AM3/AM3+ dead socket?

[13thmonkey]

I'm trying to build a really cheap machine for a friend, and am probably going down the amd route, if I had time i'd wait for FM2, but does the arrival of FM2 mean that AM3/AM3+ is dead, or will there be further releases for this platform post first gen FX?

 

[jay_nar2012]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/318047-10-future-i52500k

 

[wr6133]

FX gen 2 piledriver will be on am3+ after that its likely dead

 

[13thmonkey]

thanks, ironically doesn't help my decision, for a basic PC (no gaming on instruction of parents), photoshop capable, i'm thinking that a PHII x4 965 would be enough. Mobo with onboard graphics will get him started.

alternative is bottom end i5, either SB or IVB and use their onboard, but the budget is blown.

If FM2 was about it'd be a no brainer, if FM1, wasn't dead it'd be a no brainer. Need to have a think and see what offers are on during the week.

 

[wr6133]

How long does it need to last? FM1 may be dead but if this is only for study/work type use for a few years a high end Llano (one with an unlocked multi) with an FM1 board may suffice and they can be snagged quite cheaply making a cheap GPU
(so hybrd xfire) a possibility depending on budget

 

[13thmonkey]

I'd like it to have somewhere to go (FX or gen 2 PD), or enough grunt (bottom i5) to not need anywhere to go. the AthlonII core does bother me from that point of view.

I'm tempted to overcook it on the CPU side so that he can buy a GPU on his own at some point and then be sorted.
The alternative is something more balanced that will require a cpu and gpu upgrade to get something out of it next year.

If I can go down the AM3+ route then I have spare IDE bits that I can use shaving another £50 off of the get you started price, which could then be put to some kind of use.

 

[Wisecracker]

AMD has pledged support for AM3+ for the next few years -- they are pretty good about that. The beeg question is Steamroller support - no word on that.

DDR4 will be popping up in late 2014/2015, anyway. That moves platform support more so than anything else. It sure ain't PCIe gen3.

 

[13thmonkey]

I think that's sold it, athlonII x3, 550ti, mobo with IDE. become balanced, but has the ability to be grown.

 

[13thmonkey]

Am3+ is Am3+ isn't it, the CPU wattage is in the (+) ? been a while since I played with AMD, although my home server is AMD, but really low power.

 

[wr6133]

My worry if your after longevity would be a cheaper AM3+ board with IDE and Integrated graphics may not be supported/updated that far by the maker.

The decent 9xx chipsets start at £50-ish (GBYTE 970A-DS3) but then you would need a basic GPU (+£20) and they dont have IDE (but you do gain SATA 6GB/s and USB3.0)

 

[wr6133]

I think that's sold it, athlonII x3, 550ti, mobo with IDE. become balanced, but has the ability to be grown.

Check Aria they have the Athlon X3 reduced to £53 and the PII 965BE down to £77

 

[13thmonkey]

good point, i'm trying to develop a decent foundation, starting to think that H61 intel and GXXX, use integrated, and then you've got the upgrade path to a 3570K (without OC), and the gpu hasn't really been wasted.

 

[13thmonkey]

Check Aria they have the Athlon X3 reduced to £53 and the PII 965BE down to £77

Arrgh, aria do have damn good deals. Well I now know what I need to know, an AM3+ board may/may not offer an upgrade path.

This is the pain of a £300 budget, already sacrificing an old case (willing to throw in IDE HDD and DVD, just taking up space now), I just don't want him to come round in 6 months and ask why his machine has stopped once he's upgraded a GPU if he buys an argos special. So i want to get him to help build a system with a good PSU, and some options for the upgrade path without having to throw anything away in the future.

 

[wr6133]

300 notes is tight

I would do the Gbyte mobo i mentioned above, 965BE, 4GB noname RAM, 450W XFX PSU, 550ti, 250GB SATA HDD (250GB) and DVD drive

Roughly pricing that up from CCL and ARIA I come to about £305 I think its pretty decent bang to your buck and the mobo is decent enough to provide a foundation if he wanted PD in future or handle an OC on that PII

 

[13thmonkey]

300 notes is tight

I would do the Gbyte mobo i mentioned above, 965BE, 4GB noname RAM, 450W XFX PSU, 550ti, 250GB SATA HDD (250GB) and DVD drive

Roughly pricing that up from CCL and ARIA I come to about £305 I think its pretty decent bang to your buck and the mobo is decent enough to provide a foundation if he wanted PD in future or handle an OC on that PII

There is something in that, will have a look tomorrow. I had managed to get a 3450 build together using igpu, but a few prices went against me.

