CPU upgrade advice please

[charlesr]

I have an AMD socket 939 mobo, currently with an Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8GHz 512KB cpu and 1GB of RAM.

I've got into HD video processing (just bought an HD video camera which uses AVCHD/m2ts encoding) and whereas in SD I was getting real-time conversion, I now get a rather unawesome 2fps....

So, what are my options for upgrade presuming I'm keeping the same mobo? Is more RAM going to make much difference or is it just the cpu?

Presuming it's mainly the cpu, what's my best bet for an upgrade? According to that page, "Compatible Processors Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX - This mainboard supports Athlon 64 X2 dual-core". Can I use Opterons or am I pretty much screwed? This is the socket 939 page on komplett and it only mentions 1 chip which isn't an opteron (AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4GHz Socket 939, 1MB). Will I notice a significant difference for my video stuff or is it going to leap from 2fps to 4fps. It's £40....

edit: what does it mean "This mainboard supports Athlon 64 X2 dual-core" ?? Only mention I can find to these is on "socket AM2" (here)

[kernow]

I don't think you'd see much of an increase for your £40

core 2 duo for the win \\o

[charlesr]

So how much will it cost to get myself core2duo'd up with a decent enough chip to notice the difference?

[briareos_kerensky]

So how much will it cost to get myself core2duo'd up with a decent enough chip to notice the difference?

I'd say around 600-700 euros. Core 2 Duo E6700, an other GB of RAM, decent motherboard (like the Gigabyte DS-6) and cooler (like the Arctic Cooling 7 pro). You keep everything else.

However, your current mobo supports dual core Athlons (X2), you have a single core Athlon. It could be worthwhile to dig into your mobo manual and Epox's website to see exactly the best X2 processor it supports (pay attention to BIOS version -upgradeable- and mobo hardware revision -not upgradeable), this will cost you a fraction and will grant a good performance boost. Throw in the second gigabyte of RAM and you're done.

Keep in mind that socket 939 is dead, however, it has been replaced by socket AM2 and soon AMD will launch its new processor family (K10).

[charlesr]

http://www.epox.org/products/view.php?product_id=271

"Support Athlon 64 X2 up to 4800+ with 2.0GT/s Hyper Transport" - is that what you mean?
If so, then presumably something like THIS is what I'm after? (sorry, I'm a bit clueless to all this).

[eastyy]

to be honest you could probably get a decent pc reasonablely cheaper then the parts on there own

[CMcK]

charlesr, that 3800+ is a big step up performance wise from your current processor. It has two cores both of which are faster than your current processor.
If the video editing software you are using is multi processor aware it will be a lot quicker on the X2 3800+.
It would also be worth upgrading the RAM in your system to 2GB as well.

[briareos_kerensky]

If so, then presumably something like THIS is what I'm after? (sorry, I'm a bit clueless to all this).

Yay, this one looks good. Think about getting a new cooler too, probably the one you have won't be able to deal with the new processor.

[charlesr]

gah. Think I'll save my money for when I can get a new system that can cope from the off. I've doubled my RAM to 2GB on the cheap (thanks google checkout £10 off offer). It's all too complicated. I'll put up with the speed for now. Thanks all.

edit: I thought it was too complicated because I thought there was zero room inside for a different cooler. Turns out there's plenty, so I've gone for a new chip and cooler as well. £110 for an upgrade to RAM and cpu seems ok. Better than my only other option which is a new PC by the looks.

[charlesr]

Installed RAM and CPU and it's now doing 6fps instead of 2fps. So er x3 increase. So it's going to take me 5X as long to encode vids instead of 15X, so when I put it like that it seems ok. It's still 6fps though heheh.
Windows seems loads faster though and I seem to be able to still do other things while video processing is going on. Which is nice.

[briareos_kerensky]

The magic of a two 2gb system