Build now or later?

[David Pack]

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+. My question is, if I went ahead and build
the 2600 system, how long will it get me before I would really want to
consider upgrading? Also, should I just save up more and just build a
basic athlon 64 3000+ system? Im not what you would call a hardcore
gamer, but I would like to play something newer than Quake 2 every
once in a while. My current specs for it are the following, among
other things.

Athlon 2600+ Barton
Shuttle AN35N Ultra
Corsair Value Select 256MB PC3200 Ram (cl2.5)
Antec SL350 350W Power Supply
Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM 8MB ATA-100 Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR AGP8X

Also, if you have any suggestions for the above system, feel free to
tell me.

 

[philo]

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+. My question is, if I went ahead and build
the 2600 system, how long will it get me before I would really want to
consider upgrading? Also, should I just save up more and just build a
basic athlon 64 3000+ system? Im not what you would call a hardcore
gamer, but I would like to play something newer than Quake 2 every
once in a while. My current specs for it are the following, among
other things.

Look at it this way...
no matter what you build will be *considerably* better than your current
system.

And no matter what you build...
it will be obsolete the day you finish building it...
so you might as well just build a new machine now
an XP2600+ should do a nice job

 

[Stacey]

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+.

Well you never upgraded your P2 so why worry about that?

 

[frankie.boy]

Look at it this way...
no matter what you build will be *considerably* better than your current
system.

And no matter what you build...
it will be obsolete the day you finish building it...
so you might as well just build a new machine now
an XP2600+ should do a nice job

won't disagree with any of that, but on the other hand, I've built a few
Athlon 64 systems in the last few weeks, and even with 32bit XP they are
DAMN fast.

Food for thought

 

[Overlord]

You're upgrading from a P2 233 now?
Upgrade now. By the time you upgrade again, the 3200+ will cost you
the price of lunch and the newer systems will have 1100pin CPUs.

Also, I don't know if the P2 233 MB is AT or ATX. You might have to upgrade
your case along with your PS.

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+. My question is, if I went ahead and build
the 2600 system, how long will it get me before I would really want to
consider upgrading? Also, should I just save up more and just build a
basic athlon 64 3000+ system? Im not what you would call a hardcore
gamer, but I would like to play something newer than Quake 2 every
once in a while. My current specs for it are the following, among
other things.

Athlon 2600+ Barton
Shuttle AN35N Ultra
Corsair Value Select 256MB PC3200 Ram (cl2.5)
Antec SL350 350W Power Supply
Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM 8MB ATA-100 Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR AGP8X

Also, if you have any suggestions for the above system, feel free to
tell me.

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Remove "spamless" to email me.

 

[Matt]

Athlon 2600+ Barton

I don't think there is a Barton 2600+. Get the 2500+ Barton or 2800+
Barton. 512MB cache.

Shuttle AN35N Ultra
Corsair Value Select 256MB PC3200 Ram (cl2.5)

Don't spend a lot on ram. Read the AN35N reviews at newegg.com. Maybe
the Biostar M7NCD Pro is compatible with more RAMs?

Antec SL350 350W Power Supply

Get an Antec SLK3700 case w/SL350 for not much more than the PS alone?

 

[BarryNL]

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+. My question is, if I went ahead and build
the 2600 system, how long will it get me before I would really want to
consider upgrading? Also, should I just save up more and just build a
basic athlon 64 3000+ system? Im not what you would call a hardcore
gamer, but I would like to play something newer than Quake 2 every
once in a while. My current specs for it are the following, among
other things.

Well, I'll throw in my 2c worth, although you really have to decide what
it is you want to achieve and work towards that. However, I'd say right
now there's too much right around the corner to justify spending much on
what's currently available. We have SATA just emerging into the
mainstream, new AMD sockets on the way in and PCI Express due in a few
months. Basically, anything you buy now is going to be old technology by
the end of the year - and more importantly will leave you no upgrade path.

