A XP2500+/2800+ or A64 3000+

[Michaelius]

I'm trying to decide what cpu should i get as upgrade to this system:
A XP 1700+ (0.18u)
Shuttle AK 32 mobo (KT266)
Kingston CL2.5 333Mhz DDR
radeon BBA 9700nu
IBM 30GB 7200rpm ATA 100
400W deer PSU
So the question is shall I buy 2500+/2600+ some cheap nforce2 mobo and oc it to around 3200+ (but will it work with such ram?)
or maybe 2800+ (should be easier to oc)
or get the A64 3000+ and kt800 mobo for it?
But is it worth spending 2 times as much as 2800+ costs (plus more expensive mobo)?
Especially taking into account that when the time of next upgrade comes i'll have to change everything (as the new CPUs will be socket 939 anyway, video cards will go to PCI-EX, not even mentioning DDR II and BTX cases)

 

[primea]

Originally posted by Michaelius
But is it worth spending 2 times as much as 2800+ costs (plus more expensive mobo)?
Especially taking into account that when the time of next upgrade comes i'll have to change everything (as the new CPUs will be socket 939 anyway, video cards will go to PCI-EX, not even mentioning DDR II and BTX cases)

I don't understand .... you'll be changing everything whatever you upgrade from ...

if you want to go cheap ... get a 2500+ and OC to 3200+ ... if you want the latest ... A64 is the way to go ...

from what you are upgrading from ... you'll need a new mobo and new RAM if you want to OC

 

[Michaelius]

I mean that whatever i'll buy now it's going to be a huge upgrade next time due to the all those new technologies (PCI-EX, DDR II ...) so neither Socket A nor 754 gives me any options to upgrade in the future.
And i know that i need new mobo. The one i have is 0.18u cpu's only

 

[JNavy89GT]

I'd go for the 3000+ and probably the Asus K8V or MSI KT800 or whatever they call it if your going to go aircooling. If your going good water or phase change then the shuttle or Gigabyte Nf3 is what you want. With a 3000+ mildly oc'd to say 2.2-2.3ghz and your 9700nu at near pro speeds for mem and a bit over pro for gpu, I think you should be at 19k-20k in 3dmark2001SE if you can tweak your OS a bit. I'm basing this off seeing a couple of people with similar setups, but fully clocked up 9700pros into the 21-22k range. That's nothing to sneeze at performance wise. I doubt you'd get 18k on an AXP setup w/your current card. I think I'd keep that card too and hold off upgrading video for the time being as that card should be plenty fast for now until something else hits the market.