Should I upgrade?

[sypher]

I currently have:
P4 2.53
Asus P4B533-E
Corsair 512MB PC3200RAM
WD 100GIG HDD
ATI AIW Radeon 9800

Do you guys think it's worth upgrading, like with the new dual channel ram, and new fbs and so on?

 

[nageov3t]

your sys is looking pretty good.

whether or not to upgrade depends on a) what you do with your pc, and b) how well it's doing it right now.

personally, I'm waiting to do any major upgrades. my next upgrade will be to AMD64 (or maybe a 64-bit Pentium), but I'm waiting to the full release of XP64 before I put down any money on it.

 

[Regs]

Nope.

 

[sypher]

Gah I guess I'll just hold off for now. When is the next best thing coming out, like new cpu or video card?

 

[nageov3t]

if you really want to spend money, you could always get a case upgrade and some more RAM.

next-gen video cards are in the works, but I haven't heard any specifics about the release dates.

 

[Cheetah8799]

Only thing I would do with your rig is add another 512mb ram for gaming. Other than that, no reason to upgrade at the moment. Unless you need more speed for something specific.

 

[sypher]

Hmm I just might get another stick then. What is this dual channel ram thing I have reading about, suppose you have two 512mb sticks u can get higher fsb or something? Sorry I'm a little illiterate can someone fill me in?

 

[Maximilian]

Duel channeling basically makes the ram faster. If you put in a 2nd stick of 3200 then it should tell you at the start whether its supported or not, it dosent particularly matter as it isnt that big a performance increase anyways. Its like Hyperthreading, good to have but dosent matter too much if you dont have it.

 

[OffTopic1]

Yeah! You should upgrade to a dual G5 since they are faster at Photoshop

 

[Shaocaholica]

Your motherboard doesn't support dual channel operation. Daul channel operation is dependent on your motherboard, not memory.

 

[sypher]

I know it doesnt, thats why I thought of upgrading. So 8X AGP + dual channel ram arent that great of a boost in performance are they?

 

[billbillw]

I upgraded my P4 2.4 (533fsb) system from a 845PE motherboard (4x AGP;single channel memory) to a 865PE motherboard (8x AGP; dual channel memory) and I saw my 3dMark03 score go from around 3500 to more than 5500. That is pretty significant. I think the real advantage is extra bandwith of the dual channel memory. Comparisons of 4xAGP and 8xAGP do not really show a noticable advantage to the 8x.

You would need a new Motherboard and another stick of memory that matches the one you have (assuming you have only one stick right now).

The newer board would also allow you to upgrade to a faster 800mhz fsb processor at a later date (if needed).

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: billbillw
I upgraded my P4 2.4 (533fsb) system from a 845PE motherboard (4x AGP;single channel memory) to a 865PE motherboard (8x AGP; dual channel memory) and I saw my 3dMark03 score go from around 3500 to more than 5500. That is pretty significant. I think the real advantage is extra bandwith of the dual channel memory. Comparisons of 4xAGP and 8xAGP do not really show a noticable advantage to the 8x.

You would need a new Motherboard and another stick of memory that matches the one you have (assuming you have only one stick right now).

The newer board would also allow you to upgrade to a faster 800mhz fsb processor at a later date (if needed).

there is NO WAY you jumped 2000 3dmarks by simply changing out your motherboard. dual channel memory doesnt do THAT much...are you sure you didnt change out a 9600pro for a 9800pro?

 

[billbillw]

That is no lie. I ran 3dmark03 repeatedly on my old setup trying to get above the magical 5000 level. I tried every optimization and nothing worked. If you don't believe it, look back at the AT reviews (Here) of the first 875 and 865 motherboards. They do benchmarks that directly compare the 845PE to the dual channel boards running at the same fsb. They do have a significant advantage, especially with gaming.

 

[Regs]

Maybe because Bill had a 800 Mhz bus CPU on single channel memory mobo at first, Nick. I think Sypher only has a 533Mhz bus which could run on single channel. Sypher would have to upgrade both his CPU and motherboard for a considerable performance gain. Not worth the price imo until you see the higher clocked Presscott's or socket 939 A64's with the new video cards.

*Edit

Ok bill did you upgrade to a 800 Mhz FSB CPU when you first got the motherboard?

Either way, duel channel memory alone should not offer better performance in 3dmark. If it does, maybe by 2-5%.

 

[billbillw]

If you notice my 1st post, I am using a 2.4B (533 fsb). My gains are right in line with the performance increase that was observed in the Anandtech review that I linked .

The P4 systems in there test show a 25-30% gain in gaming when going from single channel 333 to dual channel 333 with the same FSB. Of course this is dependent on your video card. The 9800Pro needs all the processor/memory speed that it can get.

The P4 needs the memory bandwidth to keep up with the quad pumped FSB.

The reason that I posted in the first place is that I also have a Radeon 9800Pro and I was trying to help Sypher get the most gaming out of that card.

 

[sypher]

Wrong thread

 

[Blain]

Go with a faster CPU and another 512mb of DDR... unless you only surf and check e-mail.

 

[Cerb]

Get another 512MB RAM, and wait until back to school time. A P4 2.53 is good enough for anything right now.

 

[kyparrish]

i'd hold off on upgrading