From 3200+ to X2 4400 (s939) : worth $100 ?

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DetConan

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Mar 13, 2006
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Here is my system
Case : Sonata II, 450 PSU
MSI K8N-NEO4f s939
3200+
XFX 7600gt xxx
2 X 512 DDR

Mainly to play (for me) and scrapbooking, music, internet (for my wife)
No Overclocking.

For now, this system is very good for me. In a perfect world (where s939 would not have been phased out), I would not upgrade now. But as the s939 processors are disappearing, i feel that I have to upgrade before it becomes impossible.

I Found a X2 4400 s939 for $100. Would the upgrade be performance-wise ? Should I go for it, or just keep my money and upgrade the videocard later next year, when the prices of the 8800 will drop a little, for instance ? Would a X2 4400 make a better use of this 8800 card than the 3200+ ?
 
cfvh600

cfvh600

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I am not sure how much of a performance gain you would see from a X2 4400. If you're happy with your system at the moment, why not just wait a bit longer and then upgrade your whole pc? I am still running a S939 4000+ with 2GB ram.I've recently upgraded the video card from a 6600GT to a 8800GTS 320.That made a huge difference in gameplay performance.I can now get a X2 4200 for $80 on e-bay.Not sure if it is worth the money, cause in the CPU performance charts it doesn't really outperform my current 4000+, except in the multi tasking benchmarks.
 
J

jitpublisher

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May 16, 2006
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If you want to extend the life of your 939 rig without breaking the bank, it's a good upgrade.

There is a noticable difference between a 4000+ and a 3200+. For gaming alone no, going from a 4000+ to a 4400 X2 won't show much, if any improvement.

But, going from a 3200+ to a 4400 X2 is a nice upgrade for $100. I went from a 3200+ to a 4600 X2 and was very happy with the additional performance.
 
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piratepast40

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Absolutely a worthwhile upgrade, especially for only $100. You'll really like the way dual core allows you to keep plugging away with multiple apps running. The 7600GT is decent and it's easy on the power supply. You may find a better boost with more RAM without stressing your existing power supply. Heck, RAM is really cheap right now: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1169989&Sku=C13-6040

edit ... oops ... meant this one for the memory: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2968494&CatId=1352
 
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chief5286

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Depends on what you want.

I upgraded from a 3500+ to an X2 4200+ for $70. Now, your upgrade would be more significant in that you'd get a slight increase in speed as well as cache (isn't that the difference b/w the 4400+ and 4200+ the 1 mb v. 512? If that's the only difference, the increase in cache is NOT worth the $30 if the 4200+ is still available for $70, imo).

Now, in most thing there is little improvement over my 3500+. However, there are a few areas where there is a Major improvement.

1st, WiC. The X2 smoothes outthe framerate in physics intense sections.

2nd, encoding. It is faster by a good amount.

3rd, doing something while encoding. It was not possible before without major delays. Now it is no problem at all.

Personally, it was worth the $70 for me as I do a fair amount of encoding and I was looking to extend my system until at least the next gen CPUs come out.
 
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cbxbiker61

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May 20, 2007
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If you're satisfied with your PC it'd be worth it. An X-2 939 still has legs with a good/excellent graphics card and 2 gigs of ram.

Even a single-core XP3200 performs pretty damn good on previous generation games if you have 2 gigs and one of the best AGP cards. As per usual the move from AGP to PCI-E happened well before it was really necessary (gotta keep that product churning). DDR400 is still pretty fast, low latency has it's advantage.
 
spanner_razor

spanner_razor

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Another gig of ram would give you quicker load times, the cpu would give you slightly better fps in single-core games and a big boost in dual core games. For 50 quid then yes do it but I'd also get the ram and maybe a 1950 pro and that'll set you up for another year for less than 400 dollars.
 
M

MezzFA0

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Having recently gone from a 3500+ to a 4200+ X2 myself, all I can say is its definitely worth it, especially if you tend to do multiple things at once. Single core apps tend to benefit from the 2nd core picking up the slack with regards to background tasks (anti-virus and other Windows stuff).

I tried out the CoD4 demo completely forgetting I was encoding a dvd and didn't even notice the difference. I've also noticed that the sound stuttering I used to get in hectic places on games like Bioshock has also disappeared.

One word of caution though, this thing runs at least 10-15C hotter than the 3500+ did. I wouldn't be comfortable using a stock heatsink/fan with it. I must admit that my case is fairly cramped so not the best for airflow however theres also a rediculously hot 8800 sitting in there that keeps things pretty toasty.
 
anthemmobil1

anthemmobil1

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If you are going to upgrade the 939 pin CPU why not go all the way. I have a 4000+ and I am about to upgrade to a 4800X2 (939). You can get one on Ebay for about $150.00.
I have a 8800GTS 320 and 2 gigs of ram. The 4800X2 seems to be a really fast cpu and should keep us in the game for quite a while.

 
fatcat

fatcat

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I'd also think it's a worthy upgrade. The 4400 was one of the CPU that was sought after since it has a bigger cache. A 100 $ is not to expensive an upgrade and will help you keeping you're system a while longer. I also agree, another gig of ram would help as well and memory is pretty darn cheap of late.
 
jrnyfan

jrnyfan

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what can i say that has not been said? oh...how about the fact that serenity 2 is being bantered about and might possibly be greenlit in the next few months once the writers guild strike is over...but i digress.

i have had my x2 4200+ for about 2 years now and i think its one of the best chips ever made, it over clocks to 2.6 fairly easily and coupled with my 8800gts 640mb still makes for a mean gaming machine.

drop 40$ on another gig of ram and add the 4400+ and you will be happy with your system for another year or two!

CAN'T STOP THE SIGNAL!
 
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qmalik

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am i the only one that thinks if he is going to spend $100 on a 4400 he might as well just wait...and get a AM2 mobo and get like a..6000 (which isnt much more expensive)?
 
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DetConan

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In fact, I have just seen that the price is of $100 in only good on the US site of Tigerdirect. On the canadian site, it is $120. And I have to add the shipping and taxes. So it would be $150. Is it still worth it ?

Is Tigerdirect a good site to buy from ? (As I am in Canada, Newegg is not an option)
 
elbert

elbert

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Jan 11, 2005
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I suggest keeping your rig as it is and next year build a quad core system with the 8800. The wife then gets the old system all to herself and you get 1 bad A$$ gaming rig.

In the bigger picture the X2 4400 for the 939 is high priced and will not extended the life of your system. The life of the 939 rests in its max memory of 4GB's which by the end of next year may be the standard.

If you must buy the X2 4200 for $63.50 from newegg has a lot better price/performance advantage.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103543
 
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