939 vs. AM2 on a tight budget

[hjruf1]

Hello All, I am presently running Win XP on an AMD K6-III 400MHZ CPU in a PCChips motherboard. I am having some problems, which I attribute to the aged BIOS and the glacial speeds, even though for most things it still runs amazingly well. That being said I want to upgrade and need to keep the price low. I like AMD, both the chips and company, even though the higher ups need to get a kick in the pants for letting Intel back in by their poor performance. I am therefore looking to upgrade to an AMD CPU, anything from and Athlon 64 to and Athlon 64 X2. I see that I can upgrade to either a 939 or an AM2 motherboard, which is the better choice. Upgrading the new board is not an issue, later this year I expect to have much more $ and will be able to buy way up the line. For right now I need to go inexpensive. On Newegg AM2's start around $47 and go to about $250, 939's start around $57 and go from there. Are the cheaper AM2's as good or better than the slightly more expensive 939's? I see that the AM2's seem to need DDR-800 vs. the 939's DDR-400, will this be a major issue? Basically I would like your opinions as to the best combination of CPU and MB/Memory etc. for the buck.

 

[hjruf1]

In addition, any suggestions of the best MB manufacturer and model would be greatly appreciated. I haven't overclocked yet, but may want to in the future.

Thanks!

 

[hjruf1]

If I wanted to use and Opteron chip which type of MB is usable?

Thanks again!

 

[fatalfidelity]

Definitely go with AM2..not only is it cheaper and easily available but you'll have a much larger upgrade path in the future. As for the bang for the buck part, I would need some sort of budget to figure it out.

 

[turboflame]

Yes, a ballpark budget and what you are going to be using the comp for (gaming, just basic internet browsing / word, etc) would help

 

[spanner_razor]

Doesn't matter what his budget is really, he's asking us to help us choose between the two platforms. AM2 is the newer platform, it's cheaper than 939 counterparts because 939 has been discontinued by AMD so there isn't as much stock. Go for the the AM2 out of the two.

 

[telim]

Please, for the love of God, don't waste your money on crap hardware that you can't upgrade. AM2 is dying very soon. 939 is dead. etc. Hell even 775 as we know it is on the way out...

just get the cheapest 775 mobo u can find with integrated graphics (~$100)
the cheapest C2D proc (~$200) and 512MB DDR2 ram. (~$50).

Stick to Asus motherboards if you can.

We need more info about your budget to pick actual parts for you, but you should be able to get into a nice C2D system for sub $500. And if you overclock that, even a little, it'll blow any AM2 system away by leaps and bounds.

 

[brick88]

am2 and the cost difference between the 2 rams are negligible.

 

[hjruf1]

Telim, what part of I don't like Intel do you not understand? I realize that at the moment they have the performance advantage, but if it were up to them we would all still be using 286 or 386. I've been using computers long enough to remember being told that 286 was all the desktop user would ever need. Their tactics are dirty and their architectures usually suck. If it were for the pressure caused by AMD CPU's would cost a fortune and you wouldn't be able to overclock a processor, Intel would lock everything up tight as a drum. I do appreciate the advice prople give, but it would be nice if people read the questions and when a preference is stated stick to the question. Sorry, but this has been bugging me for a while.

 

[hjruf1]

My budget is as little as reasonably possible, for numbers < $200 if I can with 1 GB of RAM if possible. I can find parts at Newegg for instance with low prices, but I guess what I am wondering about is actual pros and cons of AM2 vs. 939; which motherboard manufacturers are best and why, actual reasons and not just stated opinions. I am a physicist by trainging and I like to make a decision based upon facts whenever possible.

Thanks to one and all.

 

[tekzor]

Please, for the love of God, don't waste your money on crap hardware that you can't upgrade. AM2 is dying very soon. 939 is dead. etc. Hell even 775 as we know it is on the way out...

just get the cheapest 775 mobo u can find with integrated graphics (~$100)
the cheapest C2D proc (~$200) and 512MB DDR2 ram. (~$50).

Stick to Asus motherboards if you can.

We need more info about your budget to pick actual parts for you, but you should be able to get into a nice C2D system for sub $500. And if you overclock that, even a little, it'll blow any AM2 system away by leaps and bounds.

*cough*loser*cough


get AM2
939 is equivalent but dead

 

[bobby6k34]

i would go for the AM2 alltho when the K10,s come out thay will be on the AM2+ sockit you can stell run them on AM2 you will just missout on a few extras IMHO thay should run fine without them just get a cheep dualcore say a 3600 and if you plan on upgradeing when the K10's come out then you wont be loseing to moch money when you do


P.S sorry for my spelling

 

[turboflame]

Well here's what I'd go for (CPU/Mobo/Mem/VGA)

BIOSTAR TForce 6100 AM2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro - $75 , I chose this board because of integrated graphics and overclockability, it is micro ATX but these can usually fit into ATX cases

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - $95 , nice dual core, 65nm

G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $99 ,The downside to AM2 is that you need fast, low latency RAM which is usually more expensive

The above adds up to $271 + $7.43 shipping

Of course you could always go cheaper to match up with your >$200 budget

same mobo as above

G.SKILL 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - $50 , less ram but you can add another stick when you get the money

AMD Sempron 64 3000+ Manila 1.6GHz 256KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 - $43 , Semprons have the best bang for the buck, it will still be an enormous upgrade from your current CPU and you can OC, plus you can always upgrade to dual core

This "budgetier" build would total $167.97 +$7.43

Either way, you will have to reinstall windows and all of your programs, etc.

Do you know how many Watts your old PSU has? If its <200W you may need to upgrade that too.

Hope this helps