AMD Athlon 64 MB/CPU/Mem Combo - Socket 939 or AM2?

[masop]

I hope this is in the proper section of the forum.

I've got $250 to work with. I'm considering doing an "Interim" Socket 939 Based upgrade to an Asus A8N-E Mainboard, Athlon 64 4000+ (SanDiego Core w/1MB Cache) Retail Boxed CPU and using my existing Crucial/Micron PC-3200 Memory (1GB x 2). Total cost for upgrade would be $234 Shipped.

My existing rig has an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe Mainboard (Socket A) with an Athlon XP 3200+ (running at 2500+ for stability purposes) and 2GB of Crucial/Micron PC-3200 memory which I intend on putting on the new board to save $$$.

Should I just pickup an AM2 board and AM2 processor and new DDR2 memory or would this be a good "Interim" buy considering how new the AM2 platform is and the cost/performance ratio difference? The upgrade will be for general performance reasons, though a future PCI-Express video card upgrade will happen probably in the Winter/Spring time frame for faster gaming. Thanks for the input.

-- MaSoP

 

[ikjadoon]

It is the general forum for those kind of questions, so you're good.

This is kind of a difficult question. AM2 should only be used for new builds as it doesn't offer much to the 939 user. But you have Socket A. I would say AM2 because with 939 you are "stuck" with the 4000+.

~Ibrahim`

 

[The_Prophecy]

If this is going to be an Interm build, what are you planning on eventually moving to? A Core 2 system? A higher end AM2?

Either way... what you were looking at (A64 400+, A8N-E) would be good. The only thing I would change is drop to 1GB of ram (2 x 512MB) if you're going to be moving to either a Core 2, or an AM2 build.

 

[masop]

Actually, that board can handle the Dual Core X2 model up to 4800+ for Socket 939 as well as the FX-60 if it ever becomes reasonably priced, as it becomes phased out over time by the AM2 Based FX-62. The Athlon 64 3800 (Venice Core) might actually be an even better choice than the 4000+ as it leaves another roughly 1GHz+ (at least rating wise, lol) of expandable cpu upgrades before fully maxing out the board and socket platform; plus it's at the sweet spot price wise. I really have little need for dual core now but will want it later. No software I have supports dual core optimizations and I don't have the 64-bit version of windows at this time either.

-- MaSoP

It is the general forum for those kind of questions, so you're good.

This is kind of a difficult question. AM2 should only be used for new builds as it doesn't offer much to the 939 user. But you have Socket A. I would say AM2 because with 939 you are "stuck" with the 4000+.

~Ibrahim`

 

[masop]

I'm not sure actually. Most likely a dual core setup, that is for sure. I've considered the Core 2 Duo as well as the AM2 Dual Core platform. Both are really new on the market and require me to buy new DDR2 memory which adds to the cost. Why would it be reccommended to drop to 1GB if I went Core 2 or AM2? I use photoshop and other memory intensive apps at times which greatly utilize the extra memory. I suppose I should of mentioned what the system is used for in the initial post. Sorry about that.

If I get a 3800 Venice Core instead of the 4000 model I could save another $22 or so, look at spending $212 and still be 1.3GHz roughly above where I am now (since I cannot run the 3200 above 2500 w/o BSOD's, long story) with more expandability than I have now. I wonder how much of a performance difference there would be between the Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500, 3800 and 4000 models. The 3500 is around $90 at ZipZoomFly. Thanks for the reply.

-- MaSoP

If this is going to be an Interm build, what are you planning on eventually moving to? A Core 2 system? A higher end AM2?

Either way... what you were looking at (A64 400+, A8N-E) would be good. The only thing I would change is drop to 1GB of ram (2 x 512MB) if you're going to be moving to either a Core 2, or an AM2 build.

 

[The_Prophecy]

I'm not sure actually. Most likely a dual core setup, that is for sure. I've considered the Core 2 Duo as well as the AM2 Dual Core platform. Both are really new on the market and require me to buy new DDR2 memory which adds to the cost. Why would it be reccommended to drop to 1GB if I went Core 2 or AM2? I use photoshop and other memory intensive apps at times which greatly utilize the extra memory. I suppose I should of mentioned what the system is used for in the initial post. Sorry about that.

I suggested dropping to 1GB since this is an interm build. If you're not going to be using it very long, no sense in spending more money on parts you'll only use for 6 months or however long it is before you build the new one. If you're going to end up keeping the interm build though, go for 2GB if you want.

 

[ikjadoon]

Curse my mistake. No way to squeeze in a dual-core?

If not, go with the 3500+ and OC very slowly. It is only 200Mhz, even a budget motherboard/memory combo can do that much.

Go with ONE stick of 1GB, dual-channel has negligible increases in AM2 builds. That way later on you can grab another 1GB stick for two total and get that negligible increase and sync the timings for utmost stablity.

~Ibrahim~