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Hi All,
My old 366MHz Celeron system finally died after 7+ years, and I'm looking to
upgrade.
64 bit CPUs beckon.
Salvaging HDs and Optical drives, it looks like I'd need MB + CPU + RAM.
I'm looking at a 939 ATI Xpress 200 (w/integrated graphics) board with
PCI-E.
Based on my reasons listed below, does this seem like the right decision?
While most of what I write below looks like statements, it's my current
understanding of the architecture, so by all means, please poke holes in my
logic where I have it wrong, so that I (and hopefully others) can make a
good choice. Thanks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I prefer AMD to Intel in general, and the Athlon 64/Opteron technology to
Intel P4/Xeon,
In "real-world" benchmarks (ie games), there's not that much of a
performance difference between socket A and 754/939 at a given CPU price,
but for a relatively small price, I can get past Socket A and realize the
benefit of an integrated memory controller (otherwise I'd be looking at an
OC'ed Applebred on an NForce2 IGP MB). I have to imagine that for DB work,
the memory controller pays off big time, and it looks like an overclocked
A64 pulls away from an overclocked Duron/Athlon/Sempron fairly dramatically.
I'll be using at least one Linux distro that supports X86-64, so why even
consider A besides price?
While 939/dual vs 754/single channel memory seems not to have such an impact
on A64 chips as others, Socket 754 has an end of life on the visible
horizon, while 939 does not, and will allow for dual core chips.
Additionally, large caches don't seem to help these chips as much as their
competitors. OTOH, dual channel should help integrated graphics notably.
AGP seems to have an end of life on the visible horizon (at least graphics
cards do), while PCI-E seems extensible enough to last for quite a few
years, and chip/card production seems to be shifting quickly to PCI-E.
The grunt work of the PC is primarily for database work, so integrated
graphics should be fine by me. Additionally, ATI RS480 should obliterate
K8M800 and SIS 760 integrated graphics at roughly the same price point, with
more features as well.
While I don't game now, I have a 2nd machine (Duron 850/AGP for my young
kids) that can be replaced by this upgraded system when it's time for them
to get into gaming. Adding a PCI-E card to this system, and displacing the
Duron system 2-3 years from now allows me to get a current MB and CPU for my
own work.
any help appreciated
My old 366MHz Celeron system finally died after 7+ years, and I'm looking to
upgrade.
64 bit CPUs beckon.
Salvaging HDs and Optical drives, it looks like I'd need MB + CPU + RAM.
I'm looking at a 939 ATI Xpress 200 (w/integrated graphics) board with
PCI-E.
Based on my reasons listed below, does this seem like the right decision?
While most of what I write below looks like statements, it's my current
understanding of the architecture, so by all means, please poke holes in my
logic where I have it wrong, so that I (and hopefully others) can make a
good choice. Thanks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I prefer AMD to Intel in general, and the Athlon 64/Opteron technology to
Intel P4/Xeon,
In "real-world" benchmarks (ie games), there's not that much of a
performance difference between socket A and 754/939 at a given CPU price,
but for a relatively small price, I can get past Socket A and realize the
benefit of an integrated memory controller (otherwise I'd be looking at an
OC'ed Applebred on an NForce2 IGP MB). I have to imagine that for DB work,
the memory controller pays off big time, and it looks like an overclocked
A64 pulls away from an overclocked Duron/Athlon/Sempron fairly dramatically.
I'll be using at least one Linux distro that supports X86-64, so why even
consider A besides price?
While 939/dual vs 754/single channel memory seems not to have such an impact
on A64 chips as others, Socket 754 has an end of life on the visible
horizon, while 939 does not, and will allow for dual core chips.
Additionally, large caches don't seem to help these chips as much as their
competitors. OTOH, dual channel should help integrated graphics notably.
AGP seems to have an end of life on the visible horizon (at least graphics
cards do), while PCI-E seems extensible enough to last for quite a few
years, and chip/card production seems to be shifting quickly to PCI-E.
The grunt work of the PC is primarily for database work, so integrated
graphics should be fine by me. Additionally, ATI RS480 should obliterate
K8M800 and SIS 760 integrated graphics at roughly the same price point, with
more features as well.
While I don't game now, I have a 2nd machine (Duron 850/AGP for my young
kids) that can be replaced by this upgraded system when it's time for them
to get into gaming. Adding a PCI-E card to this system, and displacing the
Duron system 2-3 years from now allows me to get a current MB and CPU for my
own work.
any help appreciated