Member Avatar for halo4342

hey, just wanted to know if i upgraded to an athlon xp 3200+ or 3000+ (400fsb).... would i notice a difference in performance whilst playing games such as WoW, HL-2, and UT2004 from my sempron 3000+: 2.0ghz...333fsb...512L2 cache....

Or if it would i would be better of just buying a new mobo (754) and getting an athlon 64?....thx :?:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Catweazle

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Short version for : whether a chip swap will help depends on whether your current rig is CPU-bound in the places you care about. and are on the right track — graphics and memory often move frame rates more than a small CPU bump — but it helps to prove where the limit is before spending money. The steps below show how to test, and what to weigh when choosing between a same-socket CPU tweak or a full platform move.

Quick test (do these first)

  1. Run a repeatable in-game scene (city/raid for MMO, a busy map for shooters) and log FPS with FRAPS or MSI Afterburner.
  2. Repeat at a very low resolution (640x480) and minimal graphical settings. Low res removes most GPU limits; if FPS stays low, the CPU is likely the bottleneck.
  3. Monitor CPU usage during the same scene (Task Manager, CPU-Z or Afterburner). One core pegged at ~100% while others are low indicates a single-thread CPU limit.
  4. Repeat at target resolution and high settings. If FPS drops sharply compared with low-res run, the GPU is the limiter.

How to decide after testing

  • If tests show GPU-limited performance, invest in a faster graphics card first (or more VRAM) and only later consider platform changes.
  • If CPU-bound, check the motherboard CPU support list and BIOS updates before buying a different Athlon model. Compatibility, voltages and cooling matter. A same-socket upgrade gives modest gains; a modern platform (new socket, PCIe, memory bandwidth) is a bigger step forward but costs more.
  • Also add RAM if you frequently hit RAM limits; it reduces stutters and paging in many modern titles.

Final notes: document benchmark runs so you can compare objectively. If uncertain about BIOS/motherboard support, post the exact board model and the list of candidate CPUs and someone can check compatibility.

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Member Avatar for Catweazle

Hi,

I'll move your topic to the appropriate sectionon TechTalk for hardware questions of this type.

Welcome to Daniweb :)

Member Avatar for Coconut Monkey

hey, just wanted to know if i upgraded to an athlon xp 3200+ or 3000+ (400fsb).... would i notice a difference in performance whilst playing games such as WoW, HL-2, and UT2004 from my sempron 3000+: 2.0ghz...333fsb...512L2 cache....

No.

Or if it would i would be better of just buying a new mobo (754) and getting an athlon 64?....thx :?:

I would concentrate on the graphics card, which may or may not require a platform replacement (depending on the chipset and interface you choose).

Member Avatar for halo4342

My graphics card is a geforce 6800LE 128mb......so not too bad..... i got 512 of ddr400 ram ... hopefully upgrading too 1mb soon... so i was wondering when playing games such as HL-2 and doom 3, and COD, if i would notice a difference from a cpu upgrade?

Member Avatar for Catweazle

Upgrading to an XP 3200+ would not give enough improvement to be worth the expense and effort.

512Mb of RAM is barely adequate for a title such as Battlefield 2. 1Gb or more of RAM is far preferable.

A socket 939 platform (Athlon64) would be the the best choice to make at present for upgrading, but as Coconut Monkey has stated, a more capable display card would gives the best improvement for games. PCI Express is the current standard in display card slots, however, and anything other than a full system upgrade would be a partial solution for you which wouldn't prepare you for future improvements.

I'd suggest adding another 512Mb of RAM, cleaning up your Windows installation and 'tweaking' your system for best performance, and then saving for a full system upgrade.

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