgrading my motherboard.

Would there be a significant improvement to justify the $400. Obviously this would be different for everyone depending on income and what "improvement" means, but generally speaking, would there be a significant improvement or would it be a waste of time/money (i.e. not a significant improvement)?

 

[dario03]

Based on stock performance I say no. Looked to be about 15% difference to me. Where are you getting this chip from? Thats a lot of money for such a old processor. I don't recall what the best s939 chips were but are you sure you couldn't get a high end opteron or something of similar performance .

Also did you overclock the 4200? My old x2 3800 would do 2.8ghz on less than stock voltage (was limited by motherboard).

 

[tommyboy123x]

Yeah I have it a little overclocked but nothing crazy. I wanna say its at 2.5 or 2.6

I'd buy it on eBay. The $400 was an estimate assuming $50 for 2gb of ram and $350 for the FX-60. I believe of the s939 this was just about the fastest there was. eBay has more for $250 but they aren't buy-it-now so it may go up a little more.

 

[dario03]

Yeah like I said I wouldn't bother since its not a huge increase and you could do so much better if you replaced the mobo. But I would say try overclocking your chip some more I'm thinking you have a Toledo core which is what I had and is what the fx60 is. If you could get it to 2.7ghz you would probably be around the performance of the fx60.
5 minutes on google seems to say the fx60 isn't a better overclocking and will typically hit around 3ghz. And even if the fx60 is a great overclocker it would still be a lot of money and I doubt it would compare to even a overclock e5300. Just save your money and wait till your ready for a mobo upgrade.