decisions, decisions

i have been itching for an upgrade for a while now in the CPU department. i've had my 2.4c for what seems like forever, and i want something new to play with.

whatever i do, i want to hold on to my agp card and my ram (for now, will probably pick up some new ram in the spring).

i was thinking of a 640 setup, that way i can keep my 2.4c and ic7max3 together, along with some spare ddr, and replace the pIII 733 that is currently powering my television/movie box.

or, i could just buy a 3.2e and hope for the best. this would save me money, and i could just drop it into my current rig. easier = good.

so what would you do? i am a full time student, so buying ddr2/pci-e is out of the question, and my gf would quite literally KILL me if i did that. I can handle the cost of a 640 and a decent mobo to go with it, but if i could hit 4ghz on a 3.2e easily enough, i think that would satiate my need for an upgrade, and save me some dough.

thanks in advance for the input!

Yeah, if you can't make the big jump to PCI-E/DDR2, then that does sort of limit your options. Dropping a 3.2E into your current rig would of course be the easiest and cheapest course of action as you have already figured out. There is no guarantee of 4 gig going that route though. Certainly 3.8 gig fairly easily, maybe 4 gig, but perhaps not. I think you would be happier getting the 6XX series. Maybe the 630 to save a few bucks, besides the lower multiplier is a good thing for performance. Invest in a good hybred mobo like the Abit AS8. Unplug something on the old P-III 733 and tell your g/f it died and you need to do the upgrade to replace it. Ok, maybe honesty is the best policy, but it's your call. Regardless, you can probably sell the old P-III for a little extra cash which helps defray some of the cost (your g/f will like hearing that part). Good luck.

yea, a as8 is only $115 up here in canada. i can swing that. the place i was looking to order from (www.dangeo.com) is actually selling the 640 for $5 less than the 630, that's why i was thinking of going that route. do you know what the voltage options for that board are like? i can run my ram pretty high, but it will take some volts to get it there. the diff between a 4ghz 630 and a 4ghz 640 will be 250fsb vs 270fsb. not much there. would the 640 have much if any more potential do you think?

i'm pretty much sold on a 6xx setup now. haha, i was the whole time, i just needed someone (anyone!) to push me over the edge.

now, about a heatsink. my slk800u is not gonna cut it. would a xp120 or xp90 be the better choice? i've already got a brand new 120mm fan that would work nicely, but trying to find either of those in canada at a decent price may be tough.

thanks for the help bat

normally, i do my ordering from zipzoomfly. on their site they say that as of august 05, they will no longer ship to canada. ok, so now no newegg, and no zzf. what is it they have against us canadians???

does anyone know of somewhere to order from with prices comperable to zzf/newegg that WILL ship to canada (or is canadian to begin with)?

the 640 at dangeo.com is $282. if i COULD order from zzf, i could get it for $250, or a 630 for $207, whereas the 630 is $287 at dangeo.

Check in the classifieds. really good agp board for the 775's. isn't newegg shipping to canada soon?

Please, do not advertise your classifieds sales outside of the classifieds section. Thank you. -- macklin01

i dunno. as far as i knew, they never have. i just go there to get an idea of prices.

if the board is still in the classifieds in about a week *snip*

thanks for the heads up!

edited for same reason -- macklin01

Don't recall any good retailers for Canada, but I remember seeing forum posts on that subject in the past.

The vdimm on the Abit AS8 goes up to 3.2v, so that's good.

Was thinking the XP-120 will interfer with the N/B cooler of the AS8. Might have to go with the XP-90 or better yet XP-90C. You'll need to pick up the LGA775 adapter too.

Either the 630 or 640 would be good. Buy whatever you can get for the best deal. Either should hit close to 4.2 gig with good air (give or take - your mileage may vary).

the as8 has 3.2vdimm? sweet, but so does my max3. to bad the vtt tracking was always borked, and i can't go over 2.8 without a mod. do you know if it actually works well on the as8 up to 3.2v?

well, if all goes well, hopefully i can get an as8, and i'm going to be ordering the cpu, a xp90c, and an adapter as soon as i find someone who has them in stock, and will deal with canada.

thanks for the help, and wish me luck, hopefully i'll be posting some results soon!

more of the same -- macklin01

maybe try tigerdirect.com or tigerdirect.ca I'm not usre about there prices though compared to ZZF or NewEgg.

yea, i checked them, as sometimes they have great deals. they want close to $400 for a 640. ouch. i can get it for $100 cheaper at least.

i'm gonna go with dangeo.com i think for the cpu. don't know where i'm gonna find a xp-90c tho.

thanks anyhow