Socket 939 suggestion

[obobski]

Ok, so I got a christmas gift, form of: DFI LanParty RDX200-CF
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PAGE_TYPE=US&PRODUCT_ID=3669&SITE=NA

no processor and no PCIe VC
I already have a few PCIe vid cards in mind (X1800GTO, X1900GT, and X1950Pro)
but can't seem to decide on a processor, and have a somewhat limited budget

I'm debating between this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103023

and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103622

(the 3500+ is $0.99 cheaper than the 3700, so i'm not even looking at it because its only a buck more for the extra L2)

So....
I'm just wondering if anyone has experiences with the board, or with either of the processors
I've heard good things about the board in reviews, and fairly good things about the 3700+, but haven't heard much about the 3400 in general

 

[thehulk]

AMD Venice v. San Diego Core Performance

 

[obobski]

those nums are close enough for me to support getting a Venice, and i'm looking at the 3200+ considering its only a 200MHZ shot away from the 3500+ PR rating, and the board is supposed to be a good clocker

thanks for the link

 

[RussSchultz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103528 (4000+)

I recently (like 15 minutes ago) bought this. I currently have a 3000+ and wanted the benefit of a faster proc without breaking the bank. Its only $28 more than the 3200+ you're talking about, and "25% faster" on paper.

Of course, I'd also recommend you look at buying an Am2 motherboard and chip because the 939 stuff is disappearing and getting more expensive (assuming you want to upgrade your processor in a year or two)

 

[Zapata]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103528 (4000+)

I recently (like 15 minutes ago) bought this. I currently have a 3000+ and wanted the benefit of a faster proc without breaking the bank. Its only $28 more than the 3200+ you're talking about, and "25% faster" on paper.

Of course, I'd also recommend you look at buying an Am2 motherboard and chip because the 939 stuff is disappearing and getting more expensive (assuming you want to upgrade your processor in a year or two)

Oboski, I would not bother with the AMD Athlon AM2 in that if one is thinking of spending those sort of bucks, Intel Conroe Core 2 Duo is a much better processor than the AMD Athlon 64 AM2 940 dualie.

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

[SugarCoat]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103528 (4000+)

I recently (like 15 minutes ago) bought this. I currently have a 3000+ and wanted the benefit of a faster proc without breaking the bank. Its only $28 more than the 3200+ you're talking about, and "25% faster" on paper.

Of course, I'd also recommend you look at buying an Am2 motherboard and chip because the 939 stuff is disappearing and getting more expensive (assuming you want to upgrade your processor in a year or two)

Problem with AM2 is it looks like its going to be short pins for the major stuff AMD has planned for 2007 meaning its going to become the 754 of this new generation of processors. It will run K8L fine but its going to be dead end upgrading not soon after. AM3 will hopefully stick around for a couple years as the main chipset.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

Problem with AM2 is it looks like its going to be short pins for the major stuff AMD has planned for 2007 meaning its going to become the 754 of this new generation of processors. It will run K8L fine but its going to be dead end upgrading not soon after. AM3 will hopefully stick around for a couple years as the main chipset.

I still think theres going to be CPUs for AM2. Latter this year, we will see 2 more sockets the AM2+ and AM3. AM2 is DDR2 with 1 HTT link, AM2+ is DDR2 with 3 HTT links, and AM3 is DDR3 with 3 HTT links. The AM2+ and AM3 platforms will be faster then AM2 but I still think theres going to be newer CPUs for AM2 but will 2 HTT links turned off.

 

[SugarCoat]

I still think theres going to be CPUs for AM2. Latter this year, we will see 2 more sockets the AM2+ and AM3. AM2 is DDR2 with 1 HTT link, AM2+ is DDR2 with 3 HTT links, and AM3 is DDR3 with 3 HTT links. The AM2+ and AM3 platforms will be faster then AM2 but I still think theres going to be newer CPUs for AM2 but will 2 HTT links turned off.

Yes, deja vu Socket 754. We saw new processors for that too as new ones came out for 939 but it was never the same selection and eventually someone who stuck with 754 lost out on new things like dual core. Socket 754 got the left-overs and i'm pretty confident the same will happen to AM2 moving into 2008.

I guess all i'm trying to say is i wouldnt get an AM2 based computer right now if i planned on having it for any real amount of time. Not 2 years or more. It doesnt have the performance currently or the long upgrade path to take it to great performance, it needs one or the other right now.

