processor questions:

A friend of mine would like to upgrade his 2500+ to a top of the line system (not sure why but he seems to be sure of himself and he has money to throw around). He was planning on getting a 3.2c but i told him to slow down.

Right now he has 512mb basic Mushkin PC3200.

First of all which would be the best to buy (and probly overclock eventually):

A64 3200+
3.4c
3.2c
3.0c
3.2e

I would also like a mobo reccomendation for these boards, i know asus makes a nice PIV board that i could use but what does abit have?

I have no clue about a64 boards but i figured the a64 would have alot of upgradeability. I know the socket will be obselete soon but he doesnt want to wait and i belive AMD has claimed they will support it for a while.

I dont want a huge debate, im just a little clueless because all i can afford is an AXP so i dont look at the more expensive stuff much.

I'd recommend a 3200+ and an nforce3 150 mobo. He is going to overclock this, right? If not, go with a VIA mobo.

The new S939 won't help much. Nothing wrong with getting one now.

Well Dee Dilly Doo! If he's got money I suggest you get a 3.0c sl6wu Malay packing date around 1/31/04 if possible. you can find it at pcsupplysource.com its $8.00 extra to have them look for that specific chip but well worth it. its said to oc to around 4 ghz on AIR!!! stick this in an abit ic7 max3 with twin sticks 512 pc4000 (1gb total) and that machine will eat you and your family alive!

3.2EE that'll fix him up if hes got money to throw

I don't think it's really worth upgrading his whole system right now unless the 2500+ is a very poor overclocker. He would be much further ahead to sit on his money for a little while.

A heavily overclocked 2500+ compared well to a FX-53 in many tests in a review I read... I forget who did the review though, but it was a good source and MANY tests were done. I think a 3.2EE was in the review also, which didn't perform as well as the FX-53.

I don't think theres any reason to upgrade from a barton to a crippled 754 socket - a year from now the 754 will be heavily overshadowed by socket 939. In a few months, its possible that socket 939 and some newer CPUs will be ready, as well as offerings from Nvidia and ATI.

Well the way things are going now you'll either have to spend a lot to stay on the cutting edge or wait till the "next best thing" comes out so the previous generation's prices will drop.

hrm, so mr billy my friend wants to buy a a big core upgrade that he doesnt need. I understand that. He may be stubborn and want to buy something. The EE is way too expensive. I would rather have him get the best he can if he is going to spend the money then just say "dont do it" and no further advice. I think the 3200+ is a good bet now. Currently he has not OCd his 2500+ and he is quite a noob but in the learning stage.

Also, what should i do to convince him to sit on his cash for a while?

The best chip for him to upgrade to right now would be the 3200+ for the price, but right now that will mean he will be upgrading to a relatively short term socket 754. If he waits until 939 is available, he can get a mobo and RAM that will last him a good long time, and allow for CPU upgrades in the future to keep his system top of the line. Maybe tell him that. At that time he should also be able to get a PCI-e video card instead of an AGP, and this will also mean he can get the latest offering from ATI or Nvidia which will translate to a lot more gaming performance. There is a lot of incentive.

If he can't wait, he will likely be happy with a 754 solution for quite a while though also... But upgrades long term (more than a year) will be limited.

He could wait and try learning overclocking on the hardware he has now.

Whatever you do, don't get a Prescott until they come out on LGA775...maybe by then they will have solved their problems.

well i talked to him about w/c for his current setup and even showing him the top 3dmark score didnt make him want to do it at all. He thinks it is ugly thus not worth doing. Whatever. I will tell him to sit on is dough for a while and if not get the 3200+