My friend has asked if he can buy my CPU/Motherboard/Ram off of me since he's trying to build a PC on the cheap. The idea is that I use the money to go toward upgrading my own machine.
I'm currently running an XP3000+, an nForce2 motherboard (of some description, seems alright), and a gigabyte of 333mhz DDR Ram. He's offered to pay me ?150 for the lot.
Having had a look around on some websites, I've found a 'bundle' on Overclockers.co.uk which basically amounts to a A64 3500+ (939, I think), Motherboard to stick it in, coolers, and a gig of DDR400 Ram, which comes to about ?300 for the lot.
Now, what I want to know is whether it's worth my while upgrading my computer to that spec, since it's going to cost me ?150, essentially. Am I actually going to notice any great performance upgrade in my machine? I've looked on the AMD website, and apparently their all-singing, all-dancing ?600 FX-55 processor offers only about a 50% processing speed increase on an XP3200+ (which in itself is only fractionally better than what I have now.
So really, is it going to be significantly faster? He wants me to sell, but my gut instinct is telling me to wait and save until the next wave of processors are released, and then buy something cutting edge again, or get something like I've mentioned above when the prices get pushed down.
The reason I'm having a hard time deciding is that I'm an avid retro MAME fan, and I've just found a dual X-Arcade (http://www.x-arcade.com/two-player.shtml) in a local shop for just under ?100, which seems like a good deal to me, even though I'm not sure what they go for. I know I'd get a lot of use out of it, and it's extremely tempting, especially since I don't have an arcade stick, and people have told me they're pretty good.
Are they?
Any help on these matters would be appreciated...
I'm currently running an XP3000+, an nForce2 motherboard (of some description, seems alright), and a gigabyte of 333mhz DDR Ram. He's offered to pay me ?150 for the lot.
Having had a look around on some websites, I've found a 'bundle' on Overclockers.co.uk which basically amounts to a A64 3500+ (939, I think), Motherboard to stick it in, coolers, and a gig of DDR400 Ram, which comes to about ?300 for the lot.
Now, what I want to know is whether it's worth my while upgrading my computer to that spec, since it's going to cost me ?150, essentially. Am I actually going to notice any great performance upgrade in my machine? I've looked on the AMD website, and apparently their all-singing, all-dancing ?600 FX-55 processor offers only about a 50% processing speed increase on an XP3200+ (which in itself is only fractionally better than what I have now.
So really, is it going to be significantly faster? He wants me to sell, but my gut instinct is telling me to wait and save until the next wave of processors are released, and then buy something cutting edge again, or get something like I've mentioned above when the prices get pushed down.
The reason I'm having a hard time deciding is that I'm an avid retro MAME fan, and I've just found a dual X-Arcade (http://www.x-arcade.com/two-player.shtml) in a local shop for just under ?100, which seems like a good deal to me, even though I'm not sure what they go for. I know I'd get a lot of use out of it, and it's extremely tempting, especially since I don't have an arcade stick, and people have told me they're pretty good.
Are they?
Any help on these matters would be appreciated...
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