dead horse thread - advice on new rig

khankhan New
edited July 2005 in Hardware
So towards the end of this summer I'm looking to FINALLY upgrade from the Dell that I have posted so many times in the Emergency Help Forum. My funds are limited but I'm pretty committed to this idea. For a while I was pretty sure I was set on socket 939, but I have the opportunity to buy a AMD64 3400+ (socket 754, 1mb cache) and an MSI K8N NEO3-F for about 200$. What say ye both about that particular motherboard, and the comparison between socket 754 and 939?

Comments

  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited July 2005
    You won't be giving up much, if any, going with the socket 754 system you are looking at, processor wise. That clawhammer's 1 meg L2 cache will conpensate for the single channel memory controller of socket 754. I don't know anything about the mobo though, so I can't tell you if it's decent or not.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited July 2005
    754 is still a great platform. That 3400+ should rock just about any game out today, and should last you quite a while. Performance difference between 939 and 754 is small, usually around 10%, depending on the benchmark. But as mudd mentioned above, the 1MB cache will likely offset that, when comparing against 512k 939 chips.

    Really, the only downside is future upgradability. 754 will be a 'sempron only' platform moving forward. 939 supports all of the new dual core chips, and the latest and greatest 64 bit processors, including the FX series.

    $200 is a pretty good deal for that combo. You'd probably have to shell out at least $300 for a good 939 mobo and proc. Those 1MB cache 3400s are very rare now too.

    One thing to keep in mind, if you are big into overclocking, the 1MB clawhammer chips are usually C0 stepping processors, which top out at around 2.3Ghz on average.

    What graphics card do you plan to use with that system?
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited July 2005
    you better not be planning on keeping that archaeic geforce3 ti500
  • khankhan New
    edited July 2005
    Heck no. I'm looking probably for a 6800.
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited July 2005
    I didn't see much performance increase when I moved from a 3400+ 754 chip to a 3400+ 939 chip. A 754 board will probably be just fine for you. It seems like anytime I upgrade I don't just replace my processor, I replace it all. So in 2-3 years when you're ready to upgrade again, you can move into a new 939 platform with ddr2 support and all kinds of new features. Until then, you can enjoy your inexpensive 754 platform.

    Go for it. It's a great deal.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited July 2005
    To give you an idea on what I've seen with my 2 socket 754 clawhammers, the CG stepping claw will run at 2700 MHz and my C0 stepping claw will run 2450 max. Both are mobile 3000+ procs with no IHS. They are both real easy to cool with a good hsf and even without the IHS aren't very hard to install a hsf on without messing up the core due to the humongous size of the core. The core slug is easily twice the size of a Barton core.

    BTW, I've read of people removing the IHS off their desktop clawhammers, if you feel adventurous. :cool:
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