3200 a good buy?

Hey, i just need some good old-fashioned opinionated advice.

A friend wants to get a new board and a fast CPU--he won't be overclocking. He's looking at an nForce2 board, and he was thinking of getting an XP3200+

Is the 3200 a good value? He's going to get retail, and i am doubting whether the 3200 is worth the cash right now.

Suggestions? I wantem all.

Thanks,
Tim

Well I don't think buying the fastest chip in its line is really a good value. I'm not saying its a waste of money but there is a big jump up in price when you reach the 3200+.

yea it is nto worth it in my honest opinion..

if you get a 2500+ there's a very high chance that you can change the fsb to 200 at default voltage or a slight increase in voltage.. this will yield 3200+ speeds at a fraction of the cost..

the extra money saved from the cpu can be put into other parts of the computer =d

Ya, 3000+ will get you pretty much the same performance without seeing the same jump in price. Also, if he's willing to spend the money for a 3200+ and he doesn't already have a board, he might want to look at the 3200+ Athlon64 because it releases in only 2 days. That is, if he's willing to spend the money for the 3200+ and a little bit extra. That's the only way I would suggest going for a 3200+ because the A64 version will smoke the Barton version and also a P4(atleast in games) and will probably match the P4EE at much less the cost(though that right now is just early reports of how the P4EE performs). Either way I'd wait for the A64 to come out because it will push the price of the Barton 3200+ down into a more wallet friendly area, and if he's still willing to pay the extra bucks for the top performer, then he can get the A64.

A64?

i haven't read anything on this-- is it the Hammer?

also, i have heard that it is not a great idea to buy brand new CPUs until reviews have come out.

But, he does want to have a computer that is good for a while.

ANy idea on pricing for the new A64s? and where are the boards for this chip?

Also, just in response to the 2500+, he is NOT going to be overclocking, so i don't think he wants that one.
Maybe the 3000+ Barton though.

Thanks.
Tim

yeah the 3000+ or the athlon64 would be the route to go.

There are not any actual reviews that I have seen yet, due to nda issues, but I have seen posts from people that already have athlon 64s and the performance is shocking to say the least. I love amd but all of the hype was starting to annoy even me, that is until I actually saw these early results.

hmmm, i think it would be hard to justify in a cost-benefit analysis...but where are the supporting mobos?

Re: A64?

Shmuck said:

i haven't read anything on this-- is it the Hammer?

also, i have heard that it is not a great idea to buy brand new CPUs until reviews have come out.

But, he does want to have a computer that is good for a while.

ANy idea on pricing for the new A64s? and where are the boards for this chip?

Also, just in response to the 2500+, he is NOT going to be overclocking, so i don't think he wants that one.
Maybe the 3000+ Barton though.

Thanks.
Tim

Click to expand...

Ya, the Clawhammer was the codename for the Athlon64. There aren't really any reviews on the chip yet, but the Opteron has been out for a while(same chip only the Opteron does dual channel memory and SMP) and the reviews are all positive on that chip. There have also been a few previews of the actual A64 and those have been positive as well. Even further, there have been a few leaks of the chip and some people were lucky enough to get their hands on them and are quite satisified with them. If he wants, he can wait until after the chips release, I'm sure there will be plenty of reviews for the chip then. The pricing will probably just be over what current Barton's are going for(Barton~$450) so the A64 will probably be ~$475-$500, but will require a different mobo than the Barton because of the pin count(there are already a few NForce3 boards around for purchase and I don't think the VIA boards are far behind if they aren't already available). If he's planning on keeping the chip for about a year or more, then there will be Windows64 out that he can use and there will probaly be 64bit software as well(you can run 32bit software on Windows64 with the A64 if you need to anyway). If that's a bit too steep for him, then he can wait until the A64 release and get a Barton at a cheaper price, but it probably won't last him as long.

Shmuck said:

hmmm, i think it would be hard to justify in a cost-benefit analysis...but where are the supporting mobos?

Click to expand...

Well the chip itself is officially released on sept. 23 so the motherboards are coming. I think only a couple are already out.

Tell your friend with $ to burn that this is the week when Athlons 64 come out (triple exclamation point)

The only reason we're all not lining up is the money...which he has....

Buying expensive 3200+ on the eve of Athlon 64 relase is a poorly timed decision indeed.

Get an AMD 64!

http://www.pbase.com/image/17079307/original

Why not overclock??
I got a 2500+ @3200+ on stock voltage and i a m using a low RPM silent cooler!

I think the 2500+ is the best you can get for your buck.

Funny thing is i had a 2800+ ordered but it didn't arrive so i went for this one. LOL

thanks for the insight...the main problem here is that my friend, who has some money but not bottomless pockets, is not as computer-savvy, if you will.

He needs a good PC for a good price, but one that he can continue to upgrade for 2 years. I know this poses a problem as the 64-bit moves in. I am very unsure what to advise him to get, but I think that a 3000+ with a good mobo, a good HDD, and good peripherals should be adequate and worth the money.

I MYSELF, on the other hand, am thrilled at the prospect of the A64, which i have been reading up on. This is the week--I think it will likely usher in the new era of computer progress. I hadn't been aware of Windows-64, and I think that might be a bit tough for my friend, but it seems like that will likely be the future of OS software. What's going to happen to games and other programs on a 64-bit platform? Sounds like fun, one way or another.

Thanks for the advice...I will probably push the 3000+ simply because of the software pains and the lack of many available mobos for the A64.

i myself will wait at least a year, but prolly 2 years before going to 64

why?

1. only had my pc for 6 months now

2. let all the bugs in the new windows be fixed(farse i know, but at least the big bugs)

3. let all the prices settle down a bit

4. most importantly, don't really have the money anyway, lol

What types of apps does your friend use on the pc? For instance, if he's mainly into gaming, I would sacrifice some cpu speed for a higher end video card.