New processors?

[smelly]

Hi all,

I've currently got a barton 3200 + Asus A7NX8 delux with 2 GB pc3200 generic RAM and Grforece 6800 (vanilla).

I was thinking of upgrading to a DS 3700+ with a Abit KN8 Ultra (non sli); reusing the RAM and getting a GF7800GT.

Will i be better off holding out for a while to see if there is a price drop with the proposed new AMD chips? Are the due soon(in the new few months?) or should i just get it over with and but it all now I've been playing with the thought of getting a new AGP graphics card for my existing system but i'll only be delayng the inevitible anyway and the 7800GS or X850XT performance will pale to the GF7800GT with the additional hardware so fewer bottle necks

Any thoughts?

[kasavien]

You would deffinately be better upgrading to PCI express for your graphics card, you will notice the difference. No-one knows when socket M2 will be released but my best guess would be mid 2006. If i were you i would get the 3700 now, prices will always drop if you wait long enough, so you may end up waiting forever.

[davethechamp]

The New socket Am2 (??) will definatley need new DDR2 ram. therefore you may as well go far an upgrade now. The new boards and proccessors will prob cost a packet to.

There has recently been a good price drop on the A63 proccessor line. Scan are good for prices and you should qualify for their free shipping - always good.
LOW (http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/...8-9DDAFCFE144E) are good and do free shipping.

You can prob sell your current parts and upgrade for not much extra cost anyway.

Dave

[RavenNight]

Another vote for going PCi-E and the 3700+ is a fab chip. As for waiting, there is always going to be new stuff round the corner, you'll just have to bite the bullet and go for it. AM2 could be anytime.

[KowShak]

You would deffinately be better upgrading to PCI express for your graphics card, you will notice the difference. No-one knows when socket M2 will be released but my best guess would be mid 2006. If i were you i would get the 3700 now, prices will always drop if you wait long enough, so you may end up waiting forever.

I've yet to see a single benchmark that shows PCIe graphics cards being faster than AGP in any meaningful way BUT AGP cards are friggin expensive compared to PCIe and the 6800 GS PCIe actually has a higher clock speed than the AGP version...

If you upgrade your graphics card now and don't upgrade your CPU & M/B you're going to be buying an AGP card that will need replacing when you change over to PCIe. You've also got the problem that AGP cards are more expensive than their PCIe brethren. DDR2 is coming in soon too, so you might have to upgrade your RAM too if you wait around too long for the m/b upgrade.

It'll always be cheaper to upgrade your CPU & M/B later but if you take into account the cost of upgrading the graphics card twice, its probably better to do the whole lot together WHEN YOU NEED TO. Do you need to upgrade the graphics card now? Personally I'd wait until I actually needed to upgrade i.e. there was a game my PC wouldn't run well then do the whole upgrade.

[DanceswithUnix]

Blimey, do I spot a thread where no-one has mentioned the Asrock dual-sata motherboard yet? I am starting to think that it is obligatory in all threads

You could re-use your existing RAM, keep your current AGP video card until you are forced up upgrade it with a PCIe one, and when socket AM2 comes out you might even be able to get an upgrade card to plug one of those in.

Price drops happen all the time, you will never buy anything if that is your yardstick.