Should I upgrade Athlon64 3200+ to Intel Core2Duo or Athlon x2?

[GundamF91]

Going from my Socket AMD A64 3200+ 2.2Ghz, I'm thinking of upgrading to Core 2 Duo for the Athlon x2 if I can do it with one of the Fry's special $100 combo.

What should I do, and also should I expect much performance increase in Windows and also regular games (assuming same level of GPU performance). Thanks.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: GundamF91
Going from my Socket AMD A64 3200+ 2.2Ghz, I'm thinking of upgrading to Core 2 Duo for the Athlon x2 if I can do it with one of the Fry's special $100 combo.

What should I do, and also should I expect much performance increase in Windows and also regular games (assuming same level of GPU performance). Thanks.

I assume you mean socket AM2, in whch case you have DDR2 memory already.

Based on my experience going from a s939 3000+ to a X2 4200+, I'd say go with a C2D and get off the AMD train.

Hermit

 

[GundamF91]

Ah, let me clarify, I have the Socket 754 with DDR Ram. So basically I'm looking at a complete motherboard and memory upgrade. Thus without consideration on reusing the motherboard or the memory, should I go AMD or Intel?

I'm just worried about Intel LGA755 being several years old and will be obsolete soon, while AMD could potentially still introduce AM2/AM2+ capable chips for some time.

 

[Gikaseixas]

LGA775 is still on future Intel road maps so i think it's a safe bet for the next few years plus right now Intel holds a considerable performance advantage over AMD X2's so i'd say get a core 2 duo if overclocking is a must, if not a dual core from AMD will do the job but remember that AM2+ and new cpu's are just around the corner.

 

[o1die]

I'd still go with Intel. The q6600 is a bargain. Phenom is about the same price, but dealers may mark up the price due to limited availability. With core2 duo or quad, you can even use an asrock motherboard with your old ddram to get started. But you might as well get ddr2 now while the price is low. With a premium board and ddr2, overclocking is a breeze, especially with the low end 21xx cpus.

 

[GundamF91]

I'm probably looking at the same priced AMD vs. Intel...so we're probably looking at x2 4200+ and also E2180 or so.

 

[fk49]

Intel is cutting off LGA775 in 2009 because Nehalem will need a new socket, while AMD is planning on keeping an AM2->AM2+->AM3 upgrade path..though who knows if they end up delivering.

But if you are getting a completely new motherboard and memory with the CPU, the general advice is to buy what you need RIGHT NOW at the price you can afford RIGHT NOW. It's really difficult to predict what ends up coming out/being compatible in the future, so stick with your present needs and you will be satisfied. To that end, buy an Intel Q6600 and pair it with a P35 and 2GB of DDR2 800 memory and you'll be good to go.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: fk49
buy an Intel Q6600 and pair it with a P35 and 2GB of DDR2 800 memory and you'll be good to go.

That's absurd!!! If you'd read the OP post, he stated he's looking at a $100 Fry's combo and you want him to go for a $280 CPU + MB + RAM. :roll:

BTW, your original statement was very good, "general advice is to buy what you need RIGHT NOW at the price you can afford RIGHT NOW."

 

[Deadwolf13]

I hear what you are saying, i am in the same boat, AMD64 3000+ on a 754 socket, DDR Ram, and AGP G-Card...
Right now i am looking at
http://www.digitalstormonline....loadsaved.asp?id=91168
But i am waiting... i got screwed 4 years ago when i bought my current rig, and a month afterwards the next gen came out with PCI-E and 954 boards, and just over all the tech level jumped. So i have decided to wait till February and hopefully Intel's new 45 die will out and be the new tech, and i can pick up a Q-Core for cheaper price, plus Nvida will come out with some new and glorious card and the price will drop for others..
So if you NEED it right now, go for Q6600 chip with Mobo and DDR2 ram... AMD doesn't seam to have the umf! to compete at that price...

 

[cab00se]

I'm in pretty much the same boat. I'll definitely be upgrading to an 8800GT ASAP, but the question still remains whether or not it's worth the dough to put together a completely new system based around C2D or C2Q. No one's really answered the OP's original question: just how much performance difference can we expect to see going from an Athlon64 to a multicore Intel? How about an OCed Athlon64 (say 2.5GHz)? With so many goodies like Assassin's Creed and Crysis finally here, I'm itching to know whether or not my rig will make the grade! Pending that vid card upgrade, of course.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: cab00seNo one's really answered the OP's original question: just how much performance difference can we expect to see going from an Athlon64 to a multicore Intel?

Here's a low end A64 vs a C2D using Quake you can change the game and CPUs to suit, I know nada about games.

 

[GundamF91]

THanks for all the input. I've beginning to piece the parts together, starting with the YMMV $66 x1950 Pro PCI-e that's being sold at Circuit City (see Hot Deals for more info). I'm definitely going for it since I am selling nearing the whole rig to a buddy since he needs one at that performance level, so now I have a $250 budget to spend on CPU, motherboard, Ram, and GPU. Everything else I can reuse. So far it looks like I have $180 left after the GPU. I figure another #30-40 for 2gig of DDR2.

