Upgrade? AMD 3500+ Manchester to ???

[kenratboy]

My brother had a computer that was put together rather hastily and cheaply to replace a dying one.

The processor was basically the bottom of the line at the time, the 3500+ Manchester (socket 939) - sells for under $50.

However, since then, he has moved up to 2, 7600GT's in SLI and has 2x1GB of DDR800.

Trying to figure out how much difference a CPU upgrade will make and which one would be best.

Also, how much is the current CPU crippling the system?

Thanks!

 

[sirheck]

Probably your best bet is to get an x2 dualcore s939 cpu.
It is cheaper than a whole new sys and you will have a dualcore
for the future.

Try zipzoomfly,newegg, or tigerdirect if you are in the u.s.

 

[sirheck]

Also, how much is the current CPU crippling the system?

Probably not a lot.

 

[kenratboy]

What about if he is running a lot of stuff at the same time, for example, a game on a window, along with 2, 4, 6 other apps in the background?

 

[hokiejimbo]

Your setup is pretty good... I'd leave it be until you feel like it's slow. 7600s in SLI should be plenty of graphics horsepower and upping clockspeed by 20% isn't worth it. S939 X2s are a good upgrade if you notice a lot of slowdowns when multitasking but aren't a big deal...

I'd sit on your setup until you want to jump into AM2+ or Intel's next gen.

 

[kenratboy]

This is my brothers computer, and he is wondering if spending $75 or so on a dual core chip is worth it.

I am holding out with my P4 2.6C until I can get a quad core C2D or something

 

[Newf]

For $80 you can get an OEM X2 3800+ which runs 200MHz slower but has 2 cores. It will run multiple applications more smoothly, but is otherwise no faster that the 3500+. I would skip it.

 

[rammedstein]

i would say go for the 3800+ not because it is DC but because it overclocks nicely, you should be able to bring it up to a nice 2.2-4 ghz, which will leave you in 5200+ territory.

 

[sirheck]

What about if he is running a lot of stuff at the same time, for example, a game on a window, along with 2, 4, 6 other apps in the background?

Another reason a dualcore is better.

 

[l3admonky]

you could try an opteron 165
it's defualt is 1.8ghz but on average can be easily overclocked to between 2.4 and 3.0ghz on air with a decent aftermarket cooler
temps are good too, around 37 - 40 idle and 48 - 55 on full load with a good cooler
also it comes with a 2x1mb cache vs. the 2x512 that most of the athlon x2 series has and that's where you'll see a pretty good speed increase
newegg is selling them for 97 bux with free shipping.

 

[Cybercraig]

Ain't no way he's running DDR-800 in a 939 MB. That would be 400mhz which nobody has been able to reach. What a clock you could put on that puppy, huh?

 

[kenratboy]

Two sticks of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211063

 

[frankienyc123]

I would definitly get the dual core if I was your brother. I built a system for my parents about 2 years ago. It was similar to ur brothers system.
AMD 3800 @ 2.4ghz
2x1gig DDR400 value ram
MSI K8N Neo4
ATI X1300pro
160gig Samsung Spinpoint
Ultra Wizard ATX case
Ultra Xconnect 500w psu

I got a very good deal on a second hand 3800x2 from my freind so I decided to install it in my parents system. I was a bit worried that the 400mhz lower clock speed would make the system feel slower, but I tried it anyways. The 3800x2 installed with no problems and ran great. Everything felt more responsive and smoother. The one thing I like best about dual cores is their multitasking abilities. You can run a virus scan in the background and it doesn't slow things down at all! I definitely didn't notice the lower clock speed, the extra core more then made up for it. Next I tried a bit over over clocking, I wanted to see if it could reach the 2.4ghz of my single core 3800. It easily OC'd to 2.4ghz on stock volts so I kept going and reached a max of 2.55ghz on stock voltage! I didn't push it any further because I didn't have a suitable cooling solution to let me increase the volts, I was using a cheap $10 hsf thats rated for use with single core cpus up to a 3800+. I'm guessing the chip could reach about 2.7ghz with extra volts and decent cooling. So don't let the lower clock speeds discourage your from buying a dual core, they can easily OC to speeds equal to the fastest single core s939 chips. IF your really serious about over clocking you could even go with an Opteron 165 or 170 which have been know to reach as high as 3.0ghz and can be had for around $100-$120. Definitely worth it if your not ready to upgrade the entire system yet.

 

[Mondoman]

Two sticks of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211063

Since that's DDR2-800, not DDR, your brother must be quite "innovative" :twisted: to get it to fit/run in a socket 939 MB.

Why don't you check in with him and find out what's *really* inside the system, and report back...

 

[kenratboy]

Well, then obviously something is up!

I will take a look. Stuff is from January 2007.