Hi All,

Some of you may have seen me elsewhere asking about why my new ATI X800 XT card is not working as well as it should.

Well many people have suggested that I get a new CPU, and my question is... Dual Core or Single?

I know I'll need a new Mboard to go with it, but is it true that most games won't even work with Dual Core, or is it just that many aren't optimised for those CPUs?

I've tried to sift through the techno-babble, but basically I want to know if it's worthwhile getting a Dual Core for new games as well as older games (Half-Life 2, Doom 3 etc.)

Thanks!

All,

Just a quick addition.

I'm planning on going for Intel, not AMD, predominantly because I never really understood the way AMD specs work (just can't get my head round it) so whilst a lot of you will recommend AMD, I think I'd still rather stick with Intel, be it Dual Core or single.

Thanks!

Very difficult to not recommend dual core now.

"I'm planning on going for Intel, not AMD, predominantly because I never really understood the way AMD specs work (just can't get my head round it) so whilst a lot of you will recommend AMD, I think I'd still rather stick with Intel, be it Dual Core or single."

If you can't understand something, then go look at benchmarks comparing the two companies' processors for the apps you plan to run, whether it be games, or whatever. Don't shy away from buying something just because you don't understand it.

With that said, the best performing chips right now are Intel Core 2 Duo's. You probably won't find many unbiased people here recommending AMD's for the best performing CPU's. All of my computers (7) aside from my laptop are AMD because they were far better for the money for a long time, but that's not the case anymore.

"Enough, enough bowing down to disillusion!
Hats off & applause to rogues & evolution!
The ripple effect is too good not to mention.
If you’re not affected, you’re not paying attention!"

The problem is, you're not gonna get away with just upgrading the board & CPU. Your video card is AGP & I believe your RAM is DDR1 so to get into a Core 2 Duo setup, you're gonna need a new board, CPU, RAM, & PCI-E video card. Unless you're prepared to go all the way, I think you'd be better off finding a cheap 800FSB P4 for your current system. I don't think a CPU upgrade is going to fix your problem though. There *should* have been a considerable improvement going from a 9600XT to an X800XT, regardless of the CPU. Maybe hero or someone will be able to suggest a solution. Here's the post from hardware:

http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...

If the idea is to avoid replacing the RAM and video card as well, then AMD would be a better solution for a CPU upgrade if dual core is desired. No Intel solution using DDR compares favorably to AMD.

"Enough, enough bowing down to disillusion!
Hats off & applause to rogues & evolution!
The ripple effect is too good not to mention.
If you’re not affected, you’re not paying attention!"

Thanks guys for the info so far.

I am trying to avoid replacing the RAM (although I may double it), and certainly want to keep the AGP video card that I recently bought (and have had so much trouble with on my current specs)

So AMD would be the better option for me, but what sort of CPUs? I understand the Intel ones because when it's a 2.8ghz (like mine currently is) then that means roughly 2.8ghz. With AMD, I'm never quite certain what the 4000+, XP, Sempron, etc. all means, so can you give me an idea of a decent (but not bank-breaking) AMD to start off with for my gaming that'll allow me to get more out of my ATI X800XT card than I currently get?

I really don't want to go overboard, however, I just want to be able to use the new graphics card on newer games whilst my girlfriend is hogging my Xbox 360.

Thanks again though!

And another thing.

My current Mboard has a SiS648fx chipset, isn't it true that ATI often has a problem with SiS chipsets?

I've read that in a couple of places that newer ATI cards don't always work with SiS, but then I've trawled the ATI support site, and there's no mention of this.

Thanks.

I think most will agree that SiS chipsets suck, but I've never read anything about any particular issues with SiS/ATI combinations.

I don't know what's causing your problem, but like I said, you should have seen a significant performance difference between the 9600XT & X800XT. Your cheapest & easiest upgrade would be to get an 800FSB P4, but I'm not convinced that's the answer to your problem.

