Looking into buying myself a replacement Processor as I'm giving mine to my brother as his is blown. The 2 I found on UK sites were the 3800+ and the 4200+ both with the same cache sizes. I read up on test results on Tomshardware and other places and saw a high increase from my previous processor but a smaller one between these cards just over a 100 in the 3DMark 06 cpu test and just over 500 in the 3DMark 06 graphics test. My Rig in mind which should give me better bang for my buck? I heard the 3800+ can o/c from 2.0 to 2.6 which pushes its value I guess the 4200+ could do just as well in that corner though? The money difference between the 2 is £15 thats about $30. Anybody have any good links on o/c these cards? If anyone owns them how do the fans coup under stress? A replacement fan might boost the cost a bit.

My Rig at the moment -

Mobo - DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-D (Socket 939)
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939)
PSU - Ultra X-Connect 500W ATX2.0 Cable Detachable PSU
Ram - OCZ 1GB (2 x 512MB) PC3200 Dual Channel Gold GX XTC Series EL-DDR CAS2
HD - Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB 6Y120M0 SATA 8MB Cache
Graphics - EVGA Nvidia GF 7800GT CO (Copper Heatsink) 256Mb DDR PCI-E TV DVI Vivo Fan 256bit

AS far as socket 939 systems, I have both the 4800X2 and the FX55 I use curently. I recently bult a 3800X2 socket 939 for a friend. The system is fine, but 2.6 GHZ. is stretching it. If you pan to overclock that far, you might just get the 4200X2 and save yourself some headache and money involved in cooling the system for that much of an overclock. Either processor is dual core and a nice step up from most single cores in many applications. Your choice. HTH.

Do you know any good guides to over clocking the 4200+ to stable performance? How far do you reckon I could push the card with the default heat sink and fan? Thanks

After you build the system, download the AMD dual core optomizer and processor driver here.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processor [...] 18,00.html

As far as a guide to overclocking the X2 dual core, read your MB manual as to what overclocking options are available in your MB's BIOS. Also install the latest BIOS from the MB's mfg.'s website. DFI's normally have great overclocking features if you can find the 'hidden' unlocks in BIOS. If you search these Forumz there are tons of overclocking info from past posts (go bac a year and half or more) concerning overclocking the X2's.

The Processor is OEM I found out so I took a look at the CNPS9700 CPU cooler. Both the NT and LED found a website that proved the differences -

Product Differences

Apart from the obvious colour difference between the LED and NT coolers the only real difference is how the fan is controlled. The LED is supplied with a standard 110mm 3-pin fan and a Fanmate2. The Fanmate is designed to allow the user to change the fan speed at will. The NT version is supplied with a 4-pin PWM fan that needs no manual intervention. The motherboard’s BIOS settings determine the fan speed which is based on the temperature of the CPU.

Never used a fancy bit of kit like this before. After looking at some tests using the fan it seems to run perfectly fine at the low settings 22 degrees at 37 db using a 150w test. So when I over clock my processor I don't think the need to have the Fanmate2 in my hand every 5 seconds is necessary, am I right? Any advice on these 2 fans would be good. Cheers

The Zalman 9700 is an excellent choice. I believe the 9700 comes in either a non LED fan version or an LED fan version. I curently have five of the Zalman 9500's running on my systems. I installed a Zalman 8800 yesterday on one of my micro systems. As far as the fanmate 2 that comes with the 9700, it is a switch that alllows the user to set the fan speed if so desired. When overclocking your procesor, heat will not become a major factor until you begin to raise the stock voltages to your chips and MB which causes excess heat. A far as overclocking your 2.4 GHZ processor to a 2.6, heat won't prevent you from doing so.

Thanks Badge for your help. Much appreciated I went for the LED.

Like I said, I have five of the Zalman 9500's running my systems currently. I added an 8800 Zalman a couple of days ago. I also have the Zalman Fatality installed in another system. I do not use the Fanmate 2 currently. I just run my fans at max all the time. I am constantly overclocking and making adjustments to my systems, so full speed works for me. Zalman provides some two sided tape to stick down the control in place inside the case if you decide to install it. The 9700 did well in the reviews I've seen and is one of the better coolers out there. My five 9500's are all LED. The 8800 is not. If you are building a low profile micro in the future the Zalman 8800 is just what you need as far as fitting in limited space and providing maximum cooling. Good Luck.

OP bought an OEM processor, but I do agree to just buy a faster processor and stop with all the, 'my temps are so high...do you think my 2.4 overclocked to 3.6 has anything to do with it?" I'm tired of reading it.

@ian141HT @ 4,DDR @ 333 & CPU @ 250 with the multiplier left @ x10 puts my 939 3800x2 at a stable 2.5ghz on stock voltages.

HTH

The AC Freezer Pro will do just fine at cooling a 3800+ or 4200+ and is very inexpensive. I say, go with the highest CPU available as 939 is dead and CPUs will be harder and harder to find. Look for Opterons as well as they can sometimes be fond at a decent price. I could give you tons of US links for this stuff, but I know it wouldn't help.

I could only get my 3800x2 to 2.4 ghz stable at stock voltage. It was probably due to my MB (VIA chipset) not a temp limit or memory issue. I lowered the HT to 333mhz and the Corsair memory is right at 400mhz. Temps are 32 idle/<50 load with an Ultra X-Wind cooler. Both the 3800 and 4200 should OC to about the same speeds so I am not sure that you will be getting more for your money buying the 4200 if you plan to OC. The 3800x2 is more than adequate for most tasks at 2.4 ghz if you are staying with a s939.

4200 is the highest I can buy in the UK for socket 939 unless I buy 2nd hand but I prefer not too. Looked at the Freezer Pro but the absorption latches on the Pro got a bad review by frostytech saying they were flimsy and expected them to have a short life span otherwise it is a good fan. I'd prefer something that is well built that I can use for a good few years and when I upgrade finally next year or so. If anyone has any links to a 4400 or higher I'd look into one of them but most have been discontinued or are out of stock.

I use a Zalman 9500 on my 939 rig because I love the look of the thing and it has it's own backplate which once fitted means it don't go nowhere.

Have you looked at any opteron chips? They might be slightly cheaper, and they're a higher bin.