I need help upgrading

[Bob The Great]

ok, first off here is my current rig.

AthlonXP 2500+ (AS3, Igloo Silent Breeze II)
512Mbs PC-2700 DDR
EPOX 8RDA+
Radeon 9800 (modded to run fanless, w00t)
1x80GB Maxtor 8mb cache
2x40GB Maxtor
Antec Sonata w 380watt antec psu
16X dvd
52x24x52x CD-RW

I have two options for upgrading it then I'm looking at. First off let my state yes I know the preformance increase will not be increadibly big, and yes I know I'm stupid.

Ok to get to the point I have these two options.

AMD 64
--------------------------------
Athlon 64 3000+ Retail $223
1Gb PC 3200 DDR (2x matched pairs) $167
MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R $125
Radeon 9800 (modded to run fanless, w00t)
1x80GB Maxtor 8mb cache
2x40GB Maxtor
Antec Sonata w 380watt antec psu
16X dvd
52x24x52x CD-RW

Total $515

AthlonXP
---------------------------------
AMD AthlonXP 3000+ (333mhz ver) $158 (same heatsink)
1Gb PC 3200 DDR (2x matched pairs) $167
EPOX 8RDA+
Radeon 9800 (modded to run fanless, w00t)
1x80GB Maxtor 8mb cache
2x40GB Maxtor
Antec Sonata w 380watt antec psu
16X dvd
52x24x52x CD-RW

Total $325

I'd like to do away with so many HD's as they add heat and noise to a system, and just consolidate them into one big drive (200gb or so).

My system is all about passive heating to reduce noise but well thought out heating as heat is your enemy. I also need stability, looks, and speed.

My mission is to beat an AthlonXP 2700 with a Radeon 9800 PRO and a gig of pc-2100. Will either of those systems do it? I also need to just upgrade a tad to get me through till next spring. I don't want to upgrade before then because of BTX, the new athlon boards, and a few other specs that are going to become standered. I figure upgrade now then hold off till spring next year and buy all new modern stoof.

The thoughts on the two pcs are these. The Athlon64 is just plain fast, plus coupled with that board it will be able to clock throttle up and down to help with speed when I need it or sound when I don't need the speed. The AthlonXP coupled with that ram will go all dual channel and stoof. What do you peoples think is the best way to go?

[cysus]

If I were you I'd wait a few months. Intel is releasing some nice products, AMD will fallow shortly. I'd wait for some AMD64 motherboards with DDR/DDRII support and AGP and PCI express support, that way you can use you ram/ video card that you have now and later upgrade. If you’re confused, I was thinking about an AMD version of something similar to this (the lower one).
http://www.tomshardware.com/business...2004_1-03.html
You could stay on top for years with an AMD64 system like that.

[cysus]

Originally posted by Bob The Great
Radeon 9800 (modded to run fanless, w00t)

lol, my 9700pro is cooled by 4 fans! It's worth the noise 'cause I can clock it past 9800xt settings.

[RamonGTP]

Why you'd even consider upgrading an XP 2500+ to a XP 3000+ I will never know. Considering that 2500+ should easly hit 3000+ speeds, if not 3200+ fairly easily.

I know you think its a stupid upgrade too, but I just had to put my 2 cents in.

[Optimus Prime]

Go for the A64, and tell me what it's like

[Peter M]

Upgrading works like this: Identify _your_ biggest bottleneck. Eliminate it. Repeat until out of money.

Besides, with PCI Express, socket-939 and lots of other misc stuff just round the corner, NOW is a bad moment to build an entirely new system.

[peterwilkes]

Best upgrade at the moment would be to stick 2 x 512Mb PC 3200 or higher RAM in and run it at 210 x 10 and there you have a XP3000 without spending a fortune.

edit > How about a MOBILE XP2500+ they run at lower voltages, are unlocked, run much cooler and seem to overclock very well and are only a tiny bit more expensive.

If you want to beat a XP2700 the above upgrade shouuld be great. Running at 2400 Mhz is possible with a good processor and heatsink.

[Bob The Great]

I don't want to OC at all. I've done some insane oc's back in the day but its just to much of a hassle imo. I want stability.

PeterM, I don't want to upgrade to that mobo as it will be out around q3 from what I've heard, and BTX cases are coming out next year. I just want to do one final upgrade right now and then build a new system around a BTX case then. I figure no matter when I upgrade right now, by spring next year I will need a new mobo, probably graphics card and I'll want a faster cpu so I figure upgrade now as it doesn't really matter when I upgrade this year, its all going in the trash next spring.

Ramon, yeah I'd rather not upgrade but I'm going to for a number of reasons.

[Bob The Great]

ok, I just read a bit about that AthlonXP Mobile, and it sounds like it kicks some major ASS!!!

So heres another question. My EPOX 8RDA+ is supposed to be one insane OC'er. I've never done any though, how is this thing going to run a the AthlonXP M? It'll work great with it and oc it well right?

also which one the 2500 or 2600? Bout $10 difference??

Ok if I go with this system my plan would be getting 3200 ram and running it dual channel in the nforce2 board I currently have. OC the XP M and probably keep the ram running bout the same fsb as the cpu with aggresive memory timings?? Out of these 3 systems which one would you guys suggest?