AMD Budget Build S754 or S939?

[buckyfan]

Well - I know that neither is a really great option - but I'm building on a budget and (so far anyway) not for heavy 3D gaming. Let me start by saying that my current rig is a 1GHz, P3, 512MB, AGP 9700Pro, WinXP machine, and it believe it or not works just great for what we use it for - surfing and a few games. Harry Potter Quiddich works fine, and Trackmania sunrise does too - though it might be taxing things a bit.

Anyway, since I need another computer in the house due to kids - I figured I'd build one on a budget. I wound up buying an Asus MB (KT800 chipset), an Athlon 64 3200, an AGP 6600GT video card, and an Antec 430W PS all for about $100 used. Great deal I thought. So I went about buying 2 gig of ram, case, dvd, etc., and was getting ready to build. Until I remembered how the 9700pro got into my existing rig - one of the kids coming home with a 3D zoo simulator and then getting about 5 seconds per frame on the old TNT2. Soon thereafter I went to a Ti4200 and then the 9700pro (thanks to helpful people on this forum).

So as I was contemplating the build - I thought that for now - it would run circles around what I have - however - maybe one of the kids will come home with a game that will tax the 6600GT - and then being stuck with AGP - I'd be out of luck.

So, I'm considering just selling the S754 MB and CPU, and moving the components to a 939 setup. I could get the ASRock MB with both AGP and PCI-e and use the 6600GT for a while, or maybe just get a cheaper 939 MB with PCI-3 only and pick up a x800gto for the time being.

As I said - I don't play many heavy 3D games - but who knows. I do rip some CD's to MP3. I guess I figured that with the 939 setup at least I could run the ram dual channel, have access to PCI-e video, and even drop in a X2 sometime in the future. I'd at least have some room for upgrading - or thats the thought anyway.

Does anyone have any experience with this S754 vs. 939 thing? And if I do go 939, is it worth it to buy the MB with both AGP and PCI-e - or is the 6600GT so far gone that I should just sell it too and move on to PCI-e?

Any advice is greatly appreciated - and thanks for reading this long post.

 

[Mr_Speedy]

I agree. Go AM2. I think the prices are similar.

 

[SPARTAN-117]

Go with a S939 mobo, it supports more features and is more user friendly as far as parts go. S754 is a bit old and the 939's are better due to the on-dye memory controller. What kind of budget are you aiming for? I'll lay-out a system for you below and tell me what you think and I'll tweak accordingly.

HDD: 80 Gb Western Digital Caviar $47
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101206

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

Mobo: ASUS A8N5X nForce 4 $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569

RAM: Kingston Value RAM 512mb kit $68 (recommend 2 512's for 1gb total)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80093-22

VGA: BFG GeForce 7600GT $144
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049

DVD/CD Drive: Lite-On 16x Dual Layer DVD Drive $42
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=170677

FDD: Samsung 1.44mb FDD $7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821103203

Sound Card: Creative Labs SBA 4 $72
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102004

Case: Antec Solution ATX Mid $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

PSU: Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

Total Cost plus 10% for shipping: $720.50 8)

 

[buckyfan]

Well -

I've got (2) 1GB DDR400 Ram (PNY)

Seagate 7200.10 250 GB SATA drive

Lite On DVD

Antec 430W True Power

SoundBlaster Live (I may upgrade to Audigy 4 series later - or X-fi)

Cooler Master Centurion Case

And a line on an Athlon 64 3500+ (S939) for about $50 used.

I know AM2 is better - my motivation to go S939 was to keep the RAM. should I sell the RAM and get DDR2? Like I said - I'm really not a performance nut - so I don't know if it would pay for a user like me.

 

[shabodah]

Everytime someone has a question about socket 754, the answers are completely inaccurate. The latest 754 chips were the same revision as the latest 939 chips, both of which are now outdated by the AM2 chips. 939 does allow for dual core cpu's, which is great, but for most things it sounds like you'll be doing, will be overkill. The 6600GT should be fine for just about anything other than heavy gaming, and get get by on low resolutions for most of than even. Dual Channel memory does NOT, I repeat, does NOT get you a significant amount of performance, so really should not enter in the equation. The 754 chips DO HAVE the integrated memory controller. Since you've already got some parts that will suite your needs, I'd not bother trying to sell them all to get slightly better stuff. Odds are you'll want a completely new system when you do decide to upgrade to both Vista and a DirectX 10 video card, anyway, and you'll not need to rush into that upgrade.

 

[randomizer]

Selling the RAM and getting DDR2 is a good idea if you are getting at least DDR2 667, as DDR2 533 will likely have less performance than DDR400 because of looser timings. Wasnt there an AM2 asrock board that supported DDR or DDR2, or was that just the 775-VSTA?

 

[elpresidente2075]

There's a similar board to the 775-VSTA in the 754 variety. Also there's the 939 dual-VSTA (formerly 939 Dual SATA II) which has suited my needs quite well. Quite the system, I must say, and if you are looking to upgrade sometime in the future without having to spend a whole heap, its the way to go. Both of the boards I mentioned here are upgradeable to the AM2 socket and its DDR2 ram through an add-on card for about 35 bucks.

