I have an Athlon 64 3200+, with 1GB PC3200 DDR ram, ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro video card. I'm pretty happy with the machine, but it seems like I haven't upgraded anything in a while. My question is for anyone out there who has upgraded from a system equivalent to mine to the current top of line config : does it seem like it was worth it? I know there are new procs (I only buy AMD), mobos, and next-gen ram - but is the boost in performance similar to what I got when I went from an Athlon 1.33ghz 512mb pc133 machine to my current one?
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when to upgrade? 1
- Thread starter lucasm
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1
- #2
I only ever upgrade when the system I am using becomes too slow for me with the latest software or data I use.
Currently I'm using a 4.25 year old desktop (1GHz AMD, 384Mb RAM, Win2K Pro, 80Gb HDD) and find no need to upgrade with what I use it for.
John
Currently I'm using a 4.25 year old desktop (1GHz AMD, 384Mb RAM, Win2K Pro, 80Gb HDD) and find no need to upgrade with what I use it for.
John
lucasm
Athlon64 already? well then, any upgrade will yeald only slight performance increases.
I went from: Nforce2 XP3200 FX5950 to
Nforce4 PCIe SLI Athlon64 3500 2x 6600GT's
Was it worth it? errrrr NO!
Would I still upgrade knowing what I know now? of course i would.
I just can't help myself, question is can you?
Martin
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Athlon64 already? well then, any upgrade will yeald only slight performance increases.
I went from: Nforce2 XP3200 FX5950 to
Nforce4 PCIe SLI Athlon64 3500 2x 6600GT's
Was it worth it? errrrr NO!
Would I still upgrade knowing what I know now? of course i would.
I just can't help myself, question is can you?
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
- Thread starter
- #6
I guess I know I don't really need to upgrade anytime soon, but I get these "urges" that need satisfying - so I went and bought a new case (Antec Sonata) to at least give the appearance of a new system. Now I just need to find a nice quiet hsf, since the one that is on my cpu now is by far the noisiest component of my computer now.
Aussie2
Until funds will allow, Standard Twinmoss PC3200 2x512![[sad]](/data/assets/smilies/sad.gif "[sad] [sad]")
(hanging my nose over some OCZ Platinum)
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI (very pleased)
lucasm (of interest)
Coolermaster Hyper6 cooler, horrendous to fit, crap standard whiney fan, slated because of it's 1+ Kilo weight and awkward fasteners but the best air cooler there is.
Because of the huge copper mass and 6 heat pipes you can get away with the quietest 80mm fan for near slent operation, or fit a 40plus CFM to give good OC potential.
As I said because of the weight I wouldn't advise the Hyper6 for those that move their PC's regularly ie: those who lan party
MSI 6600GT's (good heatsink/fans that cool ram as well)
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
Until funds will allow, Standard Twinmoss PC3200 2x512
(hanging my nose over some OCZ Platinum)Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI (very pleased)
lucasm (of interest)
Coolermaster Hyper6 cooler, horrendous to fit, crap standard whiney fan, slated because of it's 1+ Kilo weight and awkward fasteners but the best air cooler there is.
Because of the huge copper mass and 6 heat pipes you can get away with the quietest 80mm fan for near slent operation, or fit a 40plus CFM to give good OC potential.
As I said because of the weight I wouldn't advise the Hyper6 for those that move their PC's regularly ie: those who lan party
MSI 6600GT's (good heatsink/fans that cool ram as well)
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
I suppose I should clarify my own earlier statement. The spec of my PC given was not as supplied, I have upgraded it.
During the time I have had it, I gave it a RAM upgrade (when moving from Windows 98SE to 2000). The original 30Gb hard drive was replaced with an 80Gb unit when it died earlier this year. Bar the original replacement of 98SE with 2K, this is the only time I have reinstalled the OS on this PC.
All other components are the original as supplied with the PC.
I use the machine for web/email access, programming (MS Access/VBA/SQL Server), MSN and personal correspondence etc.
Probably its heaviest workload is running SQL Server 2000 Developer edition with some of my test systems.
John
During the time I have had it, I gave it a RAM upgrade (when moving from Windows 98SE to 2000). The original 30Gb hard drive was replaced with an 80Gb unit when it died earlier this year. Bar the original replacement of 98SE with 2K, this is the only time I have reinstalled the OS on this PC.
All other components are the original as supplied with the PC.
I use the machine for web/email access, programming (MS Access/VBA/SQL Server), MSN and personal correspondence etc.
Probably its heaviest workload is running SQL Server 2000 Developer edition with some of my test systems.
John
- Thread starter
- #9
paparazi, I was thinking of a huge copper cooler, but I was looking at these two:
Thermaltake Fanless103
and the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu
I'll bookmark the other one though, I'm going to wait another paycheck or two before making a decision.
Thermaltake Fanless103
and the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu
I'll bookmark the other one though, I'm going to wait another paycheck or two before making a decision.
Pretty much what paparazi said here...A64 stuff is generally about as good as it gets today.
Huge copper coolers (some at about 2 pounds) are, in my opinion a waste of money and time. Sure, these heatsinks work and work well with slow and quiet fans but I'd rather use the retail hsf and concentrate on proper case ventilation in order to cool everything inside your case; not just the processor.
Man, you can spend a lot of money and not see a visible performance increase over what you're running now.
Again, like paparazi and lucas said, I too understand the "urge" but also know most of it is unnecessary. I'll be building a S939 SLI rig this summer too...just can't help myself after 3 years.
Skip
Huge copper coolers (some at about 2 pounds) are, in my opinion a waste of money and time. Sure, these heatsinks work and work well with slow and quiet fans but I'd rather use the retail hsf and concentrate on proper case ventilation in order to cool everything inside your case; not just the processor.
Man, you can spend a lot of money and not see a visible performance increase over what you're running now.
Again, like paparazi and lucas said, I too understand the "urge" but also know most of it is unnecessary. I'll be building a S939 SLI rig this summer too...just can't help myself after 3 years.
Skip
SkipCox quote:
Sure, these heatsinks work and work well with slow and quiet fans but I'd rather use the retail hsf and concentrate on proper case ventilation in order to cool everything inside your case; not just the processor.
The approach should be two pronged! case and CPU cooling ALWAYS! should have said.
lucasm takes the same approach as I do:
The best possible cooling at the lowest possible noise levels.
And to attain this:
Buy a case that has 120mm fan mounts, ditch the 80mm units, fit two slow and quiet 120mm units together with a large copper passive or slow fan heatsink.
The Thermaltake looks great for stock speeds depending on you climate? (probably wouldn't be advisable where ambients exceed 30C)
The 90nm Winchester core Athlon64's run cooler than the previous 130nm models, so shouldn't be too dificult to keep cool whilst still keeping noise levels down to a minimum.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
Sure, these heatsinks work and work well with slow and quiet fans but I'd rather use the retail hsf and concentrate on proper case ventilation in order to cool everything inside your case; not just the processor.
The approach should be two pronged! case and CPU cooling ALWAYS! should have said.
lucasm takes the same approach as I do:
The best possible cooling at the lowest possible noise levels.
And to attain this:
Buy a case that has 120mm fan mounts, ditch the 80mm units, fit two slow and quiet 120mm units together with a large copper passive or slow fan heatsink.
The Thermaltake looks great for stock speeds depending on you climate? (probably wouldn't be advisable where ambients exceed 30C)
The 90nm Winchester core Athlon64's run cooler than the previous 130nm models, so shouldn't be too dificult to keep cool whilst still keeping noise levels down to a minimum.
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
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