Upgrading Mobo, CPU, RAM

Hi,

I'm thinking of upgrading my Mobo, CPU and RAM. Currently, i'm running
on an Intel 2.4A, and i'm looking for a system that's faster, but won't
cost too much. I'm looking at AMD this time.

I don't intend to go for 64-bit, so i suppose i'll be looking at the
Sempron series, is that right? What's the difference between a socket
754 and a socket-A? (Apart from the physical difference that is.)

I understand that the clock speeds of an Intel and an AMD aren't
exactly equivalent. (e.g. a 2.4 GHz AMD is much faster than a 2.4 GHz
Intel.) In that case, what AMD clock speeds should i be looking at? (I
don't want to end up with a slower system.)

Finally, any recommendation for a compatible mobo?



Thanks and Regards,
Edwin

E11 wrote:
What's the difference between a socket
754 and a socket-A? (Apart from the physical difference that is.)

In that case, what AMD clock speeds should i be looking at? (I
don't want to end up with a slower system.)

Finally, any recommendation for a compatible mobo?


Socket A is old, and thus there are no new processors for it, and no
upgrade options in the future. Socket 754 is old too, and it is a better
idea to take socket 939, even if you dont want an Athlon 64. You can
always upgrade and save the money for a new motherboard.

You should be looking at clock speeds at all: Look at the ratings. An
AMD 2400+ should be near or better than a Pentium 4.

I can't recommend a mobo, because it depends on whether you overclock or
not, use SATA/PATA, have an AGP grapics card that you want to use or
want to get a PCI-Express card and so on.

Marc wrote:

Socket A is old, and thus there are no new processors for it, and no
upgrade options in the future. Socket 754 is old too, and it is a better
idea to take socket 939, even if you dont want an Athlon 64. You can
always upgrade and save the money for a new motherboard.

You should be looking at clock speeds at all: Look at the ratings. An
AMD 2400+ should be near or better than a Pentium 4.

I can't recommend a mobo, because it depends on whether you overclock or
not, use SATA/PATA, have an AGP grapics card that you want to use or
want to get a PCI-Express card and so on.

Hmm... looking at the AMD website, it seems that the only socket-939
are Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX and Athlon 64 X2.

If i do go for that, it would probably be the lowest model amongst
them, Athlon 64 3000+. (Would that still be an "upgrade" from my
current Intel 2.4A?

Since it supports PC3200 (right?), i would want to get 2 x 512 MB DDR
PC3200.

For video card, i would want to keep my present one, which supports AGP
8X.

No overclocking needed.



Regards,
Edwin

Oh, just to add on, i would need onboard ethernet (100 Mbps or 1
Gbps)... onboard sound is not necessary as i have my own soundcard (by
i suppose new mobos all come with onboard sound anyway...)



Thanks and Regards,
Edwin

E11 wrote:

Hmm... looking at the AMD website, it seems that the only socket-939
are Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX and Athlon 64 X2.
And some Opterons, but those are quite expensive.

Would that still be an "upgrade" from my current Intel 2.4A?

Yes! Especially in games.

Since it supports PC3200 (right?), i would want to get 2 x 512 MB DDR
PC3200.

If you get a "matched pair", you can be sure that it runs in dual
channel, and that is a lot faster.

Marc

Yep, so...

Let's say
- AMD Athlon 3000+
- 2 x 512 MB DDR PC3200
- AGP x8
- Onboard Ethernet required
- Onboard Sound not required

Any recommendation for a mobo?



Thanks and Regards,
Edwin