Dark2Light

Distinguished
Jul 23, 2004
3
0
18,510
I have been looking to upgrade my computer and have been debating whether to shell out the cash for a brand new 775 mobo with the pci express and ddr2 or should i go with the new 64 bit systems from amd. now the problem is i might need to upgrade quicker if i get a 64 bit processor but it will be cheaper. and if i get the new intel chipset i won't have to upgrade quite as soon but i will have to pay a lot more. what do you guys and girls think?
 

ksleeper

Distinguished
Dec 13, 2002
7
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18,510
I would not recommend S775. If you want latest and greatest and a variety of currently useless features go 775. Motherboard makers as a whole were NOT happy with Intel's brilliant idea to put the pins on the motherboard, as it makes shipping and packaging harder on them (those pins bend real easy), they are going to be very finicky about warranty (important if you put it together your self, or actually put together more than one system on a regular basis), if you bend a pin while installing the chip by accident, forget just straightening it with a pair of needlenose pliers (standard practice on S462, 478, 754, 939, and 940 in assembly), the chips on it all run insanely hot, far worse than AMD chips everdreamed of, even in their worst S462 days, and (Drum roll please) PCI-E is currently nearly useless as their has yet to be a card that has even utilized the entire bandwidth available on an 8X AGP Slot.
However, I would best recommend, if you can afford, S939. S939 offers dual-core support, currently a very high end feature limited to large servers and server chips (before ignorant people try to say they don't exist, just take a careful look at IBM's various Power5 processors), dual channel memory support for unbuffered memory (cheaper than the other kind on 940), and you are not paying extra for features you don't need currently, other than 64 bit, which if Windows for once (I ain't holding my breath) sticks to its release date for XP-64 will be useful within the next year.
As far as the usefullness of X-86 64bit, as far as no one going there yet, to all die hard Intel fans (I know a few are out there), I list the following facts that happened as or after AMD released their 64bit chips.
Fact: Intel initialy expected to call the Prescott core P5, didn't get enough of a performance gain to justify it. It also ran extremely hot.
Fact: Intel has recently scrapped it's other so called P5 core, codenamed Tejas, for unknown or very vague reasons.
Fact: Intel (AFTER AMD ALREADY DID SO) has decided that X-86 64 is a good thing, back-engineered AMD's version, already released a version of the Xeon with it for review (Nocona core), and is relegating Itanium for the time being as a niche product.
Fact: Intel has also made multiple press statements now, after all this time (multiple years) that, go figure, clockspeed is not the only way to gain cpu performance, and that they will now go to a rating system, mirroring competitor AMD's reasons for doing so years ago almost word for word.
Fact: They then stated they are now working on shortened pipeline, larger cache, dual core chips, which mirrors AMD's strategy for the past few years.
Basically, Intel ran into a brick wall recently on quickly ramping up the clock speed of there chips and in desperation is now trying to look for any answer that works, adding features all the time, and mirroring the practices of its competitors.
Happy to see any replies.
Best S939 system
Video card: pick your poison, recommend Asus brand for long warranty though.
Asus A8V (reputation in industry for unbreakability as well as good features, something I have yet to see a mag test for)
Any lifetime warranty memory, as long as it is the manufacture who has the lifetime warranty, Crucial, Corsair, OCZ, etc.
Antec case.
Western Digital drives, pick ones with 3 year warranty.
Pay the extra for a retail warranty chip box, it is worth a couple bucks to know the chip is covered for three years
Pioneer DVD-Burner, Plextor CD-Burner are best brands so far for durability that I have tested.

S754: Identical recommendations save go with ASUS K8N-E deluxe. Best overclocking features around and NO STUPID CORE CELL. Minor glitch issues with MSI CORE CELL boards and manual overclocking