Might as well just get a 965/975X and a conroe based proc. With the new price cuts coming in early 2007 i just dont see AMD topping intels performance per dollar anytime soon. Its hard to recommend a platform to someone when it might be dead 12 months later. I know i know welcome to the world of intel chipsets, but at least you have the great performance today instead of crossing your fingers over K8L.

 

[obobski]

well, nice insights, but i'm kind of stuck with this board...(i got it free) and don't have enough funds to buy an entirely new system

so I figured lets go PCIe now that I have a board with PCIe, but it needs a proc, and the reason i haven't even looked at AM2 is because of what you're all talking about, the whole "new 754" concept

as far as the 939 board, should I seriously consider just returning it/reselling it (its still got its gift reciept) instead of buying for it? what do you think? Its like 50/50 between good and bad, if I keep it, I got a 939/PCIe board, if i return/resell it, i've got some more $ for parts, but what to buy, I don't have DDR2, and can't afford it, don't have SATA HD's, and can't afford them, Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quadro is too expensive for my blood (yes, even at $200 for the proc, yeah that looks all nice on paper, now add DDR2, a SATA HD, the mainboard, and a PCIe video card that'll at least be competitive with a 6800GT (so thats $200 + $150 + $50 + $100 + $170))

so...ideas?

 

[Monty]

He already has a 939 motherboard though, so theres no point in getting anything other than a 939 processor right now. The dual core 939 processors have dropped in price considerably over the last few months, an athlon 3800 x2 is probably your best bet; typically you can expect 2.4Ghz overclock out of one of them, 2.6Ghz if your lucky (thats on air)

 

[Zapata]

well, nice insights, but i'm kind of stuck with this board...(i got it free) and don't have enough funds to buy an entirely new system

so I figured lets go PCIe now that I have a board with PCIe, but it needs a proc, and the reason i haven't even looked at AM2 is because of what you're all talking about, the whole "new 754" concept

as far as the 939 board, should I seriously consider just returning it/reselling it (its still got its gift reciept) instead of buying for it? what do you think? Its like 50/50 between good and bad, if I keep it, I got a 939/PCIe board, if i return/resell it, i've got some more $ for parts, but what to buy, I don't have DDR2, and can't afford it, don't have SATA HD's, and can't afford them, Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quadro is too expensive for my blood (yes, even at $200 for the proc, yeah that looks all nice on paper, now add DDR2, a SATA HD, the mainboard, and a PCIe video card that'll at least be competitive with a 6800GT (so thats $200 + $150 + $50 + $100 + $170))

so...ideas?

I wasn't suggesting you should go for a Conroe, I was taking issue with the idea that AM2 would be a better choice than a Conroe.

Stick with your 939 board and if you find you've got a bit more money you could get a better 939 processor [ which would be a much better way to go rather than Conroe for you ] e.g. I was in much the same position ie I had a stick of 1Gig DDR1 memory and a 939 board that I had purchased a little while ago and I put a 4800 939 dualie AMD Athlon 64 in it.

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

[Zapata]

He already has a 939 motherboard though, so theres no point in getting anything other than a 939 processor right now. The dual core 939 processors have dropped in price considerably over the last few months, an athlon 3800 x2 is probably your best bet; typically you can expect 2.4Ghz overclock out of one of them, 2.6Ghz if your lucky (thats on air)

Pretty much agreed with you on that, though I don't keep all the processor specs in my head but you're right for sure about him using the 939 board! And pairing it with a 939 Athlon dualie.

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

[Zapata]

He already has a 939 motherboard though, so theres no point in getting anything other than a 939 processor right now. The dual core 939 processors have dropped in price considerably over the last few months, an athlon 3800 x2 is probably your best bet; typically you can expect 2.4Ghz overclock out of one of them, 2.6Ghz if your lucky (thats on air)

I put one of these babyies on to my CPU

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cooling/Tt_Big_Typhoon/

If he can overclock it to 2.6 that is faster than the stock speed for the 4800 dualie which if I remember right was retailing at about US Dollar 1 thousand, not ago. I would defenitely try to get an Athlon 64 dualie [ rather than a single core Athlon ] as whilst most applications do not effectively use dual core, the Windows probably shunts off all the background activities to the other core if a heavy weight user application is running in one core.

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

[Skrying]

Spring for a X2 if you can, otherwise go with the with the single core that fits best into your budget.

