AMD Cpu help!

[McMullen]

Hey guys,

Looking into an upgrade and trying to pick out my CPU. I notice that there are alot of different variations to the Athlon XP. From what I understand there is venice, San Diego and Newcastle? Miss anything?

Now the system will be leaning towards gaming and I'm looking at something around 3800+ w/ PCI-E v(SLI Ready)

Which CPU / Mobo combo should I be looking for?

Also say I put together a high end system today and in 2 years its starting to fall behind the pack. How much performance increase would I get on next Gen games if I slap in another PCI-E card and run it SLI? Thinking 7800 GT.

Thanks!

 

[Relion]

DFI Lan Party FTW

Id say u put that 7800GT or a couple 6800 GS if u can afford them both...

 

[Leper Messiah]

You mean Athlon 64s, but anyways. Single Core wise, they go from Clawhammer (the oldest, not made any more, might find one used), Newcastle (next oldest, only find used, 512K cache) to winchester (90mm process, first really good OC'ers also 512K) to venice (still can find around, get an E3 stepping if at all possible) to San Diego, basically the same as a venice with 1MB cache, to Manchester (E4 stepping, Dual core, 512K cache). Then there is the 1MB dual core Toledo. Thats an E6 stepping.


Confusing aint it?


Depending on your budget, I'd say get an X2 3800+. They multitask really well, OC well, and should last you at least 2 years.

As far as SLi improving your GPU speeds down the line, kinda. It would help, but for the cost of another 7800GT in a couple of years, you could easily get something that will perform as well or better than the SLi'd 7800GT for less money.

 

[otogrim]

Don't forget about the optys

 

[davegraham]

yeah, don't forget about the optys!
dave

 

[McMullen]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah
You mean Athlon 64s, but anyways. Single Core wise, they go from Clawhammer (the oldest, not made any more, might find one used), Newcastle (next oldest, only find used, 512K cache) to winchester (90mm process, first really good OC'ers also 512K) to venice (still can find around, get an E3 stepping if at all possible) to San Diego, basically the same as a venice with 1MB cache, to Manchester (E4 stepping, Dual core, 512K cache). Then there is the 1MB dual core Toledo. Thats an E6 stepping.


Confusing aint it?


Depending on your budget, I'd say get an X2 3800+. They multitask really well, OC well, and should last you at least 2 years.

As far as SLi improving your GPU speeds down the line, kinda. It would help, but for the cost of another 7800GT in a couple of years, you could easily get something that will perform as well or better than the SLi'd 7800GT for less money.

Nice reply, thank you. I was looking into a 3800+ venice. Any reasons why I shouldn't be looking at that? What MOBO would be best fit my needs?

 

[McMullen]

EDIT - I found out that I could get a 4000+ San Diego for $75 more than a 3800+ Venice. That a good deal? $75 CDN

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: McMullen
EDIT - I found out that I could get a 4000+ San Diego for $75 more than a 3800+ Venice. That a good deal? $75 CDN

Depends on if you're looking to overclock. Normally with OCing you find the cheapest CPU you can get, and take it up to or past the most expensive one. The only differnce between the venice and the san diego you've outlined is that the san diego has 1MB cache vs. the 512K cache in the venice. Should be worth maybe 3 to 5% more performance.

 

[isifgr]

the price difference is not that much to keep you away from dual core so i suggest X2 3800+ or Opteron dual 165.

 

[coomar]

Originally posted by: isifgr
the price difference is not that much to keep you away from dual core so i suggest X2 3800+ or Opteron dual 165.