With that in mind, I'd suggest buying some low-end upgrade parts that
will get you through the next year, and then consider building something
better with the new standards. You could probably get a mobo, processor,
RAM and video card that will let you play all the latest games (maybe
not at 1600x1200, but then, who cares?) for around $250 and salvage the
other parts from your existing system, eg, some stuff found here:

ECS K7S5A Pro €35
XP2000+ (with Cooler) €68
FX5200 €63
512Mb Kingston RAM PC3200 €80

(Note, I think its worth getting the decent stick of RAM as that will be
useful in building a later system).

 

[Carbon]

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+. My question is, if I went ahead and build
the 2600 system, how long will it get me before I would really want to
consider upgrading? Also, should I just save up more and just build a
basic athlon 64 3000+ system? Im not what you would call a hardcore
gamer, but I would like to play something newer than Quake 2 every
once in a while. My current specs for it are the following, among
other things.

Athlon 2600+ Barton
Shuttle AN35N Ultra
Corsair Value Select 256MB PC3200 Ram (cl2.5)
Antec SL350 350W Power Supply
Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM 8MB ATA-100 Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR AGP8X

Also, if you have any suggestions for the above system, feel free to
tell me.

I've built a couple of nforce2/barton systems recently and they've both
been stable and fast. It's true that things are about to change with sata,
pci express, 64-bit cpus, etc. But an nforce2 system will be much faster
than what you're used to, and relatively inexpensive. I've never bought
the latest and greatest, because I've never seen the sense for paying 50%
more for a 10% increase in speed that I probably wouldn't even notice.

Regarding your hardware, you might want to get an antec case+power supply.
They're good quality and probably not much more than the cost of the power
supply alone. Also, you can get an 80 or even 120 wd hard drive for not
much more than the 40. Just make sure you get the one with the 3 year
warranty.

 

[somebody]

Currently, I am using a P2 233 system with 128mb ram. I was planning
on building a nice Athlon XP 2600+ system for around $544, but I read
that AMD have discontinued socket a, so there isn't much of a chance
of upgrading past a 3200+. My question is, if I went ahead and build
the 2600 system, how long will it get me before I would really want to
consider upgrading? Also, should I just save up more and just build a
basic athlon 64 3000+ system? Im not what you would call a hardcore
gamer, but I would like to play something newer than Quake 2 every
once in a while. My current specs for it are the following, among
other things.

Athlon 2600+ Barton
Shuttle AN35N Ultra
Corsair Value Select 256MB PC3200 Ram (cl2.5)
Antec SL350 350W Power Supply
Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM 8MB ATA-100 Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR AGP8X

Also, if you have any suggestions for the above system, feel free to
tell me.

It's fine, and I'm certain you'll be happy with everything.
Don't worry about socket A. I've never upgraded just a cpu . It's just
never been worth it.
Besides, AMD have not discontinued it exactly. There will be socket A
cpus available as long as the market buys enough of them. I think new
developments will only be Durons, though.

These suggestions are very tentative. I don't see anything wrong with
your choices. This is just an attempt to move money to ram and hd, and
also perhaps save a little as well.

AthlonXP 2200+ $67 (-$22)
EPox EP $55 (-$7)
Sapphire Radeon 9600 256MB $102 (-$69)
Kingstone 512 PC2700 2.5 $81 (+$35)
Maxtor 120GB 8MB ATA-133 $102 (+$37)

In my estimate, the above should keep you comfortable until you really
have to move to 64-bit.
It's all interchangeble. You can, for instance, keep your XP2600+. The
mobo and ram supports it fully.
Thing I'm dubious about, is my 9600. Your 9600XT really rocks. The
ordinary 9600 can't touch it. I'm looking to save money here, even at
the cost of some performance. There's also the 'pro' at some $150
though, for your consideration.

ancra

 

[philo]

won't disagree with any of that, but on the other hand, I've built a few
Athlon 64 systems in the last few weeks, and even with 32bit XP they are
DAMN fast.

Food for thought

I wish you would not have said that...<G>
I just built an XP2200+ for my girlfriend and told her she now has an
almost state of the art machine...
you've effectively now turned it into a 386 (groan)