From your other thread:

"When I installed this new card, the settings were still the same (ingame, desktop is 1028x768) and were no different than with the old card. I DID try then using some higher settings, to see what happened, but the games just became far too jerky, and in one case, the other characters became surrounded in a big black square (3D!!)

Reducing the settings then returned the games to their former, semi-jerky selves, but no noticable improvement on my old card."

Unless your new card is defective, I suspect a driver issue. Be sure to explore all the software/driver possibilities before upgrading the hardware.

As for an AMD upgrade...to keep your AGP card & DDR1 RAM, you could go with a S754/nForce3 system (single core only), or you could go with a S939 system with a dual core CPU, but the board would have to use a VIA or ULi chipset to be able to use AGP.

Here's one possibility:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2006/asr...

One problem with swapping the board is that you'd have to reinstall XP (repair install method). Do you have the Fujitsu Siemens recovery CD or the *real* version of XP?

Thanks Jam,

You've consistently been there throughout all of this, and with valid suggestions, not just "shouldn't have bought Fujitsu" which some people suggest as a solution!!

I'm not certain that drivers/software is/are the problem, as I've gone through a complete uninstall of all the drivers, rebooted, regedited the remaining bits out, rebooted, and installed the latest version of the software.

I think I might go for a complete format and clean install of XP, just in case. Before I spend money that is.

Should it come to spending cash, thanks for the suggestions re: Mboards. Still not sure what that means with regards to AMD CPUs though, for example which is the better, and which is the Celeron of the family!!

Also, whilst it's been touched upon, WILL my new games and older games work if I do plump for a dual core system. I'd hate for a dual core to fix the speed issues, but leave me unable to play any of my games!!!

Thanks again to hero and Jam!!

There are NForce3 motherboards with Socket 939. That would be what I would suggest, as they are the best performing motherboards that accept AGP graphics cards, and they usually support dual core x2's and Opterons. Pairing such a board with an Opteron 165, 170, or 175 would give you a very good performing solution without having to replace your RAM or graphics card.

These boards aren't readily available anymore. You may need to use eBay to find one.

Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 would be such a motherboard.

SiS chipset motherboards do typically suck. I haven't read closely through the other threads, but have you tried updating your SiS chipset drivers yet?

"Enough, enough bowing down to disillusion!
Hats off & applause to rogues & evolution!
The ripple effect is too good not to mention.
If you’re not affected, you’re not paying attention!"

Thanks hero, I'll hunt around to see if I can find any of those.

Yes, I've already updated my SiS drivers, and that didn't make any difference.

Cheap & overclockable combo:

MSI K8N Neo V2.0 H nForce3 250 Socket 754 - $35

AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor 3000+ - $50

BTW, the descript for the CPU is incorrect. It's a Venice core.

This one:

A64 3000+ Venice

Thanks hero and Jam.

What about this Mboard?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-RETAIL-BO...

Also, wouldn't an A64 3000+ be slower than my current P4 2.8ghz? That's what I mean by not understanding AMD CPUs, from what I can tell this one runs at 2000mhz, which is 800mhz slower than my P4? Or not?

BTW, not sure if I'm allowed to put eBay links on here, but I found that one and it seemed to match what you were recommending (but I'm in the UK, so need to find it over here somehow)

Thanks again, though!!

"Also, wouldn't an A64 3000+ be slower than my current P4 2.8ghz? That's what I mean by not understanding AMD CPUs, from what I can tell this one runs at 2000mhz, which is 800mhz slower than my P4? Or not?"

No, Athlon 64's can accomplish more per clock cycle due to it having superior architecture to the P4 2.8GHz.

I wouldn't buy an ECS brand motherboard. Stick with reputable brand names such as DFI, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI...

"Enough, enough bowing down to disillusion!
Hats off & applause to rogues & evolution!
The ripple effect is too good not to mention.
If you’re not affected, you’re not paying attention!"

$0.02

While ECS may not be my first choice motherboard, looking at their offerings in the enthusiast segment, I don't think I'd go as far as saying I would NEVER buy one. The brand name is not as synonymous with cheap crap as it once was.

Give it up for MC Rove