Do not worry about C2D, AM2, etc. Its a waste right now and you'd honestly be gaining little for the amount of cash you'd be pushing out.

 

[obobski]

I can't even find X2's anymore

a buddy just offered me his E6300 (that he hit 3GHZ on...) for $130, but i don't have the board for it ()

if anyone has an idea where to get X2's for 939 in the US? (newegg has a few, overpriced and scarce in stock) at good prices?

 

[Monty]

http://www.wiredzone.com/xq/asp/ic.30685806/qx/itemdesc.htm

Thats all I could find, its an opteron but there basically the same thing.

Maybe someone actually from America can help you more

 

[SugarCoat]

I can't even find X2's anymore

a buddy just offered me his E6300 (that he hit 3GHZ on...) for $130, but i don't have the board for it ()

if anyone has an idea where to get X2's for 939 in the US? (newegg has a few, overpriced and scarce in stock) at good prices?

demand seems to of outpaced supply, AMD problably isnt making them anymore or if they are, not many. Your best bet is going to be for a Opteron 165 or 170 and then overclocking that. Either way you're going to be spending about $150 for a 939 dual core.

If you can get a free E6300 though i'll slip in this offering, look at what it supports carefully before you dismiss it


http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Produc...LanID=0&DetailID=656&DetailName=Specification
http://www.excaliberpc.com/ECS_P4M890T-M2_V1.0B_VIA_CONROE/P4M890T-M2_V1.0B_/partinfo-id-569329.html



ECS is an offshoot of ASUS i believe. Just dont expect the best overclocking on cheaper motherboards because they usually cant or dont support much voltage control of the northbridge, not to mention its VIA. A stock E6300 will perform better than a 2.0GHz athlon though and i would expect you could at least get to 2.2 or 2.4GHz without needing to touch voltages as long as you have access to the FSB which you should have.

Incase you're wondering ExcaliberPC has a very good reputation.

 

[Frank]

They all overclock quite well in any case, the cheaper ones a lot better than the expensive ones generally. And they will do very well. So don't worry too much about it, just get a cheap one and overclock the beejezus out of it.

 

[SugarCoat]

I'm playing with one of the brand new revision B2 E6300s and its being a pain in the ass as far as overclocking goes. Box package date sep. 06. I'll have it under water within a week or two and with some faster ram in a matter of days to double check this but its really struggling to even do 2.4GHz stable with memory dividers in full swing and a 1.4V core. I'll play with it more later but i'm afraid the revision may of removed some clock potential that the B1 revisions enjoyed. That would be my luck.


edit- switched out memory sticks with a spare and that seems to of done the trick. At 2500MHz and stopped there due to a wall caused by the memory. Processor/northbridge overvolt removed so at stock voltages.

 

[obobski]

demand seems to of outpaced supply, AMD problably isnt making them anymore or if they are, not many. Your best bet is going to be for a Opteron 165 or 170 and then overclocking that. Either way you're going to be spending about $150 for a 939 dual core.

If you can get a free E6300 though i'll slip in this offering, look at what it supports carefully before you dismiss it


http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Produc...LanID=0&DetailID=656&DetailName=Specification
http://www.excaliberpc.com/ECS_P4M890T-M2_V1.0B_VIA_CONROE/P4M890T-M2_V1.0B_/partinfo-id-569329.html



ECS is an offshoot of ASUS i believe. Just dont expect the best overclocking on cheaper motherboards because they usually cant or dont support much voltage control of the northbridge, not to mention its VIA. A stock E6300 will perform better than a 2.0GHz athlon though and i would expect you could at least get to 2.2 or 2.4GHz without needing to touch voltages as long as you have access to the FSB which you should have.

Incase you're wondering ExcaliberPC has a very good reputation.

Yeah I know Excaliber PC is alright, and I have found a few opterons stateside for ok prices

ECS isn't an offshoot of Asus (i think you're thinking of ASRock, which is an Asus subsidiary)

ECS is a horrible company, I had an ECS board once, it lit on fire of its own accord (not kidding, turned on the system, and theres fire coming out of it, ECS wouldn't even respond to my emails (I think theres a post in gen discussion about it, with pics, idk, i don't have copies of the pics anymore sadly))

as far as VIA OC'ing, my VT7 seems to be ok (but I don't know if thats normal or not for VIA chipsets) I guess i'll look for an opteron at a good price (To the pricewatch-mobile) and use the insane features of that DFI to "overclock the beejezus out of it"