Sempron vs Barton CPUs

[blizeH]

Hi guys,

I've got massive cooling problems with my current CPU/heatsink combo (almost certain it's more CPU related than anything) and it's running at aronud 65 degrees solid, it's an AMD Barton 2500+ btw.

I want to get a new CPU and heatsink, but the Barton 3200+ seem to go for around £60 even second hand which doesn't seem very reasonable to me, and by comparison you can pick up a Sempron 3200+ including (retail) fan and heatsink for £26 brand new from most stores.

I've got a couple of questions though:

1) Will the Asus a7n8x-e Deluxe motherboard support a 3200+ Sempron?

2) Will a 3200+ Sempron be better for gaming than my 2500+ Barton?

I appreciate I need to get a new PC sometime, but for now I've already got heaps of games I want to complete that run just fine on my PC, so I want to wait it out a little bit longer Thanks

 

[blizeH]

Many thanks for the reply, my CPU is an absolute mess though; it has the chip on the die (or whatever it's called) and one of the four corner pads has broken away a bit too, I assume both are a result of me struggling with this absolutely ridiculous heat sink that's almost impossible to put on easily.

Ideally I just want to get rid of it and get a new CPU, on the weekend I tried re-applying some arctic silver 5 (it was very slightly watery though for some reason ) and it hasn't made any difference at all, I'm worried that 'cos of the state of my CPU the more I mess with it the worse it'll get.

 

[Dade_0182]

Hey vern. My 2500 did start to run hot after 2 years as well. The mobo died in the end which resulted in my upgrade to AM2. I didn't need to connect the pins to unlock my borton. Whenever I changed the frequency in the bios all the multipliers were available to me. Only at stock was it locked. Weird if you ask me.

At the OP, like vern said: if the sempron is Socket A then go for it. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than that second had barton you spoke of. Otherwise it might be best to think of an upgrade...

 

[blizeH]

Thanks again for the replies guys, if the Sempron definitely works in my board (any way to find out? the Asus site is pretty vague!) then I'll probably go for that.

Like I said, I'm not really ready to get a new PC yet since this thing does everything I need it to, will probably wait 'til Crysis comes out and see what kinda specs that needs to run it at top detail and go for it. Have considered just getting a C2D, 8800 etc now (even added it all to my basket once!) but I don't really want to 'til I actually have a proper reason.

 

[Dade_0182]

It should say either socket A or socket 462. Got a link to the site?

 

[m25]

Honestly I would just drop the socket A and upgrade to at least socket 754 sempron or better yet a 939 with maybe a 3000+ athlon 64. These will run cooler than your current chip. Of course the ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA and a cheap pentium D might be an option for you as well. It will still run pretty warm, not sure how compared to your socket A chip though. That way, though, you have an upgrade path to core 2 and pci-express graphics.

Don't know what he can find, but newegg has that sweet S754, 2.2GHz Venice 3200+ for only $46; a $38 board for that (possible 2.5GHz is a game with that CPU) and I'd consider it a really good upgrade for the DDR and other hardware he has.

 

[blizeH]

Thanks again guys, it's definitely socket A, the Asus site doesn't mention Sempron but I swear the latest firmware (which I have) supports it, just not sure up to what speeds; linky.

Thanks m25, great price but in UK terms will probably cost double that, so that's £100~ that's probably best off going towards a new PC, but I'm not sure. I've only got an Antec 370W True Power PSU too, so with all of my hard drives and DVD-RW drives etc I'm probably already near the limits of that!

 

[blizeH]

Just noticed I can get a new retail AMD Sempron 3000+ for a rather sweet £20, no idea if my board supports it tho ;_;

Getting maybe keen on the idea of a new temporary mobo/CPU idea but not sure, think I'd rather wait 'til I get a whole new PC.

 

[m25]

Thanks again guys, it's definitely socket A, the Asus site doesn't mention Sempron but I swear the latest firmware (which I have) supports it, just not sure up to what speeds; linky.

Thanks m25, great price but in UK terms will probably cost double that, so that's £100~ that's probably best off going towards a new PC, but I'm not sure. I've only got an Antec 370W True Power PSU too, so with all of my hard drives and DVD-RW drives etc I'm probably already near the limits of that!

Don't think a 90nm S754 Athlon 3200+ of 2.2GHz consumes more than a 180nm or 130nm AthlonXP and if it's not too old, your PSU will be just fine. S754 actually has the lowest prices now, lower than Socket A also (because Socket A is becoming a museum part) so if you'll be happy with a 40-60% of improvement over what you have, I'd give a look at some S754 stuff.

