Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Hi all. I have an MSI motherboard and am trying to sort out all this info to upgrade my processor. http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=617 Do I understand correctly I can put a Socket A processor in this as long as it is under AMD 3200 and it is an Athlon, Athlon XP, Duron or Sempron? Most of the processors I'm finding are Athlon 64. Are they different? Thanks a bunch. GV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrockster21 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I'm not too familiar with AMD processors...but I know the 64 is their latest chip. Maybe the motherboard you have is a little older or something?? I would email the manufacturer and ask them if I were you...:2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 I'll give that a shot jrockster...... My motherboard is fairly new....it supports up to 3 Gig RAM....just need a little direction. I hate being out of the know. Wish I knew more about computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrockster21 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I'll give that a shot jrockster......My motherboard is fairly new....it supports up to 3 Gig RAM....just need a little direction. I hate being out of the know. Wish I knew more about computers. Here's a list of AMD's processors, if it helps: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSteve Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 What is your exact model of MSI motherboard, and what is the socket of your current processor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSteve Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Nevermind, like a fool I didn't even click the link. :laugh: Basically you have it correct. The best you can do is a Athlon Socket A 3200. Anything better would require a motherboard upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Williams Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 In case you are thinking motherboard upgrade do the ASUSa8n or ASUSa8n32 it'll run ya around 150-250 but you can support 3 of the top 4 CPUS out now...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Thanks a bunch guys. I'm just trying to do a minor upgrade to get Battlefield 2 to run a little better. The motherboard is, embarrassingly, new. I checked NewEgg and was unable to find an Athlon XP or Athlon 3200 chip. Anybody know where I can find a processor at a decent price that will fit my system? The good news is that it sounds as if it is not cutting edge... I believe I'm going to upgrade video and processor. AMD Athlon XP2100 - 1.73 GHZ 1.5 Gig Ram Radeon Pro 9000 - 128 Meg Windows XP 19" CRT & 15" Flatpanel Thanks for taking the time to reply. GV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSteve Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Well GV, that would depend on what you mean by "decent" price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Williams Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 ebay:thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 I'm thinking in my naive mind that I could upgrade my processor/vid card for a few hundred bucks....say under $400. Is that reasonable? I could also do it in steps. If processor is my big problem.....do that now and then upgrade the vid later. I asked on another message board for this game and people were suggesting I buy a $800 GT this or that video card. That ain't gonna happen..... I'm not trying to create some gaming rig of the century.....just something that won't cause others to slow down when they get near me. ...never thought about Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSteve Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 For $400, your problem will be the graphics card not the processor. I'd say finding an Athlon 3200 is going to run you around $100-$150(I'm not exactly sure on the price so I could be wrong, just rough estimates). Leaving you with $250-$300 for a video card. Frankly, that should be enough moola to acquire the technology to adequately run Battlefield. But then, I haven't played Battlefield before so I have no idea what the minimum or reccomended specs are. You certainly don't need the latest greatest card on the market.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenaa Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Thanks a bunch guys. I'm just trying to do a minor upgrade to get Battlefield 2 to run a little better. The motherboard is, embarrassingly, new. I checked NewEgg and was unable to find an Athlon XP or Athlon 3200 chip. Anybody know where I can find a processor at a decent price that will fit my system? The good news is that it sounds as if it is not cutting edge... I believe I'm going to upgrade video and processor. AMD Athlon XP2100 - 1.73 GHZ 1.5 Gig Ram Radeon Pro 9000 - 128 Meg Windows XP 19" CRT & 15" Flatpanel Thanks for taking the time to reply. GV The game play is probably a function of memory/video. The processor is probably fine. I'd add RAM and get a new video card. The AMD 64 is a 64 bit processor. It will support both 32 bit and 64 bit Operating Systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSteve Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 ^He has 1.5GB of ram. I'd say that's more than enough. The Radeon 9000 Pro is acient though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 For $400, your problem will be the graphics card not the processor. I'd say finding an Athlon 3200 is going to run you around $100-$150(I'm not exactly sure on the price so I could be wrong, just rough estimates). Leaving you with $250-$300 for a video card. Frankly, that should be enough moola to acquire the technology to adequately run Battlefield. But then, I haven't played Battlefield before so I have no idea what the minimum or reccomended specs are. You certainly don't need the latest greatest card on the market.. Specs: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights 1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater 512 MB of RAM or more 8x or faster CD/DVD drive 2.3 GB free hard drive space or more Video: DirectX 9.0c compatible (see video) Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible (Sound Blaster X-Fi series recommended ) VIDEO Video card must have 128 MB or more memory and one of the following chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or greater ATI Radeon 8500 or greater Thanks Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Pricewatch is coming up around $175 for a 3200 XP. Any other thoughts on suppliers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebornempowered Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I have the 2800+ and it is quite good. I know Socket A is hard to find any more especially Athlons. What I am doing is waiting for Socket AM2 and then I will either get a 939 Dual Core when they drop in price or splurge and get a AM2 Dual Core. For that price you could get a 939 mobo and an Athlon 64 processor. They even have a pretty nice 939 mobo that takes AGP and PCI-Express 16 graphics cards so you can upgrade your video card later too. Just my :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyskinsfan56 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 If you're just looking at video cards right now (for a decent price) do a search for the Nvidia 6600gt with 256mb. Your one limiting factor (which is mine also) is the need for an AGP video card. Most newer cards are only being manufactured for PCI-E. I've seen the prices on these range from about $150 - $220 depending on where you look. Try newegg, tigerdirect or zipzoomfly. One thing to stay away from right now is the 6800gs...price looks nice (around $220) but they just came out and the drivers are only beta right now. As far as BF2 - you're in no way slowing other people down when they get near you. The only thing that would affect other peoples performance is possibly your ping to the server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Vet Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 Thanks a bunch everyone for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I did a little more soul searching today. I have talked to a lot of people and solicited a lot of advice.....but from complete strangers I've never spoken to before.......as opposed to people on here that I've been around for over a year....and from whom's advice I value.....and are smart - as they are Redskin fans. It would appear I have two options. Upgrade the processor and vid card and hope to have some noticeable difference in performance for about $300. I question how much difference would be discernable going up .5 GHZ in processor and doubling Vid memory......I'd love to hear other's opinions. $160 for a Athlon XP w/ fan 3000+ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=513326&CatId=1953 $220 for a vid card as recommended by nyskinsfan56 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=70001531+70001626&Submit=ENE&description=6600gt&Ntk=all What I don't get is the difference between all those vid cards above. They sure range in price for what look like similar specs. The other option is to upgrade motherboard, processor, vid card and maybe memory??? If I went this route - I'd want to get a decent processor so I wouldn't have to do it again for a while.... I'm coming up w/ about $1K to go this route. ...but what I don't get is that I've got folks telling me if I go this route to get an AMD 64 3000+ or so.....These things are running about the same speed as the Athlon XP 3000+.....so does the 64 bit architecture make that big of a difference? Unfortunately my daughter is only 2 1/2 years old....I'm going to have to wait a couple years for her to build me a computer and give me advice. Any of you old farts out there have any 7 year olds you can show this thread to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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