Upgrading (Again)

[sghiznaneck]

Anyone out there know much about the performance of the AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 chip?
I'm about to upgrade (avid gamer) and I was wondering about the performance with this chip as opposed to the AM2 chips.

Here is what I'm proposing for upgrade:

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe mobo
AMD Athlon 64 FX60 chip
600w Ultra X-Finity psu
PNY 8800 GTS

I'll be keeping my CD and DVD burners and X-Fi sound card from my present pc, along with the 5.1 Logitech speakers, and my 2 gigs of RAM.

 

[DonNagual]

I had a look at your profile and see you current are on a socket 754 setup (with AGP graphics).

As you know, you are looking at moving to a 939 board with PCI-e graphics. The system you are proposing above would be a VERY fast system able to run any game on the market now at full settings.

But I don't recommend you go that route for a couple of reasons. One, you would be upgrading to a cpu/mobo combo that is already maxed out. That is the fastest 939 cpu on the market, and your future for upgrades is nill.

Why would you upgrade to a 939 system? Of course if you go AM2 or C2D you would need to buy new ram (your current ram won't work). Is that the reason you are wanting to go to a 939 based system, in order to save the cost of ram?

Well, the 939 FX60 cpu is what.... $470? I'd get myself a core 2 duo system. The E6600 cpu is about $300 right now and will outperform the FX60 in every way. Take a look at the benchmarks, it is faster in every benchmark I could find, and usually by a considerable amount.

So right there you have saved $170 to get some DDR2 ram, and then you have a system with plenty of room for future upgrades as well.

 

[sghiznaneck]

One of the main reasons that I'm leaning towards the FX60 chip is that I read a review of that chip and the AM2 5200+ coupled with the GForce 8800 and the FX-60 chip turned in some phenominal results. Also, by only changing the multiplier to 14 (comes as 13X), it will pump it up to a 2.8ghz.
I understand that by going the AM2 route, the core calls for DDR2 memory, but that isn't a factor. What I was concerned with is that the AM2 5200+ is only a 2.6. Now I know that dual core is faster, but from what I understand, where I would notice that speed the most is in applications (multi-tasking, i.e., surfing while working on word or spreadsheet, while having another window open), and only a slight difference in gaming. Most of that would be due to the vid card and not the processor itself. From what I could pick up, that FX chip is a killer for gaming.

 

[DonNagual]

If you are comparing the AM2 5200 with the FX60 then this is a good debate. Could go either way, and I would understand your arguement for going with the FX60. I'd probably still go with AM2 as if I am going to buy a new system, I may as well not limit myself in future upgrades (the FX60 is the top of the 939 socket cpus). But if we look at the core 2 duo in comparison to the FX60, there is no debate.

The FX60 is an amazing cpu, no doubt. If you currently had a 939 board and were trying to decide whether or not to upgrade to a core 2 duo or to the Fx60, I'd say get the FX60 and stick with 939 a bit longer. But upgrading from a 754 board to a 939 board makes no sense to me. The core 2 duo is faster, uses less power, is cheaper, and will give you future upgrade options. It seems like a no brainer to me.

 

[wolfram]

And with a Core 2 Duo mobo, you can have the choice to get those new Core 2 Quad CPU's for the future

 

[sghiznaneck]

I think you've pretty much "swayed" my opinion! Should be ordering them in the next week or so. Want to give myself an early Christmas present.
I'll let you know how it turns out.