 

[wr6133]

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3
http://www.cclonline.com/product/77029/GA-970A-DS3/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-970A-DS3-AMD-970A-Socket-AM3-DDR3-PCI-Express-ATX-Motherboard/MBD0350/

4GB Corsair Desktop 1333MHz DDR3 Memory Kit
http://www.cclonline.com/product/35910/CMV4GX3M2A1333C9/Desktop-Memory/4GB-Corsair-Desktop-1333MHz-DDR3-Memory-Kit/RAM1068/

XFX Pro 450W Power Supply Unit (Core Edition)
http://www.cclonline.com/product/55411/P1-450S-XXB9/Power-Supplies/XFX-Pro-450W-Power-Supply-Unit-Core-Edition-/PSU0202/

Maxtor Momentus Thin 2.5 inch Hard Drive 250GB 3Gb/s SATA 7200rpm 16MB (Internal)
http://www.cclonline.com/product/85954/ST250LT007/Hard-Drives/Maxtor-Momentus-Thin-2-5-inch-Hard-Drive-250GB-3Gb/s-SATA-7200rpm-16MB-Internal-/HDD1502/

Samsung DVD RW
http://www.cclonline.com/product/73600/SH-222BB/BEBE/Optical-Drives/Samsung-DVD-RW-SH-222BB/BEBE-22x-SATA-Black/CDR0079/

MSI Radeon HD 6770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards+-+GPUs/Graphics+Cards+-+AMD/Radeon+HD+6770/MSI+Radeon+HD+6770+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=44475

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/AMD+Phenom+II+X4+Quad+Core+965+Black+Edition+125W+3.40GHz+C3+%28Socket+AM3%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=38891

£304.88

I think thats what I would do with your budget.

 

[nekulturny]

I hear people keep saying that AM3+ is dead after PileDriver, and yet to my knowledge, no official word from AMD has actually confirmed or denied it. People really should stop posting things they're "certain of" when in fact they don't know any more than you do.

Also, I keep hearing this "upgrade path" thing thrown around like its a value added feature. It really isn't. Intel changes sockets every 2 years, this is not speculation on my part, this is 100% known to be true. Which means if you want the latest CPU from what you have now 2 years from your build, you're buying a new mobo, unless you want to buy a last gen CPU. If you're upgrading within the 2 year timeframe, you should have saved up more money to buy the CPU that meets your needs in the first place, rather than waste money by basically having an i3 sitting around your house that you aren't using because you threw down another $200 to "upgrade".

 

[wr6133]

I said likely dead after PD not certain look at AMD's own roadmaps there is no mention of AM3+ past PD now ok there is also no mention of not using am3+ past PD but better to err on the side of caution than build something for somebody then have them come and rage at you in late 2013 or whenever because they cant shove the latest thing in there board.

 

[nekulturny]

I know you said likely, I was more referring to people, (nobody in this thread actually), but usually Intel fanboys who I've noticed lately who are quite certain that AM3+ is EOL, and this is used in conjunction with "you should buy Intel cus.. x, y, z".

As far as someone raging at me in 2013, lol, let them. I always warn people who talk about "future proofing" their computer, and at least try to set them straight. :lol:

 

[wr6133]

I know you said likely, I was more referring to people, (nobody in this thread actually), but usually Intel fanboys who I've noticed lately who are quite certain that AM3+ is EOL, and this is used in conjunction with "you should buy Intel cus.. x, y, z".

As far as someone raging at me in 2013, lol, let them. I always warn people who talk about "future proofing" their computer, and at least try to set them straight. :lol:

sorry im in a defensive mood today somebody annoyed me with passmark and youtube videos

I do like to minimise the amount of people possibly raging at me in the coming 12 months though. If I ran AMD though I would want to keep AM3+ alive as long as possible but we have seen their total business accumen is akin to Baldrick from blackadder so am4 next year wouldnt shock me.

 

[13thmonkey]

I agree completely that nothing is known except that 1155 is dead in mid 2013.

 

[nekulturny]

sorry im in a defensive mood today somebody annoyed me with passmark and youtube videos

I do like to minimise the amount of people possibly raging at me in the coming 12 months though. If I ran AMD though I would want to keep AM3+ alive as long as possible but we have seen their total business accumen is akin to Baldrick from blackadder so am4 next year wouldnt shock me.

I know the feeling, lol. Everytime I see a passmark URL, I know I'm in for it. :lol:

As far as people raging, well, when it does come up, I simply say "we don't know" beyond PileDriver. Roadmaps aren't set in stone, hell wasn't AMD planning a 10 or 12 core Bulldozer at one point? If PileDriver has more success than Bulldozer and they can manage to squeeze more out of it from Steamroller, they might say "you know what, we've finally got something here". AMD needs to cut corners, its not in their best interest to change sockets unless its an absolute necessity. But then again, since when do businesses do whats in their best interest?

 

[13thmonkey]

I'm thinking this mobo: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-760gm-e51-(fx)-am3plus-cpu-amd-760g-plus-sb710-16gb-max-1xpcix16-1xpcix1-2-pci-dviplusvgaplushdm
thoughts? other than the stock issue?

 

[nekulturny]

I'd probably save a little bit more and get a more modern chipset than the 760G like 970. I'm not a big fan of Gigabyte for mobos, but the one Wr6 linked has what I would suggest. But I would just in my anti-Gigabyte bias look for something in the same price range from Asus, MSI or Asrock.

 

[wr6133]

I'm thinking this mobo: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-760gm-e51-(fx)-am3plus-cpu-amd-760g-plus-sb710-16gb-max-1xpcix16-1xpcix1-2-pci-dviplusvgaplushdm
thoughts? other than the stock issue?

Looks fine if your going the integrated and 7xx route not what I would but it does free £££ to put elsewhere