Upgrade to core duo or stick with AMD?

[rob4001]

Hi

I want to upgrade my PC while I have some spare cash after the upgrade i do not want to spend another penny on it for about 12-18 months. My question is do I go for the cheaper option of upgrading to AMD X2 or ebay motherbaord, cpu and RAM and go for the more expensive option of core duo. i will be using my pc for everything from photo editing, watching TV/dvds, gaming and work. If do upgrade to core duo I was thinking of getting E6600 but is there going to be a massive performance difference over AMDx2 considering the extra cost. Are there better soltions?

My current machine specs are
AMD 3500+
Epox nforce 4 Ultra
1 GB RAM
nvidia 7800GT

Many thanks for any input.

[NightshadowUK]

Well while doing things with your current 3500+ do you find yourself thinking "God I wish this would hurry up" ?

[rob4001]

Yes

[hitman67]

Well I've got an AM2 (x2 4200+) and all I can say is it's Rapid. Handles everything I make it do without a single hassle. Personally I would stick with AMD, but then again I am just an old skool fanboy.

[NightshadowUK]

Yes

Haha, but are these things actually CPU related?

I agree with Hitman though, save money and get an X2 and 2GB RAM.

[prehensile]

I have had a think about it and I know that a quad core AMD in a few months is the best solution for me, decision mostly based on personal brand preference, stability, and the hassle of upgrading everything and perhaps wanting to upgrade again a few months later.

[NightshadowUK]

Ahh but Rob's on S939 so no quad-core for him.

[Fabula]

Best value upgrade:
stick in a 939 x2 3800 or better
Add 1gig ram.

This would give a very decent system, for relatively little outlay.

A core6600 system would be fantastic, but the additional cost would be unjustified really. Motherboards cost more for it, and you would need ddr2-ram. You would probably spend about £400 more than upgrading your current system, for a 20% increase in processor speed, which you wouldn't notice too much in reality.

[Blitzen]

Go for the Conroe.
They are alot quicker than ANYTHING AMD has to offer.

RAM is dear though so be careful.

[pollaxe]

I've been using AMD for my systems for the past few years - however for the next one I'm going to go Intel - probably dual core. Having read the reviews and all, it seems like the best choice. I'm no fanboy of any manufacturer, I just buy what seems best at the time so unless AMD pull something pretty magnificent out of the hat in the next couple of months (and maybe they will) it'll be Intel for me..

[Salazaar]

Best value upgrade:
stick in a 939 x2 3800 or better
Add 1gig ram.

I agree, you should be able to get a high end 939 cpu for peanuts these day, add another gig of ram and it'll see you for at least another year.

Then you can upgrade to a Core 2 Duo/Quad or whatever AM2 AMD come up with, along with a new mobo/memory/GPU as needed. Maybe even add a copy of Vista

[Blitzen]

I agree, you should be able to get a high end 939 cpu for peanuts these day, add another gig of ram and it'll see you for at least another year.

Then you can upgrade to a Core 2 Duo/Quad or whatever AM2 AMD come up with, along with a new mobo/memory/GPU as needed. Maybe even add a copy of Vista

Still no where near as good as the Conroes though! <-----FACT

[Smokey21]

Yes it's fact, but thats not the issue here. You'd need a whole new board, chip and memory for Conroe.

An Athlon X2 would be a good upgrade, clocked to around 2600Mhz.