Looking to update my system . whats best .

[Jekker]

OK this is what I currently got
XP 3000, 1 Gig Ram, ATI 9700 video, 40 Gig HDD

I'm looking at this ...
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800 Dual-Core (Socket 939)
MSI K8N Neo4-F SKT939 nForce4 chipset Dual DDR400 PCI-E ATX
1GB DDR PC3200 400MHz 184pin
200 Gig HDD

Would appreciate some info on the differences between AMD and Pentium Dual core chips....

I am guessing PCI-Express is the way to go on video cards now ???
And the best one of those is ?? ATI or NVIDIA ?

Thanks

Steve

 

[WingedTek]

Looks like a decent system yet what are you gonna use this system for? What kind of graphical card are you looking in to since I'am sure your older card is AGP. PCI-E is deffintly going to be the new standard soon for graphic cards so looking for a new graphic should stay in this area. What kind of pricing are you looking in to any way?

A+ and coming soon: Network +

 

[paparazi]

Jekker
What's your Budget????? looking at the items you have chosen I'm guessing it's fairly tight?
I will offer some general comments
Socket 939 is AMD's "out going" platform, AM2 is the new offering, the main difference being that AM" (socket 940)uses DDRII.
Budget/midrange performance graphics cards? I would recommend either Nvidia's 7600GT or ATI's X1800GTO

Now the spanner in the works***
Intel's NEW RELEASE! Core2 Duo range of CPU's has been this years biggest surprise!
You might want to take a look at the entry level E6300 for socket 775 instead of AMD.
See the performance difference here:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Jekker]

Thanks for both replies.
Not really got a budget as of yet, just dipping my toe in the water.
Always kept to AMD's but if Intels are best then will go that way.
I've got an AGP 8x card.
Main reason for looking is that i got one mem chip with a problem so was going to order one and then got thinking about a total upgrade as my system is 3yrs old now.

 

[Johnthephoneguy]

What are you trying to do with your system? A gaming PC build would look different than a machine you only use for web browing or downloading music, and a big price difference!

 

[kmcferrin]

It's a little unclear from your first post if you are intending on buying new memory, or if you are going to re-use your old memory. If you are talking about buying new memory + mainboard + CPU then I would avoid socket 939. In that case I would recommend only Socket AM2 for AMD or to go with an Intel-based system.

If you are planning on keeping your memory, then that rules out AM2 and *MOST* Intel Conroe/Core 2 Duo solutions. I believe that there is one Conroe board made by Asrock that includes support for DDR and DDR, as well as AGP and PCI-E, but it is not a high performer.