Processor?

[summond_skull]

Well, I looked up the net, and I seen a offer for a

AMD Athlon 64 2800+ 1.8GHz - 512Kb Cache - 1600MHz FSB - S754 Processor

For only £62

Currently My computers a AMD Athlon 32 with 1700+ 1.1 GHX - 256kb Cache - 1100MHz.

So I was wondering if that was a reasonable upgrade? I'm also buying another stick of 256MB of RAM for £25, so I have 512MB of RAM:D

[Snee]

:blink:

You do know that the socket is completely different for athlon 64 processors.
You'll need a new mobo, and should probably get different ram if you buy one.

That's a socket 754 processor, your mobo is a socket A mobo.

[RPerry]

If it were me, I would save up for the 939 socket AMD processor if your going to have to replace the MB anyway :cool:

[clocker]

If it were me, I would save up for the 939 socket AMD processor if your going to have to replace the MB anyway :cool:
Yeah, me too.
SocketA is dead and even 754 is being phased out.
If you don't need to have SLI, the single PCI-E boards aren't really too high priced.

[summond_skull]

So if I buy a 939 socket AMD processor I won't need extra RAM and it'll be better for me in the long run? :D

[Snee]

So if I buy a 939 socket AMD processor I won't need extra RAM and it'll be better for me in the long run? :D
You'll need a new motherboard to use that processor, and you should probably buy brand new ram to go with that.

So you'll need new RAM, but the same amount of ram you have now should work a hell of a lot faster with that processor.

[summond_skull]

I see, so if I buy a new Processor, I won't need new Ram, but I'll need a motherboard :D. Know what one I will need if I bought this:

AMD Athlon 64 2800+ 1.8GHz - 512Kb Cache - 1600MHz FSB - S754 Processor

[RPerry]

either way your looking at a new MB. The RAM upgrade is up to you, but you should upgrade it too.

[Snee]

@skull:

Did not say that you can use the same ram, just that the same amount of ram should allow you to do a lot more with that new processor, you'll prolly need a new stick of RAM as I'm pretty sure your old ram will be pretty slow even if your current RAM might be ddr and thus might fit on a later mobo. M'kay.

However, a stick of decent ddr ram, 256 or 512 megs shouldn't cost much.

As for what motherboard you'll want for a socket 754 processor, what you should know is that mobos on which that processor will fit are also called S754, or Socket 754.

However, if you want to go the route clocker and RPerry recommended, you should buy a socket 939, or S939 motherboard with a socket 939 processor.

Whatever mobo you choose will probably be one that requires DDR Ram, or possibly DDR 2, exactly what kind of RAM you want, or whether you can use your old ram requires you to find out both what type of RAM the new motherboard supports, and what type of RAM you have now.


As for what particular brand you should be shopping for I'd recommend you to have a look around the forum and see what brands are usually recommended, there are quite a few upgrade threads to look at.

[lynx]

First of all, your current cpu should be running at 1466MHz, not 1100MHz.
Go into your bios setup and change the FSB from 100MHz to 133MHz. If there's nothing in your bios setup it may be done with switches or jumpers on the motherboard. That will give you an immediate jump in performance.

Summarising possible changes:

Better Skt A CPU:
Probably needs new mobo, but they are out of date now. Probably needs new RAM for decent performance.

Skt 754 CPU:
Needs new mobo, but they will be out of date soon. Needs new RAM for decent performance, and probably a requirement anyway depending what you already have.

Skt 939 CPU:
Needs new mobo. Needs new RAM for decent performance, and probably a requirement anyway depending what you already have.

As you can see, the only sensible option is Skt 939, but you need mobo and ram to match.

[clocker]

If you are going for a real upgrade then socket 939 is the ONLY choice that makes sense.
But...

If your board will support a faster socketA chip, they are getting cheaper on the used market as people jump up the foodchain.
You can pick up a 3200 Athlon for @$100 pretty easily and see a big boost in your current machine's performance.
Assuming you already run PC3200 RAM you're all set to wait out the next few iterations of the hardware and see what shakes out.

Lots of stuff is changing or looming right over the horizon right now, it might be prudent to hold back and see what really works and what is just hype.

[summond_skull]

How'd I access my BIOS setup? :$

[Snee]

When you reboot look for somewhere where it says to push a certain key to enter setup, and press the key it says to press.

Only change what lynx has suggested if you don't know what you are doing.