Upgrade on 939 motherboard

[elcold]

I currently have a 3500+ venice in my 2nd comp, and since I have 200 dollars to spend, I was thinking of upgrading it to a dual core. I also am looking at adding ram (I currently have 1 gb of pc3200 DDR, with 2 slots open). I am wondering what is the best 939 processor to upgrade to in terms of value, and if I should get faster ram or just get a 1 gig stick. Also I have a 6800XT in there, oc'd to 471/1355, if that helps.

 

[Wisecracker]

Be hard to beat the AMD Opteron 170 Denmark 2.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core from The Egg for $135. Should OC to 2.6 - 2.8GHz, maybe higher if yah gots good kharma!

 

[Mondoman]

Or get the Athlon 64 x2 3800+ Toledo 2.0GHz dual core for around $85 (OEM version w/o hsf, though).

 

[elpresidente2075]

I've got the x2 3800 running at 2.6ghz right now with a nice aircooler. Too bad I spent $30 more on it :? , but I needed it then, and this is now.

@OP:
Out of curiosity, what motherboard do you have? Also (my opinion), just get more ram. If you've only got 1 gig, the performance difference between faster ram or more ram should be in favor of more ram, with any modern OS in day to day usage. You could, of course get the new stick and some heatspreaders for your ram and do a bit of OC'ing and get the faster ram AND more ram, all for the price of just more ram!

GL

 

[vic20]

Opty 170 gets my vote.

Mine's @ 2.9

 

[wingless]

Get an Opteron 170 or higher if you can afford it. I dont know if Newegg has any left but I got an OEM Opteron 185 for $230 (before shipping) this week. Check to see if they have any other OEM Opterons because they're leaps and bounds cheaper than the retail boxes!

BTW mine is running at: 250mhz@11.5 multiplier = 2875mhz on stock voltage.

I got a thermal electric Monsoon II air cooler I have yet to install and I hope to get up to 3.2ghz with this setup.

Opterons are simply the premium 939 cpus and they're cheap enough now so you should invest in one if you plan to stay in the 939 club.

 

[elcold]

I have a MSI albacore, is the performance boost worth the extra cost on the 185? I might have to do a few more bit jobs over the summer to pay for these upgrades .

 

[wingless]

I have a MSI albacore, is the performance boost worth the extra cost on the 185? I might have to do a few more bit jobs over the summer to pay for these upgrades .

Honestly, I would just save money for an AM2+ Phenom system for later this year. I upgraded from an X2 4200+ running at 2500mhz and I dont think I'll see a big noticeable difference with this Opty 185 until I get over 3ghz. If youre going from an X2 you already have to an Opty the performance jump isnt that huge unless you plan on a lot of overclocking.

In your case though, you would notice a HUGE difference going from a single core to dual core so for you it should be worth it at today's prices.

 

[vic20]

I have a MSI albacore, is the performance boost worth the extra cost on the 185? I might have to do a few more bit jobs over the summer to pay for these upgrades .

Honestly, I would just save money for an AM2+ Phenom system for later this year. I upgraded from an X2 4200+ running at 2500mhz and I dont think I'll see a big noticeable difference with this Opty 185 until I get over 3ghz. If youre going from an X2 you already have to an Opty the performance jump isnt that huge unless you plan on a lot of overclocking.

In your case though, you would notice a HUGE difference going from a single core to dual core so for you it should be worth it at today's prices.

Albacore? Is that an HP system or an OEM MS-7093?

If it is, you can forget OC'ing and are probably wasting your time unless you can get a smokin' deal on a high clock speed 939 (4800+, etc).

Be totally pointless to upgrade to a 3800 X2 or Opty 170 and run stock.

You'd be better off buying a new board, ram and C2D. If it's an HP Pavilion, any microATX board should fit in there and the current PSU will work as well, but keep in mind most mATX boards have little in the way of OC'ing options. So a new case may be a good idea as well