[Pc_Support] Rules-of-thumb on upgrading components for an older mainboard ...

[William A. Mahaffey III]

Bryan J. Smith wrote:

> If you're considering buying new components for an older mainboard,
> here's the rules-of-thumb I use.
>
> 1.  Does your older mainboard use the latest, "commodity" components?
>
> If so, then an upgrade is not a bad idea, you're still current.
>
> 2.  If not, how much of a "premium" are you paying for those "older"
> technology components?
>
> If it's more than 33-50% of what a new, equivalent mainboard would
> cost -- assuming you can use your existing CPU on the new mainboard --
> consider just getting a new mainboard.
>
> If you can't use your existing CPU on the new mainboard, then use
> 33-50% of what a new, equivalent mainboard+CPU would cost you.
>
> So, why would you want to chuck what you got?
>
> A.  Newer technology components have a longer lifespan/usefulness for
> future use if and when you upgrade again
>
> B.  You can put your old system to use in another way (appliance,
> server, donation, etc...)
>
> C.  Integration on newer mainboards replace countless add-in cards,
> possibly even offer a superior GPU "for free" in the chipset
>
> - Case Study:  Socket-462 (Athlon/XP) systems
>
> A lot of people are still using Socket-462 platforms with AGP.
> Early Socket-462 platforms used PC133 SDRAM.
> Latter Socket-462 platforms support DDR200/266 and even 333/400.
>
> If you have an early Socket-462 platform, PC133 is _not_ commodity 
> anymore.
> You pay a major premium, even for used components, per MB versus DDR.
> Futhermore, your AGP video card is probably slower than a nForce2 IGP,
> or possibly even Via/SiS integrated video.  Considering nForce2 IGP
> mainboards that use DDR are $30-40, it might be worth upgrading, while
> still being able to use your CPU.
>
> If you're considering upgrading your AGP video card to a GeForce FX,
> then it becomes a no-brainer, even if you have a latter DDR SDRAM
> mainboard.  You should consider a C51 (GeForce 61x0) chipset mainboard
> with integrated NV44 GPU for Socket-754 or 939 if you want to reuse
> your DDR memory.  Even Socket-939 Athlon-64 processors are sub-$75, so
> the mainboard+CPU is sub-$125 now.
>
> If you are not going to use your existing memory (say you only have
> 256MiB or less and/or it's PC100/133), I highly recommend Socket-AM2
> (940) with DDR2.  DDR memory is quickly going non-commodity (within
> months), and DDR2 will give you far greater lifespan for future
> upgrades.  Socket-AM2, unlike Socket-939, is also a single low-end
> (Sempron-64) and high-end (Athlon-64) consumer platform.  You can
> start with a solid C51 Socket-AM2 mainboard, Sempron-64 and 512MiB of
> DDR2-667 (PC2-5300) memory for sub-$150 nowdays, sometimes as low as
> sub-$125.
>
> Especially since in both of the latter two cases, you now have a PCIe
> upgrade path for video.  AGP costs a _pretty_premium_ now.  E.g., A
> $200 AGP GeForce 6800GS/GT can be matched by a $100 PCIe GeForce
> 7600GT, and a $75 PCIe GeForce 7600GS can smack a $100+ AGP GeForce
> 6600 (or even more costly 6600GT) silly.


The last 2 paragraphs bring up another point. I have seen some AM2 
boards on NewEgg [1] that claim up to 16 GB of RAM on only 2 slots, and 
almost always 16 GB w/ 4 slots. Is this a typo, or are the standards for 
DDR2 more expansive size-wise ? Also, what about speeds vs RAM mass ? 
TIA ....

[1]  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813185083     
for example ....

-- 

	William A. Mahaffey III

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	"The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war
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