For my last Socket 939 upgrade (before ditching the whole system for a new platform), I want to upgrade my CPU before all the Socket 939 CPUs disappear off the market. I'm wondering if I should stick with a single-core AMD 64 (4000+ for $99) or grab an X2 (say a 4600+ for $230 or so). I'm an FPS gamer but not such a frequent high-end multi-tasker (i.e., my multi-tasking is mostly oriented on using MS Office and the internet). My biggest goal would be to make my current Socket 939 system last another 18 months or so without seeing a dramatic decrease in gaming capability. I'm cost conscious, so I'm wondering if the extra dough for the X2 is worth the performance gain I would get if I just bought a 4000+. My system specs are as follows: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail eVGA 512-P2-N568-AR Geforce 7900GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Not Overclocked CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200C2PT - Retail HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 (0A30356) 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE FMA(24P) ATX12V 535W Power Supply - Retail
I've done a few upgrades this past year, and where I saw the most improvement was going from 512MB to 1GB of RAM. I also went from a 3000+ Winchester to a 3700+ San Diego. I don't notice any difference with Office or browsing together over the 3000+. Not to say there isn't any that can be measured in a benchmark, but none that I notice. Between the RAM increase, CPU upgrade and video card upgrade (7900GS), the CPU upgrade has been the least noticeable. I went with the CPU upgrade for the same reasons you are: Socket 939 is out of style and I didn't want to wait too much longer for fear of not being able to find a 939 chip at a reasonable price. I'm not sure I'd go with an X2 in your case. If you were heavy in doing Photoshop or video editing/encoding, it would be worth it for you. As it is, Office and websurfing aren't CPU cycle hogs, so and X2 probably wouldn't net you the gains you're interested in.
