AMD- 939 vs. AM2 motherboards

[Pintail]

So, since 939 will soon be out of production and am3 isn't due till 2008, I guess my best bet to stay with AMD is to go with am2 MB...opinions?

 

[dezonio2]

Definetly, I don't know much about the nex gen AMD socket but AM2 is pretty new, plus it gives you cheaper processors and DDR2 memory...939 doesn't make sense unles you can get it ridiculously cheap or already own a good 939 proc.

 

[Pintail]

Ok...my socket A only has a sempron 2800. No options about upgrading THAT...Thanks

 

[sirheck]

if you want amd go with the socket am2.

 

[choirbass]

well... theres also the issue with system memory already purchased, if you already own a fair amount of DDR1 memory (at least 1GB anyhow), you could negate that cost from the purchase of a new cpu/motherboard/memory/gpu purchase... and get practically identical performance, for less money (s939 ~= sam2 performance)

but, if you dont mind ditching your existing DDR1 memory in favor of a complete overhaul, then am2 makes sense then... the best bet then is to invest in at least DDR2 800 memory then to maximize sam2 performance, because memory speed is a major contributing factor to performance with sam2)

on a lesser note, GPU interface will affect your motherboard choices as well... if you want to keep your existing AGP GPU, youll have to find an AGP compatible MB... if youre planning to upgrade your GPU though, then that point is moot.

point to be made though, is that for cost/performance ratio... sam2 is not the way to go (with their current 90nm cpus anyhow)... ...if anything, you could wait until amds 65nm introduction next month (i believe next month anyhow), see what reviews say, and see if its worth it... <i>that</i> would be the best thing to do, IMO, if going for a sam2 upgrade.

 

[elpresidente2075]

Don't forget any AM3 processor is going to be a drop-in for any AM2 board. The only major difference is DDR3 support, amongst some other changes.

 

[Pintail]

Thanks...system has one stick pc3200 ValueRam 512k...definitely looking 4 at least 2GiG (maybe 4, depending on vista and future games.) Dual Channel? I dunno.

I know nothing of overclocking, but have used asus AI overclock on both boy's A8N-E systems (10%oc)to bring athlon 3500+ from 2200 to over 2400 mhz (according to PC Wizard.

What would be a good processor(am2) and DDR2 ram match? I know prices are really variable now, but I was looking at the M2N-E mobo.
It seems to have all i want, i guess. I play Oblivion, Fear, M&M Dark Messiah on my sons' systems. 17"viewsonic E70 CRT (still haven't seen a fast enough LCD to convince me!) Max playable 1280x1028, but 1024x768 is good enough for me... Thanks in advance.[/quote]

 

[elpresidente2075]

Any X2 and of course DDR2800. That gives the best match in clock speeds and circumvents the ol' performance hit going to lower DDR2 speeds. I'd recommend any of the X2 4000 series or higher of the AMD processors.

And you probably should look at a good lcd. I thought the same thing until I actually bought one. Now I'll never go back.

 

[choirbass]

well... the games you named support dual core cpus (oblivion and dark messiah do anyhow, not sure about fear)... so your best bet is already to invest in a dual core cpu, at least an X2 3600+... ...OCing is always the best way to go to maximize cost/performance ratio too, so you could take that X2 3600+ up to X2 4600+ speeds, or higher, if you wanted to

for OCing, also, an aftermarket cpu cooler is always nice to have (not essential, but keeps noise levels and temperature down)... creating efficient case ventilation by way of cable and fan placement is something to consider also, otherwise, your cpu will pretty much always be running warm, even with a 3rd party hs+f

as far as which memory brand... not really sure... ...ideally, for sam2, you would want low latency/high bandwidth memory, though (but that can also be expensive)... be sure to invest in at least brand name memory at any rate... you definetly want to avoid budget memory anyhow so your system remains stable (value ram isnt always the best idea, even if it is cheaper)... paired memory modules are also worth considering, so you have dual channel performance added, at the very least 1GB (2x512MB), as thats the optimal minimum for smooth gameplay under winXP x86

you might need to consider a PSU upgrade as well (again, brand name over budget, due to reliability and stability issues, investing at least $60 in a new PSU as a general rule)... because your existing PSU might not be able to handle the new loads being set on it (particularly in regards to amperages on the 12v rails)... but, that will also depend on which hardware you choose to purchase too.

 

[Pintail]

Thanks Folks...I may have to do some researching into OC'ing. Wow, games already support Dual core? Time to get my head out of the sand.
So I Need

Mobo
Ram
Video
Case
SATA HDD

For Starts...oc options can come later.

 

[choirbass]

and an X2 cpu lol

oh, as far as HDDs, for the best price/performance/capacity ratio, perpendicular recording drives are the way to go

 

[Pintail]

oops, yes x2. man this could be a few bux. Maybe I'll go with a decent board, reasonable x2, and mid-range graphics for now. And I think I'll go for higher end DDR2 once i figure out which timings would work the best.