Happy computing!

 

[jaguarskx]

I would go with a S939 setup. Since you already have the RAM, it will be a cheaper build. AM2 and S939 CPUs of the same model performs the same (i.e. AM2 X2 3800+ vs. S939 X2 3800+). The difference is in the RAM; the AM2 CPU will need to be paired up with DDR2 800 to equal the performance of the S393 and DDR 400 RAM.

I would only go with the AM2 Athlons if you are looking for anything faster than the X2 4600+. Faster CPUs will only be for socket AM2.

The Asrock motherboard you referred actually has some good reviews for a budget motherboard. Many people bought it when PCI-e video cards first came out, but they wanted to hold on to their AGP cards. It is the only true AGP/PCI-e hybrid motherboard around. Anandtech.com did a review of it and stated that AGP performance on this board is 95% of true AGP motherboard. That's much better than other crap solutions that were around during that time.

 

[jaguarskx]

Asrock also announced the release of an add on daughterboard for the above mentioned motherboard that will allow you to install an AM2 Athlon not very long ago.

 

[elpresidente2075]

That is quite correct, and it is also compatible with the K8U socket 754 board as well. They actually released it shortly after AM2 came out. I watched it very closely, as I was wanting to get one... hasn't happened yet.

 

[shabodah]

Are you saying that the socket 939 AsRock motherboard is compatable with the 754 daugtercard? I've been curious if anyone actually tested this to be true. It would come in handy for certain diagnostics I come accross from time to time.

 

[elpresidente2075]

Unfortunately, that is not the case. However, if you get one of the K8U series motherboards with the yellow upgrade slot, it has the capability to be compatible with 754, 939, and AM2. As I recall, the 754 motherboard is relatively cheap ($40 at newegg), and if you are looking for a diagnostic tool would be a pretty good investment, as you get three different boards for much less than three normally. The problem becomes finding the daughterboards.

Here's a link if anyone is interested...

 

[shabodah]

I was primarily interested do to the ability the combo I suggested would have given you to test 754/939/AM2 with AGP or PCIe. Thus, just about every somewhat current combination for AMD (non-server of course).

 

[purdueguy]

Well, there are some games that tax even the best systems if you want all of the eye candy on and play at high resolutions.

I think you'll be fine with that system for awhile since gaming is secondary. I own a 6600GT and it does fine for what I need. I do some gaming and have to naturally turn the resolution down on some games, but at the moment I'm content. I even only have an Athlon XP 2400+.

Just to upgrade to a socket 939 3500+ isn't worth it. You'd be much better off getting an X850Pro with the S754 3200 chip than a S939 3500+ with the 6600GT.

If you are seriously thinking of dumping the socket 754, then I would at least wait until the X1950Pro AGP cards are out at the end of the month supposedly. If the card sell for $199 like it's PCI-Express brethren (which I highly doubt), then get this card.

If it's closer to $300 like I assume it will be, then here's what I suggest.

With memory so expensive, I'd build around a socket 939 since you already have 2x1GB DDR 400 sticks.

Here's a pretty good deal at Newegg. The ABIT mobo is 25 bucks off plus if you buy the 3700+ with it, you get another 25 bucks off.

Total $183. It's good until the end of the month. Hmmm, just in time to see what the cost of the X1950Pro AGP will be.

Since you are now able to use a PCI-Express card, Newegg has the ASUS X1950Pro (no VIVO) for $171. It's currently out-of-stock, but I'm assuming it will be back in by the end of the month.

Total Upgrade $353 and it would be one nice system.

You can get the ASRock Dual mobo if you get a cheap socket 939 chip but don't look at this mobo to upgrade to AM2. With AM2, you NEED DDR2 800 to get any performance boost that the AM2 chip has. And since this mobo doesn't support DDR2, getting an AM2 chip is a waste of money.

The good thing about this mobo is that it supports PCI-Express when you are ready to go that route.

 

[elpresidente2075]

And since this mobo doesn't support DDR2, getting an AM2 chip is a waste of money.

The daughter card has the DIMM slots on it for the DDR2. When you install the card, it switches the routes of the hardware to the daughter card. Also, since the A64's have the IMC, it would be impossible to use DDR with an AM2 proc.

 

[purdueguy]

And since this mobo doesn't support DDR2, getting an AM2 chip is a waste of money.

The daughter card has the DIMM slots on it for the DDR2. When you install the card, it switches the routes of the hardware to the daughter card. Also, since the A64's have the IMC, it would be impossible to use DDR with an AM2 proc.

You're right. My bad. I meant to say you can't use an AM2 chip for the system since the mobo doesn't also support DDR2.

Though, as a sidenote, my personal preference is having as clean a solution for a computer as possible. Adding a daughter card to use AM2 and to put the memory there is going to use up valuable space.

Btw, do you have a link to how this will actually look? Maybe my comment is superfluous.