Upgrade Advice

[Araxen]

Right now, I'm looking to spend about $400 on a new mobo and
processor to upgrade my gaming pc.

My current spec:
AMD Anthlon XP 2700+
Asus A7N8X Nforce 2 Mobo
ATI Radeon X800LT AGP
Maxtor 250GB PATA HD
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS PCI
2GB DDR(PC 3200) Crucial Ram
Win XP Pro

I'm looking at getting this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128307

But I'm torn between an
AMD Anthlon 64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103539

and

AMD Anthlon 64 X2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103562


Is dual core good to invest right now or should I stick with a single
core chip? Any other chip recommendations are welcomed also. I'm not
much of an overclocker so I'm pretty sure the mobo I picked out
should be ok for my needs. If I go with a dual core processor I'll
have to factor in a new psu.

 

[Gojira]

By going with an AGP only board,you're limiting yourself in the future since
PCI-E is replacing AGP.There are a couple of boards that have both,you may
want to check those out.If you're on a budget,I'd go with the 3700,dual core
won't be much of a factor in gaming for a while.

 

[VanShania]

Actually, dual core has everything to do with gaming. These processors allow
you to do 2 things at once, like burning a dvd and playing farcry. You won't
do that with a 3700.

--
XP2600@171 [email protected]
AIW9600XT, A7N8X-X
WD120gb + 80gb HD 8mb buffers
Plextor PX-712A, SB Live OEM
Thermaltake Lanfire, 420 Watt PS
Micrsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick
ViewSonic 19" A91f+ CRT
OverAll score 2066, cpu_score-2926
in 3DMark2005 basic 1078X768, No AA

 

[VanShania]

Actually, dual core has everything to do with gaming. These processors allow
you to do 2 things at once, like burning a dvd and playing farcry. You won't
do that with a 3700.

--
XP2600@171 [email protected]
AIW9600XT, A7N8X-X
WD120gb + 80gb HD 8mb buffers
Plextor PX-712A, SB Live OEM
Thermaltake Lanfire, 420 Watt PS
Micrsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick
ViewSonic 19" A91f+ CRT
OverAll score 2066, cpu_score-2926
in 3DMark2005 basic 1078X768, No AA

 

[Napoleon Lunch]

By going with an AGP only board,you're limiting yourself in the future
since
PCI-E is replacing AGP.There are a couple of boards that have both,you may
want to check those out.If you're on a budget,I'd go with the 3700,dual
core
won't be much of a factor in gaming for a while.

I am in a similar situation and have been looking at the Asrock 939-Dual
SATA2, which has AGP and PCI express slots. This means I would be able to
use my 9600XT, and IDE HD for a bit longer until I decide to go for a PCI
express graphics card and a SATA hard drive. Dabs.com (UK site) link is here
complete with lots of good reviews: -

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...geMode=1&NavigationKey=11143,4294959021,50568

You will also find that hardware review sites generally have good things to
say about it.

 

[Bill]

Actually, dual core has everything to do with gaming. These processors allow
you to do 2 things at once, like burning a dvd and playing farcry. You won't
do that with a 3700.

Actually with todays burners that should never be an issue. The buffers
and the ability to turn the laser on/off dynamically should prevent
errors.

I often burn a disc while doing various other intensive tasks. It's
noticeably snappier now on my dual-core, but it worked well enough on my
old single-core P4 without hyper-threading.