Hello , I'm new to the forum and would like to see if you could advise me of upgrade paths for the future. I have a AMD system at the moment but have been looking at the C2D Intel. At this point I don't know who to go with because when I do upgrade my motherboard and ram I would like it to last for a while. I have always been a fan of AMD and would like to know your thoughts on AM2 vs C2D as my choices. Thanks for your help, please feel free to advise, I'm at the crossroads and don't know which way to go. I only play a few games and never overclock the rest is general pc stuff. My current system is My System asus AN8 SLI Premium mobo Amd 64x2 4400+ dual core cpu enermax 600watt psu 2 6800 GS Evga 256mb boards 2 gb of Cosair dual channel pc3200 (4 x 512 ) Pri. HD WD 10,000 rpm 74gb sata raptor Sec > HD WD 7200 rpm 250gb sata HP DL DVD lightscribe burner NEC DL DVD burner Case Aspire Navigator
To be honest I see no reason at all to upgrade, you're system is excellent. However if you still want a boost the only real meaningful upgrade would be a C2D chip, if you're not planning on overclocking then you'll want one of the faster models, 2.6GHz or higher. CD2 chips are quite frankly smoking AM2 right now, this isn't to say AMD won't come back in with something better in the future but for right now it's the better choice. But naturally, as you figured yourself, you'll have to got with a new motherboard, and new DDR2 ram as well. I'd advise playing it safe and going with an Intel made motherboard (yes they actually have their own line), they'll cost you quite a bit but they generally prove to be some of the most reliable. And in the ram department I'd go with DDR2 5400 or better, stick with brands like Corsair, Patriot, Kingston, G.Skill, or OCz.
Thanks alot for the advice and quick reply, I guess for now I'll just upgrade my Video cards and wait . What do you think of the 7900 GS ? Sorry if this is in the wrong section. My System asus AN8 SLI Premium mobo Amd 64x2 4400+ dual core cpu enermax 600watt psu 2 6800 GS Evga 256mb boards 2 gb of Cosair dual channel pc3200 (4 x 512 ) Pri. HD WD 10,000 rpm 74gb sata raptor Sec > HD WD 7200 rpm 250gb sata HP DL DVD lightscribe burner NEC DL DVD burner Case Aspire Navigator
That would give a boost, assuming you'd pick up a pair for running SLI. Pretty much any 7900 pair would do the job. I don't know about support for the 7900GX2's however, as that has to have BIOS support, and not all motherboards have them. If you can, you'll only be able to run 1, not two, since the A8N does have enough PCIe lanes to give both x16 slots 16 PCIe lanes. That's due to the original nForce 4 SLI chipset, not anything on Asus part.
I would suggest going with 2 7950GT's, they're some of nVidia's most powerful cards out now but they don't suck power nearly as greatly as the GX2's.
In looking at the motherboards out now for C2D and AM2 most that I see only support 2 IDE devices and I need one that will support 4, plus SATA support. I like the new 680I boards alot . Is there away around this issue in order to be able to use everything I need to. Sorry it this makes no sense or is just a dumb question.
I don't really see a point in changing to Core 2 Duo with a system like that. Yes it will give a boost in performance, but you may as well wait a while until you actually need a new PC. The processor you have now is still great, and I doubt you could justify spending several hundred dollars on a new CPU, mobo and ram combo just for a slight increase in speed (which may never be noticed when doing "general PC stuff"). I think a graphics card is definately the way to go at the moment, but remember directX 10 is arriving, and the hardware has already hit the stores. In my opinion, I would wait for another few months, when DirectX10 games are out, and Windows Vista is out you may want to switch to Core 2 Duo, or even Core 2 Quadro - being released in 2007, and buy a DirectX10 graphics card along with it.
