Legit Reviews

OK I have a big problem from my way of looking at things. With the advent of PCI Express and a total of 3 Socket types for AMD, from what I have seen. I now find myself with an AMD Athelon XP socket A System with AGP and I want to upgrade my video card but from what I can tell I can't get a Mainboard that has both AGP and PCI-E. I also can't get a Mainboard that can run an Athelon XP as well as an Athelon 64. If I upgrade my Video card with another AGP card then my CPU will be limiting the card. If I upgrade the CPU and Mainboard then I can't use my AGP video card. So from what I can tell I have to upgrade all 3 ( CPU, Mainboard, and Video card) at once. I don't have that kind of cash ( $180 for Main, $150 for CPU, and $150+ for Video). What options do I have from what you guys can see?? Will a Athelon [email protected] with say a 6600GT or a Radeon 9800Pro 256 still be a game playable PC for another year?? Any and all input is welcome here..THX

While not as good as the NForce 4 chipset the VIA K8T800Pro, uses socket 939 as well as AGP....so you can go that route and simply upgrade your board and your CPU. AGP will be around for awhile, so there is no worry there (A lot longer than socket A, which is being phased out).
Your best alternative is to sell your current system (there are plenty of people out there who don't care about having top of the line equipment, and who are more than happy with what you currently have) Sell oit, and Get yourself a 3200, a DFI NF4 Ultra, and the video card of your choice.

The nForce3 chipset is also S939 and AGP, you should check out the DFI nF3 Ultra-D board, which looks pretty nice.

OUt of those two boards which one would you all recommend? The NF3 board or the VIA?

DFI's nF3 over the VIA...thats my opinion...

mine as well. VIA has a lot of problems, and the boards that Iused based on the 880 chipset were good, but not great performers

ULi is another option, it offers 2 PCI-EX 16 slots (8x8) and native AGP 8X..

still i don;t trust their driver

I use a VIA chipset (A8V Deluxe) but would recommend the nF3...ULi is a bit new right now. I want to see some reviews of it (like MaxPC, LegitReviews, PC Gamer or other reliable sources).

I went with a socket 754 Athlon 64 and an AGP 6800NU. I get around 140 fps on source so I wont be upgrading for awhile unless I can get a board or CPU cheap in socket 939 and then I'll be set!

capper5016 wrote:mine as well. VIA has a lot of problems, and the boards that Iused based on the 880 chipset were good, but not great performers

Nvidia's NForce has it share of problems also I have been using VIA chipsets for years (my last four computers) and I have never had any problems. I was going to go with the socket 754 but then I found a good deal on a socket 939 board/CPU combo.

Alister

I dunno, personally I am planning on trying the NF4 chipset myself coupled on a DFI mobo. I've had a lot of general stability issues with the KT600 chipset on the MSI mobos. I have it even now on this POS compaq I'm currently on until I can afford to complete my system, and it throws up those intermittent BSOD's for no good reason. Heat management is good, hardware is good, it's just not the best chipset manufacturer IMHO

I had problems with the nF3 drivers but other than that I've been fine with the chipset. I am hoping to upgrade to socket 939 soon so I can get more speed and a faster CPU.

sweet, you plan on going with a 3200+ or 3500+? from what I've heard, as far as OC'ing goes, the 3200 and 3500 OC about the same amount, but the 3200+ is a little bit cheaper

shwA wrote:DFI's nF3 over the VIA...thats my opinion...

Yeah, I'd agree with that ^^
If you decide to go AGP that is. If you decide to make the switch to PCI-Express, you'll have more options in the s939 realm. The top of the line board for PCI-Express and s939 being the DFI NF4 Lanparty UT series.

You really have a lot of different upgrade paths to consider and you basically just need to decide what type of system you want to end up with, how much you want to spend, and how long you want to be able to use that hardware for. You figure that out, it will narrow your choices down a lot.

I second that motion, lol. Nforce chipset is definitely a big improvement over VIA, and the price is right on the NF3 as well. NF4 is more on the high-end, like blake said. The main thing is you gotta know what you're gonna use it for, because that will definitely help you to group and narrow your choices. Remember, a system is only as good as the amount of planning you put into it and as good as the choices you make in those parts.

Don't mean to be snippy but I already stated what my desires are but so far I haven't gotten anyone to answer me. Instead my thread gets highjacked but people telling us what they are going to get. As I said in my opening remarks in this thread, I don't know enough about PCI-E and the future of AGP to know what I should do. I wish I could just buy a DFI NF4 with an FX-55 and dual 7800GTs ( I think thats the number) in SLI. But I can't so I need to know IF I BUY AN AGP card like an X800XT right now will my current setup limit the Card? ( see my signature for setup) The next question I have is IF I buyan AGP X800XT now will there still be a viable AGP socket 939 board in six months to a year? As I stated in my opening question I can't upgrade all 3 major components at once so I have to know what the future will likely hold for AGP before I can descide what to do. I also said " will my current system with say an Nvidia 6600GT or a Radeon 9800 Pro 256 still be a game playable system for another year?"

getting an x800 xt for your system is overkill. and yes there is a DFI nF3 939 motharboard with AGP, not nF4 though.

Yes Merlin a upgrade to an AGP X800 or 6800 would not do much good as your system is going to be CPU limited. pairing up your system with a 9800xt or pro or 6600GT would be a better option other than doing a full upgrade.

I agree with the above. I have a X800 XT and it would be overkill. The 9800 is a good card..

infinitevalence wrote:Yes Merlin a upgrade to an AGP X800 or 6800 would not do much good as your system is going to be CPU limited. pairing up your system with a 9800xt or pro or 6600GT would be a better option other than doing a full upgrade.

Yep. I would also agree except for the recommendation of the 9800XT. A 6600GT performs similar and is much less expensive. Maybe he meant to say 9800pro?

Either way, I would suggest the 6600GT as it is the same price, performs better, and will have a higher resale value later on down the road than a 9800pro would.