Pimp my upgrade please!

[vanven]

It is been a couple years since the last upgrade. I have about $900 to spend on an upgrade. The wife has put me on a budget this time

Definite upgrades:
AMD 64 3800 X2 processor (939 chipset)
Corsair XMS (or similiar) 1gb DDR400 RAM
Samsung P Series 250 gb SATA2 harddrive

Here is where i am getting confused. The more motherboard review that I read, the more convoluted this whole decision gets. I have about $450 left for a video and motherboard solution. I have some interest in SLI or Crossfire but I am not sure that my budget will allow to really utilize these options.

Considerations:

• Cost

• This is purely a gaming puter so FPS are important

• I prefer a tier 1 motherboard manufacturer (Asus, Epox, Abit, DFI) with decent GUI utilities

• ATI is preferred but I am open for discussion

• Overclocking is a probability

• System must last close to 2 years so must be marginally upgradeable

Packages I am seriously considering:

SLI
Abit AN8-SLI motherboard
2 Geforce 6800 XTreme 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
2 Geforce 7600GS or 7600GT 256mb GDDR3

Crossfire
Abit AT8 32X ATI RD580 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
2 Radeon X1600 XT PCI Express 256MB DDR3

As mentioned above, I have read about 50 reviews. All point to one flaw or another in each chip set. Limited bandwidth in SLI, poor ATI Crossfire 200 preformance, poor overclocking, lack of SATA2, etc... I have become a bit overwhelmed. Am I better off with one of the above solutions or just buying the best non-SLI Nforce 4 Ultra motherboard and X1800XT video card that I can find???????

Give me your best sales pitch..............Thanks
-J

 

[Duvie]

One thing...dont waste toom uch money on the ram...with low multiplier chips like 3800+ you likely will have to revert to dividers anyways....I say just stay close to 400ddr and try to hold cas 2-3-2-6 settings.....Cas timings can be worth much more then trying to hold 500ddr+ cuase you may have to run cas 2.5 or worse....


I also say save the moeny and avouid sli or crossfire of newer lower speed cards and just get one fast card....That is just my opinion though...shite happens, better things come around and ppl like to upgrade....2 lower speed cards really locks you in...

 

[Howard]

Socket 939 should be good for 2 more years, but it's a dead-end platform. If you want upgradeability, you'll have to go with AM2 or LGA775 (the motherboards that specifically support Core 2 Duo).

SLI doesn't deliver as much FPS per dollar as does going with single cards, especially considering that you have to pay more for an SLI-enabled mobo.

 

[fatpat268]

I hate to say because everyone is saying it, but wait for the Intel Core 2 Duo (Conroe). Initial tests and benchmarks have shown that intel has the lead in just about all aspects compared to some of the top of the line AMD processors. The prices on the processors look to be extremely affordable, and they'll be released soon (July). Socket 939 processors have already become cheaper, but you're already seriously limiting your upgrade options if you decide to build a socket 939 system right now, but it's your choice.

And this is really a bad time to be building a gaming machine if you want it to last a few years. We're a few months off of a release of DX10 and DX10 cards, but if you want a gaming machine now, I recommend buying either an Nvidia 7900gt or ATI x1800xt, both cards are at a similar price and offer similar performance (i'm too lazy too look up benchmarks right now ). Personally, I can't recommend crossfire because I haven't worked with crossfire yet, but if you want to go SLI, I wouldn't do it with two mid range cards. Granted a 2x 7600gt setup will outperform a 7900gt, however after that you can't upgrade that sli system anymore without replacing the cards. With a 7900gt, you can drop in another one (provided you have a beefy enough PSU) when the prices go down for an even better performance boost.

But since you want a gaming system, I highly recommend staying away from the 6800, that card is getting quickly outdated and it's having difficulties keeping up with some of these newer games. The motherboard and memory depend on whether or not you decide to hold out for core 2 duo or build a socket 939 system right now.

 

[vanven]

I guess a newer platform like the Intel LGA775 isnt out of the question. The last few upgrade I have done have been AMD by default. Prices are rather similiar now.

An Asus P5LD2 Deluxe 945P P4/Pentium D/Celeron 1066FSB LGA775 DDR2 ATX Motherboard paired with a Intel Pentium D Processor 805 (duo core) may give me more room to upgrade in the future yet still give me a huge opportunity to OC now and get reasonable performance.

-J

 

[Ichigo]

Just wait for Conroe optimized motherboards. You'll save yourself a headache and get much better performance for your money.

And don't get the 7600 series.... Honestly. 7900GT > SLI 7600GT's

 

[LOUISSSSS]

wait a month for conroe.