HiI am thinking of upgrading the CPU of my current system with the AMD Athlon 64 X2 - Dual-core.Looking for advice and if it will be worthwhile. Any suggestions ? Thanks.RegardsRobert-------------------------------------Asus A8N-VM - socket939 M/BoardAMD Athlon 64 3000+XFX Nvidia Geforce 6800 XT PCI-E [256]2Gb DDR400 RAMCH products Yoke and USB Pedals

It looks like you are in the hard position of having a system with limited update possibility. If you don't want to go the much more expensive route of new MB+CPU+RAM, then I think upgrading CPU would certainly be viable. I see it isn't in stock , but I see this: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2GHz, Toledo, Dual-Core, 2x1MB L2 Cache, Socket 939, 64-bit Processor, for USD$228. Might be worth checking out if you can't do a major system upgrade in the next 6 months or so. Haven't seen any hard data on just what that might do for FS9/FSX though. Maybe someone else has some actual before/after data for this sort of upgrade.I should add that I am sort of in your situation, but only have AGP graphics so for me it makes sense to just retire the AMD 939 MB from front-line use.scott s..

FYI.... I just did a cheap upgrade on the socket 939. Went from AMD 64 3500 to AMD64 X2 4200. Gighertz-wise there was no change. In FS9 there is no real difference, even by having dual core. FSX there is a big difference now with the patch of course. Other games that take advantage of DC will obviously benefit.It's a cheap interim upgrade that as Scott said, is good if you don't particularly feel like ripping out your motherboard yet. I'll probably do that later this year when I move up to quad core platform.It was just drop and go, no Bois flash required, also went to 2Gb ram at the same time. The install took all of 5 minutes. But the difference is superb across the board. Vista is now usable for the first time.

Thanks scott s and Max for the replies and advice.If I was located in the US, the upgrade to the Toledo would be a cheap one, but unfortunately they don't ship international. Will see if I can hunt one down local.RegardsRobert-------------------------------------Asus A8N-VMAMD Athlon 64 3000+XFX Nvidia Geforce 6800XT PCI-E [256]2Gb DDR400 RAMCH products Yoke and USB Pedals

>Thanks scott s and Max for the replies and advice.>If I was located in the US, the upgrade to the Toledo would be>a cheap one, but unfortunately they don't ship international.>Will see if I can hunt one down local.Are you refering to this?:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103052I ordered it and will be plopping it in next weekend to replace my 3500. People are reporting a lot of luck OC'ing this one (fingers crossed).I'm shocked NewEgg doesn't ship internationally....

>Thanks scott s and Max for the replies and advice.>If I was located in the US, the upgrade to the Toledo would be>a cheap one, but unfortunately they don't ship international.>Will see if I can hunt one down local.>>Regards>RobertI thought newegg shipped internationally???Used to be, and may still be, the fastest dual-core Socket 939 cpu was the 4800+. If you can find a Socket939 4800+ then THAT'S the cpu you want to get. Not a 4200+ or 4400+.Skip the 4200+ or 4400+ and go for the 4800+ if you can find it. Don't get the Socket AM2 version of the 4800+ though. It will be more common since AMD has ended Skt 939 production.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

No sir .. they don't ship international .. sent them a mail and the reply was "Only US and ..". It is available local, but for double the price. Ahh well .. certainly not going to pay double the price. So, thanks to everyone for the advice and I will hold off till next year and do a complete system change. By then DX10 patch for FSX will be out and Vista will have it glitches sorted. Roll on 2008 ...EDIT : Yikes .. just now checked at newegg .. the price is USD 84.00 .. that converted to SAR = 84X7 = 588 .. and the stores here ask +- SAR2400 .. I suppose all the import taxes etc ..slapped on plus their margin.Kind regardsRobertSouth Africa-------------------------------------Asus A8N-VMAMD Athlon 64 3000+XFX Nvidia Geforce 6800 XT PCI-E [256]2Gb DDR400 RAMCH products Yoke and USB Pedals

>If you can find a Socket939 4800+ then>THAT'S the cpu you want to get. Not a 4200+ or 4400+.Out of production and impossible to find, and if you did (like via eBay) they'll be horribly overpriced. You might as well go with a new MB, memory and Core2D at that point.>Skip the 4200+ or 4400+ and go for the 4800+ if you can find>it. Don't get the Socket AM2 version of the 4800+ though. It>will be more common since AMD has ended Skt 939 production.The lower end 939 dual-core chips can still be found for reasonable prices (on Newegg, at least) and should be able to OC within spitting distance of what a 4800 could anyway. As long as you are okay with OC'ing, its an okay way to breath a little extra life into a 939 and hold out for a Penryn or such next year.

The Opteron 180 is essentially the same as the x2 4800+, and the retail version comes with a better heatsink.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103582