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AMD Athlon 64 and gaming

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Buck94

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Okay, I will admit that I am a newbie when it comes to this processor. I am curious if anyone in the BP community is a PC gamer and plays on a system using this family of processors.

I am currently running on an Intel 3.4 Gig Pentium from 2004 and I have contemplated making a switch in motherboards and processors as part of an upgrade. However, I know very little about the Athlon processor and what it would mean to make this kind of switch.

Any insights or words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Buck
 
If you're going to be gaming, and you want the AMD 64-bit processor, I'd pony up the extra few bucks and get a dual-core chip. AMD's 64 X2 processors are pretty good from all I've seen. The new Intel Core Duo's have been performing even better in benchmarks, but I'm more of an AMD fan, so I'd say go with them. Either way, multi-core chips is shaping up to be the next wave of processing technology. Both AMD and Intel are scheduled to roll out quad-core chips within the next 6 months.

As far as the AMD dual-cores goes... go for Socket AM2 over Socket 939. AM2 supports the latest RAM technology (240 pin, I believe), which can handle faster speeds and I think more capacity. This technology doesn't currently have a significant edge, but once again... it's where the future is headed.

Last I saw, you could get a 3800+ AMD 64 X2 processor from newegg for about $160. Pretty good if you ask me...
 
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I used an athlon 64 3000 for months, and recently upgraded to a 3700 with 1 meg cache. They are both phenominal for gaming. toss a gig of ram in with them, and you are set. Course the vid card is where your concern needs to be for gaming. I am running a 6800 Xtreme, very happy with it.
 
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Just a thought....I know that the new Core Duo's are beating the AMD's in the benchmarks, but You'll get a whole lot processor for your money if you go with AMD. Set yourself a price that you want to spend and then see what you can get from both sides for that price. I'd bet that AMD can get you a better processor for the price.
 
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Hodge;647682; said:
I'd bet that AMD can get you a better processor for the price.
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Great advice to compare performance at a given price point...although the last time I checked Intel was winning that battle as well. Still given the fluidity of the market AMD may have managed to undercut Intel at this time.
 
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Muck;647718; said:
...although the last time I checked Intel was winning that battle as well.
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Hmm, I didn't know that. It's been a little while since I've done some good research about that, but it at least always used to be the that AMD could provide you with more processing power for the same price.
At any rate, make sure you look at that aspect. Intel has the lead at the cutting edge, but I doubt that many people are spending that kind of money.
 
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Hodge;647766; said:
Hmm, I didn't know that. It's been a little while since I've done some good research about that, but it at least always used to be the that AMD could provide you with more processing power for the same price.
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That was definitely the case pre Athlon 64. However with that chip released AMD finally had the market leverage and top end performance to go head to head with Intel without needing to undercut them on the price front.

When the Core Duos came out Intel was handing AMD their tail on both price and performance. AMD dropped prices shortly after and the two have see-sawed back and forth since.

AMD might be ahead on the price front right now, but the edge is going to be slight regardless of who is in the lead due to agressive pricing by both companies.

You can't go wrong either way right now, both manufacturers have an excellent product and their competition is keeping prices reasonable.
 
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A little bit more help....

Thank you for all of the input. I think I am going to wait to see what AMD's comes out with to answer the Intel dual cores. Then I will look at the performance versus value.

In the meantime, here is a rundown of my hardware....

ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE MOTHERBOARD
INTEL PENTIUM 4 3.2GHZ 512K L2 CACHE 800MHZ FSB
4 | CORSAIR 512MB DDR PC3200LL VS
2 | SEAGATE BARRACUDA 80GB 8MB CACHE SATA HD
CREATIVE SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY 2 6.1
CELESTICA RADEON 9600XT 128MB

I could certainly benefit from a new video card right away and I doubt I am going to wait on that. Any recommendations?

As far as a new CPU, I am guessing I will need to change my motherboard and RAM? I have never done this level of upgrade, so any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks again,
Buck
 
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Buck94;691673; said:
I could certainly benefit from a new video card right away and I doubt I am going to wait on that. Any recommendations?
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Since you are already familiar with ATI's cards I'd go with an X800/850.

One thing to keep in mind is that when you do decide to upgrade the rest of your system you will need to get a new video card for it as well. Your current card is AGP which is no longer supported by the majority of boards.

PCI Express is the current standards and is not physically/electrically compatible with AGP cards.

There is also a major change starting with the Direct X 10 standard. There are currently only two cards that support Direct X 10. Nvidia's 8800GTX & 8800GTS. ATI is rushing to get their DX10 cards to market ASAP & that will be the new battleground for the GPU manufacturers.

DX10 games are also on the horizon & the older DX9 cards will not be able to display all of the new eye candy featured by DX10.

So if you do decide to get a new card now be prepared to be another one when you upgrade your system.

As far as a new CPU, I am guessing I will need to change my motherboard and RAM? I have never done this level of upgrade, so any advice would be welcomed.
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Regardless of whether you decide on AMD or Intel you are going to have to get a new MoBo for your upgrade path.

If Intel make sure it is a Socket 775 board that supports the Core 2 Duo. I'm not sure if AMD plans on introducing a new socket/pin layout for their upcoming chips or if they will stick with the Socket M2, regardless if you switch to AMD you will definitely need to get a new mobo.

You will also need new RAM as DDR2 is the current standard and most boards will not support your older PC3200 DDR.

Your current SATA hard drives & your Audigy will carry over fine.
 
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The 8800s are currently $500 or more. Unless you're a hardcore (and rich) gamer, don't bother with that.


I guess the biggest thing I would stress is that you make sure everything is compatible.... Socket-type for PC and mobo.... RAM type/speed.... SATA or IDE hard-drives, etc......
 
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bucknut11;692020; said:
The 8800s are currently $500 or more. Unless you're a hardcore (and rich) gamer, don't bother with that.
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True. By the time he upgrades his whole system there will be a slew of DX10 products so it's a non-issue. Just wanted to keep him abreast of the massive industry shift that is about to occur.

Besides the 8 series are PCI-E only and it is doubtful Nvidia will release them as an AGP part...of course the same was said of the 7 series so ya never know.
 
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