will this 939 mobo be okay??

[newdude]

Hey guys since they just released the athlon 3000 socket 939; I decided to go with the socket 939 because it has more upgradeing options then the 754 socket. The mobos are still pretty expensive, so I'm getting the (Abit "AVA" k8t800 socket 939 mobo). It's $111.00 on newgg so thats not to bad, and about all i can afford . I know the mobo takes dual memory chanel , so i'm getting Twinmas dual channel 512mb(256mb x 2) pc 3200, $84.00. It's a entertainment and light gaming computer so i think it'll do. What do you guys think. Will it be okay? I'm not looking for the best excatly(because i can't aford it) just the mid-range. Something that will work good. Any thoughts is helpfull.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get a mobo based on nForce3 Ultra chipset

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[Mr5oh]

I'm with SpitFire_x86, you would be better off with a nForce chipset. Yes that motherboard will work, but you aren't doing anything to stressful with your PC, why not just go socket 754? Sure the fastest chip out for 754 is a 3700+. But by the time you need to upgrade again, 939 stuff will have dropped in price, plus with stuff like PCI express and such coming out, you will probably be looking at motherboards again when you upgrade.

Why buy the bottom of the line stuff, when you could afford much better stuff if you went socket 754. Personally I have only upgraded just a CPU one time, and it was going from a 1.2 ghz AMD, to a 1.3 ghz AMD, and this was only becuase the 1.3 was free. Every other time I have upgraded my CPU I've had to get a new motherboard.

Also faster RAM doesn't cost that much more, maybe PC4000 or something, this would give you some overclocking room in the future, which could give you a little more time in between upgrades.

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[El_Jefe_77]

I have just installed a athlon 3000+ 754 chip on the ABIT kv8 Pro board. It is a staple setup, which is what i wanted. It was a cheap setup too! I have corsair platinum memory, decent for some OC'ing, a 512 chip single.

The thing BLOWS through games with an old 8500DV for light 3d gaming (like 1942 type of stuff). I just put on a ati 9800 AIWonder pro, moan, what a crazy board, mmm, and now, well, it blows through all my games, but now does Doom great. not max, but er, 1 in like 50 gamers run that at max so i dont feel bad (fx-53 939, 2 gig pc4000 ram, nvidia 6800 ultra, rob a bank...)

basically, youll be very happy with you 939 3000 chip which, even though it runs only at 1.8 ghz compared to 2,0 in a 754 form at 3000+, it still runs quicker and is a very strong buy, but not worth it.

Dual channel memory vs single isnt really a big deal for a64's, im convinced of that now finally. Good memory is nice, lower timings work the best it seems. You wont see a drop of difference in performance of the 939 to the 754, im betting. It only begins to be noticable at the way upper ends like using a 3500-3800 chip, where the system wants more and more (or is it the user that does?)

 

[newdude]

Hey, I think you guys are right, I think I'm just going to stay with the 754 setup because it can gey better stuff. Here's my socket 754 setup:

1)athlon 64 3000($164.00 newegg) "maybe I'll get the 3200"
2)corsair value select 512mb or 1024mb($84.00 or ? newegg)
3)gigabyte "GA-K8NS PRO" nForce3 250 ($103.00 newegg)
4)Sparkle Power 530w Model "FSP530-60GNA"($74.00 newegg)
5)Radeon 9700 pro 128mb($145.00 ebay)
6)Maxtor 40 gig hard drive(Already own)

Total=$564.00

I don't plan on overclocking because I would like to sale some of the products on ebay when i get ready to upgrade in the future and I would like the products to still be in great shape for the buyer.

 

[jlpicard1413]

Hi ... I have just read your proposed upgrade .... currently I have a T'bird 1.33 CPU with 512MB PC2100 DDR RAM and hopefully I am on the verge of upgrading to the same set up as you .. same mobo, same CPU and same memory!! ... even down to the corsair "value select" ... only difference is I have a Gainward "Golden Sample" Geforce 4 Ti4800SE graphics card which I want to keep, and I am hoping that this will be OK for a while 'cos I can't afford to put a new Graphics card in as well - I am in the UK and the CPU, mobo and memory are around £250 (this is my limit for the upgrade)... I think that a meaningful graphics card replacement would cost another £150 ... I am aware of the DX8 and DX9 effect Geforce 4 to FX. Can my current Geforce 4 cope? What do you think?
JLP

 

[newdude]

Yeah it kind of sucks that things are more expensive over there. Unfotuneatly I'm still learning alot about computers. This is going to be my first build so I'm still a newby in the learning thing. I know some of the other guys in here will be able to help you, they sure have helped me. I like the 64 chip because probally like you ,When I Build this, I want it to last probally about 3 years. I don't mind even if i can only play the games at mimumum system requirements. Right now I'm playing test driver 6 at bare minumum requirements. Pentium 2 350 mghz and radeon rage pro 64 mb. I'm not very familar nVida cards; I've only been a radeon person. I know the new generation of games are using and going to be using the directX 9 so getting a directX 9 card should be the thing to buy.

 

[Mr5oh]

Your choices look good. The motherboard is a good choice. As for going 512 or 1024, what do you do? Some of the latest games benefit from using 1024, but for many people 512 is enough (May allow you to postpone buying the extra RAM chip for a while). The PSU is definately a keeper, Sparkle and Fortron are generally about the best you can buy, and are under-rated, meaining it will be more power than you need.

The 9700 Pro is a good card, and everyone knows that they are hard to find, but I would be hesistant on paying $150 for a card that I am assuming is used. At 145 (Does that include shipping), you are almost getting to 9800 Pro territory, perhaps someone else can give an opinion on which would be a better choice.

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