New CPU

[Rubber Bullets]

My PC is getting on a bit now, being all of 20 months old, but I have just upgraded it by putting a 7900GTO GPU in and am about to put in a second 1Gb of memory. It is built around quite a nice Gigabyte SLI n-force 4 mobo and currently has an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ CPU.

I had always thought that at some time I'd buy a better skt 939 chip and upgrade. The thing is that may not be so easy for long. AMD have stopped making these chips, something I'm a bit pissed about with the mobo being only 20 months old, and was pretty new then.

So I may have to upgrade sooner than I'd imagined, or I'll miss my chance. I really can't afford to go the whole hog and make a new system, but I could quite easily just get a 4200XP X2 chip and put it in. This would almost certainly see me through the next 18 months or so till I can justify a new rig.

The mobo already has the latest BIOS to support these chips, will I just be able to slot it in and go? Or will I have to do a reinstall? I'd rather not, but it is just that it is a dual core chip that makes me wonder.

Why have AMD stopped making these chips so soon anyway? AM2 chips don't seem to be getting good press, especially with Conroe seeming to be the way to go with the really new stuff, surely there's enough people in the same position as me who'd still buy skt 939? The motherboards are still being sold!

RB

 

[smurkin]

RB, m8y, been there, bought the t-shirt. Upgrading cpus is great in principle, but by the time its useful, your mobos done usually coz they dont make the chips any more, or the upgrade is not worthwhile.

It sounds like you want to upgrade for fear of losing the chance to, rather than actually needing to upgrade.

[hehe ...bit of a claire raynor, was that post]

 

[Ch3tan]

Why not jsut stick with what you have, and wait till you can afford a new mobo and chip? Whether it be intel or amd's latest offering at the time.

 

[throdgrain]

I upgraded from a 3500 to a 4000, it makes quite a difference . They were a bargain price on OCUK at the time, but they're all gone now I think.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Smurkin and Chet,

What are you my parents?

I have to say you do both have a point though, there isn't any specific reason to upgrade at this moment. i.e. there isn't anything that I want to do now that I can't due to lack of processor power.

I had just always intended to put a dual core processor in this comp and my chances to do that are rapidly diminishing.

Throddy, that's much more the sort of encouragement I need to spend money

Why did you upgrade, was there a specific reason? Is yours a dual core? If the difference I would notice would be small there would be no point, but if there is a good speed up then, as I said, it would extend the life of this rig by a reasonable way.

Can anyone tell me if it would require a clean install or would I be alright?

RB

 

[throdgrain]

I upgraded becuase I always want MORE POWA!! etc.
The 4000 is a single core, but remember CPU's work on strange naming priciples these days, and a 4000 will run games like CSS faster than a dual core "4400", no matter what its name is
You will not have to reinstall anything, just turn yer PC off, hoik out the old CPU and insert the new one, then turn it back on. The PC should auto-detect any changes, even if it doesnt you can go into BIOS and manually change it.
I knowwhat you mean about the upgradeing , Ive just ordered a new mobo and video card to replace my AGP 6800GT / Asus A8V, not because I have to, just I want to. I know I wont get earth-shattering increases, but a bit will be nice. If you listen to the people who say wait, you'll wait till you're old

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks Throddy,

Ebuyer have sold out (40 odd units) since I first posted this. If I don't act today the whole question will be pointless anyway , I'm at work atm and can't order anything.

RB

 

[throdgrain]

OCUK sold out pronto, as they were very cheap and overclock to 3.0gig apparantly.
If you want to spend more, a new mobo and a conroe is a good idea, much as I hate to admit it, but if you can find a AMD 64 atm they are a bargain.
Note, OCUK have sold out of just about any AMD CPU worth buying by the looks of it.

 

[smurkin]

Smurkin and Chet,

What are you my parents?

Hehe...no! I am an old git though...

 

[Saggy]

Assuming your 3500+ is Winchester and you are about to use all 4 DIMM slots you really, really want to get new CPU (Winchester can't handle it well).

I ordered Opteron 170 today - dual core that almost certainly overclocks atleast 2Ghz@2.5Ghz for ~200€ sounds like a plan to me (currently using 3200+).

 

[HGL]

Surely the CPU you want will be available on ebay as ppl upgrade for a long time to come?