 

[blizeH]

Good call, thanks. I'm looking to buy on a budget though from either www.aria.co.uk or www.ebuyer.com (both have a rather sweet £10 off £30 deal at the moment!) so any recommendations for that would be ace.

No real requirements out of the ordinary, needs an AGP slot though (because I've literally just this week bought a new AGP card, fs!), at least two ATA slots for CD drives and two hard drives and a SATA port too. 5.1 on board sound and on board ethernet are an absolute must too! ;o

 

[blizeH]

Saying that, just checked both sites and neither have any decent Socket A nor Socket S754 stuff Might just carry on using what I'm using atm as long as running at 64 degrees isn't going to really damage the system.

 

[m25]

Saying that, just checked both sites and neither have any decent Socket A nor Socket S754 stuff Might just carry on using what I'm using atm as long as running at 64 degrees isn't going to really damage the system.

Then maybe it's the case to go socket 939;
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/AMD/Athlon+64+Socket+939/AMD+Athlon+64+3800+Venice+OEM+%2A%2ASingle+Core%2A%2A?productId=26627
I found this on one of your sites; a 2.4GHz 3800+ for only £34; get it a nice cheap S939 motherboard with AGP and you will experience a real boost compared to the AthlonXP 2500+.

 

[blizeH]

Looks good, thanks. Nice price and a nice speed too.

What motherboard and cooler would you recommend btw? I hate to ask for every single part but I know if I pick one myself I'll end up with the wrong one or something won't quite work properly Found this though - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98137/rb/27444764013 - any good? And what about a heatsink/fan?

Also, would you say if you upgrade motherboard you almost always have to do a clean install of windows too?

 

[m25]

Looks good, thanks. Nice price and a nice speed too.

What motherboard and cooler would you recommend btw? I hate to ask for every single part but I know if I pick one myself I'll end up with the wrong one or something won't quite work properly Found this though - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98137/rb/27444764013 - any good? And what about a heatsink/fan?

Also, would you say if you upgrade motherboard you almost always have to do a clean install of windows too?

This mobo has only PCI-e and won;t let you use your AGP card. Just find a S939 board with AGP and it will be just fine.
As for the cooler, the ArcticFreezer64Pro is the best price/performance and good for overclocking too but they don't have it, do I'd get this instead:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/91816/rb/27445683496

 

[blizeH]

Brilliant, cheers m25! What I may do, since this CPU is pretty much 100% useless now anyway (it runs fine, but since it's in a bit of a physical mess I won't be able to sell it) I may just wait 'til it dies and then replace it then. I don't know how to explain it, but basically there's no point in me buying new stuff just in case this one dies, when the worst case scenario is to buy new stuff anyway, if that makes sense ;p

Going to make a note of your recommendations, so if/when it happens at least I can go straight ahead and get that CPU, heat sink and a suitable motherboard

 

[m25]

Brilliant, cheers m25! What I may do, since this CPU is pretty much 100% useless now anyway (it runs fine, but since it's in a bit of a physical mess I won't be able to sell it) I may just wait 'til it dies and then replace it then. I don't know how to explain it, but basically there's no point in me buying new stuff just in case this one dies, when the worst case scenario is to buy new stuff anyway, if that makes sense ;p

Going to make a note of your recommendations, so if/when it happens at least I can go straight ahead and get that CPU, heat sink and a suitable motherboard

Well, you're the owner, but if it was me, I'd only postpone this upgrade for one reason; ONLY If I had no money for it right now, because:
1-If the system is unstable your data is constantly at risk
2-the board is old enough and might have issues by itself an one beautiful day send your system in smoke
3-you might NOT find S939 stuff this cheap in the future, or not find it AT ALL
4-A 3800+ performs at least 50% faster than a 2500+ Barton

 

[blizeH]

Is it really going to perform 50%+ faster than my current system?! :O Nice.

I dunno, I'm just put off by the fact I'd rather get a whole new PC, also my power supply is borderline, and the new graphics card I've just bought (x1650) is naff too, so there's barely a single part on the computer (apart from the case ) that I actually like any more.

 

[yakyb]

in that case check out some of the budget build guides that have been popping up recently you will see a huge gain in one of them!

 

[blizeH]

Yup, some of those budget PCs are awesome! I want to get something decent though, just not yet, heh

 

[blizeH]

Was just very close to ordering a Dell, Core2Duo, 2GB RAM etc for £340 delivered, including 19" monitor (would sell on I guess) and Vista Home Premium too!

Didn't bother though, probably a lucky escape from Dell