Need a new motherboard

[maylar]

I seem to outgrow my PC in about 2 yrs - or else it breaks down and forces me to change anyway. Winter time I start playing Counter Strike and that's when I notice the speed ;-)

Is it possible to put a next generation Socket A Athlon in an older motherboard? The DFI board I have says it supports up to 1.5gHz.. what's the bestest upgrade I could do for that?

Thanks for the insights.

 

[Leonidas]

i would say just go for a new mobo altogether, and get one that CAN overclock even if you currently dont intend to... you may come into it later and have to buy a whole nother board, id say stick with athlon xp, if you really think you may overclock later go for xp-m 2400+ or 2600+, if not then go for XP 2800+ or 3200+, ive currently got a 2800+ for sale with a nice aftermarket heatsink and everything... but back to the topic, id say dont go 64 yet.

 

[Codeine]

Well it depends on what your use is. I mean if you want the best motherboard then a 939 will be yes. If not you can get a nice Athlon 64 2800+ socket 754. If you dont need the best, then stop thinking about socket 939.

 

[True_Orb]

I dunno about you guys, but my comps generally keep me happy for at least 4 years. A year ago I would have gone Barton 3200 in a heart beat, but now it seems like 64 might be the way to go.

Here I see a $3 difference between a Socket A Barton 3200 XP
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-390&depa=1

and a Socket 939 Winchester 3200 64.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-103-502&DEPA=0

I must be missing something, right? It looks damn tempting to me.
Barton (XP)
Model: AMD Athlon XP 3200+
-Core: Barton
-Operating Frequency: 2.2GHz
-FSB: 400MHz
-Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/512K
-Voltage: 1.65V
-Process: 0.13Micron
-Socket: Socket A
-Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
-Packaging: Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included)

Winchester (64)
Specifications:
-Model: Athlon 64 3200+
-Core: Winchester
-Operating Frequency: 2.0GHz
-FSB: Integrated into Chip
-Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/ 512KB
-Voltage: 1.5V
-Process: 90nm
-Socket: Socket 939
-Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
-Warranty: 3-year MFG
-Packaging: Retail(with Heatsink and Fan)

 

[Nubius]

True, but if you're buying now, you probably want a comp that will hold up in the long haul, and if 2006 will be the time when 64-bit starts coming into play, that's only a year.
You can either choose to ignore that (not a bad idea of course) but why not buy 64 now instead of having to buy 2 processors?

I don't know, depends on the person I suppose, like you said you get a new computer every 4 years, whereas I see myself getting one in a year from now, and the way I see it, by the time the 64bit OS comes out, my processor will have DIED a little bit by then, and it's not like it'll be released RIGHT when 2006 hits, so god knows when it'll actually be, ontop of that I'm sure they'll have a whole new slew of 64bit chips both from AMD and Intel

 

[Leonidas]

yah, im with nubius on this one... im waiting for dual cores however... mid 2006 they are supposed to come out, and im not truly even worried about running a 64bit os in the first place... xp runs fine for me, hell i wasnt even too pissed with ME , once dual core and SLI start becoming truly standard then im moving, prolly save money from now til then and build myself a 2500$ machine , will be a god.

 

[True_Orb]

Well why would anyone buy the 3200 Barton when for 3 more dollars they get a 64-bit processor with what looks to be almost identical specs, save 200mHz, voltage, process and FSB!
What about these differences is so drastic, it looks like a crazy deal towards the 64!