inahandbasket | (no subject)

So, like many gamer geeks around the world, i'm about to embark on building a new computer for the upcoming DirectX9 games. Namely, HalfLife2 and Doom3.
But I need some help on a major decision.
Sound card, hard drive, vid card, and monitor are already procured or decided on.
the question is the processor/motherboard, and more specifically:
64bit processing

The new Athlon64 and the AthlonFX that were released are sick, sick processors, and I fully expect them to rule in about... 6-8 months when the rest of the hardware and software catch up. Motherboard chipsets always suck for the first few iterations when something majorly new comes along.

But I'm going to need a new puter before those 6-8 months go by.

My question is this:
Buy an expensive 64bit processor(and assorted kit) now and upgrade the motherboard in a year?
OR
Buy a nice 32bit processor at the current sweet pricepoint (Intel 2.8 with HT) and use the saved cash in a year to get a faster 64bit processor and 2nd/3rd gen motherboard?

Let me know what you think, and why. :o)

(currently running Athlon 1ghz, 1GB PC133 RAM. sloooow.)

Threaded | Flat

Haven't done research on CPUs in a while, but it seems like for most apps the Athlon 64 was rather underwhelming (I only looked at one set of benchmarks, though).

Were Doom3 and HL2 going to be 64 bit optimized? That could be a deciding factor.

Which video card you get? I'm still running my ::cough:: Geforce1. Up until the newest iteration of the Unreal engine it did fine, but now I must to be upgradink. Am thinkink that Radeon 9800 Pro 128 is beink for me, da?

Also, why did I start talking like Pitr partway through? The world may never know.

Seriously? I'd say re-evaluate your "need" for a new gaming rig. I've been on a pre-Thunderbird, Slot-A Athlon 750 since 1999. Granted, I don't game too much at all, but my machine played Return to Castle Wolfenstein just fine.

I doubt it'd get superb framerates with Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2003, or anything later than that, but I might well be surprised.

My parents' machine, a KT333 AthlonXP 1800+ with 512MB and a GeForce2 400MX, which I built for them, plays a very respectable Medal of Honor. I'm sure if it had a DirectX 9 video card in it, it'd play Half-Life2 wonderfully well.

My advice? If what you have now is even reasonably current, wait 2-3 years and then build a 64-bit box. If you've got parts ready to go now, just incorporate them in your current system if that's feasible.

My advice, as I have nasty insider information from Intel (yay Phoenix!) is to get the nice 32 bit chip.

The 64 bit chip out my Athlon is actually a _fake_ 64 bits. Basically they soldered two 32 bit chips together in a creative way (I'm not even jokin here, though I am oversimplifying) and the end result is fast, but not really all that special, which is why it'll work in the same old case, with same old hardware and softawre you've always used.

Intel is working on a new REAL 64 bit chip, that when it comes out will not be backwards compatible with previous software or hardware(because it itself will be speaking a whole new language) but will blow Athlon's chip out of the water. Microsoft is already working on (in final testing I should say) the operating system for this beast of a processor, and most of the hardware and major software companies are following in suit. But basically when that chip comes out, if it does half as well as projections say, your Athlon chip won't be worth the silicon its made out of.

So save your pennies, dude. :)

if youy don't geta radeon 9800 gameing will suck nvidas benchmarks for HL2 are low ATi's are high. nuff said ! =P