So now my official budget for the CPU and motherboard is around $150. I'm definitely trending toward C2D instead of x2, and also I'm wondering if E4xxx is a better choice than E2xxx for performance. Also, what type of motherboard is best for overclocking and still at decent price? I'm looking at P35 chipset and I'm heavily leaning toward this BIOSTAR P35D2-A7. Anyone know if it's good enough?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813138098

 

[imported_scoobydoo]

Originally posted by: cab00se
I'm in pretty much the same boat. I'll definitely be upgrading to an 8800GT ASAP, but the question still remains whether or not it's worth the dough to put together a completely new system based around C2D or C2Q. No one's really answered the OP's original question: just how much performance difference can we expect to see going from an Athlon64 to a multicore Intel? How about an OCed Athlon64 (say 2.5GHz)? With so many goodies like Assassin's Creed and Crysis finally here, I'm itching to know whether or not my rig will make the grade! Pending that vid card upgrade, of course.

I think I'm pretty well qualified to try answer the question. I went from AMD AthlonXP (2.2GHz) / 1GB to Athlon64 (2.4GHz) / 1GB to Opteron 165 (2.8GHz) / 2GB and now to Intel Q6600 (3.4GHz) / 4GB. All of the overclocked, I odn't know if that floats your boat or not though. What I will say is that going from Athlon to Athlon64 yielded not much difference and then from Athlon64 (single core) to Opteron (dual core) obviously improved things, but again, not as much as I had been led to believe.

However, moving from the Opteron 165 (overclocked to 2.8GHz, remember) to Q6600, well the jump in performance has been pretty astonishing. At least I have been seriously impressed, this is also including a move to Vista x64 (gotta make full use of that RAM) from Windows XP, which most people will say that Vista is slower than Windows XP and uses more resources. I'm still extremely impressed with the performance.

For example, while stress testing my system using Prime95 (v25.5, utilizing all 4 cores to 100%, small FFT - max CPU), I was still able to do everything that I used to do on my Opteron and it still felt faster. I had Firefox open, browsing about 20 or so tabs, playing Football Manager 2008, watching a video. For some strange reason it felt like it completely vindicated my decision to get this new setup (Q6600 / Motherboard / RAM - I kept everything else from the old setup).

Hope that helps.

 

[rogue1979]

I had the same decision to make, upgrading from an overclocked socket 754 to dual core.

I actually choose AMD for several reasons.

One was the price. Found a socket 939/3600+ combo with a good overclocking board for $99 shipped.

I am upgrading 3 computers, and they all have 2GB of DDR400 which I can still use, so that's 6GB of ram I don't need to buy.

If I was going to go the Intel route, economy was the priority so the e2140, 2160, or 2180 was going to be used. I use my rigs primarily for gaming and surfing the internet, that's about it.
While the e21xx has overall better performance, for gaming it is very close to Athlon X2. C2D loses a lot of gaming power when the L2 cache is cut down to 1MB.

The C2D overclocks higher but since I am using midrange video cards (7900GT's and X1900GT) cpu scaling won't make much of a difference.

In 6 months to a year when the 8800GT drops to below $150 I will buy three of them an upgrade again. By then I am sure a C2D with 2 or 4MB of cache will be much cheaper.

I own a computer shop, so I am always able to put the old parts in a used computer and sell it off. They key is keep the new stuff down in price and the upgrades usually end up being free or very little cost!

 

[DusterAZ]

My Newegg order will be coming in tomorrow for the following:

ABIT IP35-E - $89.99
Intel E2180 - $89.99
G.Skill 2x1GB DD2 800 - $54.99
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - $24.99

Total was ~$268 shipped.

This combo looks like it will overclock well for the price, going with the E2160/E2140 will save a few bucks. I'll post my experience over my current system in my sig tomorrow.

Interesting benches of a E2160 @ 3.4 Ghz vs X6800:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...um-e2160_14.html#sect0

 

[GundamF91]

Nice set up DusterAZ. I'm thinking of waiting for Black Friday next week...and see if there's any deal there. Fingers crossed. Also keeping an eye on the local FRY's to see if there's any combo stuff.

For now I am definitely going toward E2180 and some type of P35 motherboard. I've played with 4 AMD in past 5 years, Athlon Tbird, XP-Mobile, Sempron, and the current Athlon64. They all run solid but I'm getting the itch to try the Intel route again because Intel seems to have best scalability right now. I hope the low cache on E2180 won't impact games much since mostly I need the speed for gaming. Maybe I'll get the E4400.

Also because I'm leaving behind all the DDR and AGP parts, I'd like to make a fresh start. The only component I'll be re using for this would be a IDE HD and IDE CDRW.

 

[Deleted member 4644]

Nice. Looks like a good set up. I just made the AMD --> Intel jump myself.

 

[DusterAZ]

FYI, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro will not fit on the ABIT IP35-E, it overlaps the tall heatsink on the chipset. There are ways to force it on but they aren't very elegant. I ended up finding an old Zalman heatsink which I swapped for the stock one and it works perfect.

 

[Denithor]

I made the jump from A64 3000+ single core to an e6400 dual core at the C2D launch last year and couldn't be more pleased with the performance boost I got (I wasn't even too pissed about the gouging after seeing the speed of the chip). It really smoothed out games and sped up DVD encoding considerably.

If you don't want to wait for possible Black Friday deals, here are two great options.

Abit IP35-E + e2180 + 2x1GB DDR2 for $212 + ~$10 shipping - $20MIR = $202
Abit IP35-E + e4500 + 2x1GB DDR2 for $248 + ~$10 shipping - $20MIR = $238

These will probably overclock to about the same point, at 3GHz you won't notice any difference at all when combined with the x1950pro you are looking at. The Intel cooler is just fine up to 3GHz so no need to spend money there.

Make sure you have a good power supply to run that video card, you need something like this Antec Earthwatts 430W unit ($40 after $30MIR this weekend at newegg).