A64 mobo & memory opinion plz

I

iNViSiGOD

Gawd
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
596
Good(morning/afternoon/evening) [H]oard. I've recently decided to start delving into the world of AMD 64 processors for the hell of it and picked myself up a socket 754 3000+ as a starter CPU.

Now normally i bought specifically ABIT motherboards for all my XP and thunderbirds but im a bit new with the whold 64 bit computing realm. So im throwing myself upon the mercy of the [H]oard for a little wisdom and advice on what they recommend for a mobo and some nice ram.

Willing to spend up to about $110 for the motherboard and about the same for RAM. Keep in mind im building this mainly for testing the waters and to see what it can do, not to be a major pimprig :p
 
DFI Lanparty UT NF3-250GB.

cost should be around where you want it to be and you can OC it like a madman, assuming the parts are willing to cooperate.

As far as ram, I guess you could get a stick of 512MB, but 100 bucks won't get you far. Low latency is the name of the game for the A64 (or so I heard), and they like Crucial Ballistix or the Samsung ...-5 doh I forgot. OCZ is also a good (arguably better) place to look for those Samsung ram too.

FYI this is just info I've collected here and there, for I've been searching for good specs for a new rig for the past 7 months. I finally know what I want, I'm just waiting for the parts I want to enter the market.

Take my advice for what it's worth. But by no means is it a "tried and true" argument.
 
Good deal people, keep'em comming. Ima write all this schtuff down eventually and start hunting.
 
Another vote for the DFI 250gb. Great board.

For RAM, went with some HyperX PC4000. The timings aren't nearly as tight, but I can run it 1:1 with the CPU, even at 240x10.
 
Ok,its unanimous,the DFI board it is, i saw it on Newegg for about $109 which is damn near on par, im running a 425w PSU, will that be sufficient for 2 HD's, 2 CD drives and my Geforce 6800?
 
i'm also considering jumping onto the 64 bandwagon but my problem is trying to deside if I should get 754 or 939 socket? Computer is mainly for gaming.From what I have been reading it seems that performance wise there isn't that big of a difference between the 754 and 939,I know the 754's don't do dual channel but unless i've been misunderstanding what i've been reading dual channel doesn't help that much with the 64 cpus anyways.Is there anything i'm missing? what would you guys recommend? If I go with 754 i'm definately getting that DFI board! But if I get a 939 i'm thinking of the MSI NEO2 Platinum,unless you guys think there is a better one.Also I won't be overclocking!
 
Homey D. Clown said:
i'm also considering jumping onto the 64 bandwagon but my problem is trying to deside if I should get 754 or 939 socket? Computer is mainly for gaming.From what I have been reading it seems that performance wise there isn't that big of a difference between the 754 and 939,I know the 754's don't do dual channel but unless i've been misunderstanding what i've been reading dual channel doesn't help that much with the 64 cpus anyways.Is there anything i'm missing? what would you guys recommend? If I go with 754 i'm definately getting that DFI board! But if I get a 939 i'm thinking of the MSI NEO2 Platinum,unless you guys think there is a better one.
Click to expand...

Depends if your situation is like iNViSiGOD's. If you're building a whole new machine then I strongly recommend waiting a tad for those NF4 and Venice revision, see how they perform and make a decision then. And if you are building a new rig, why not jump on the PCIe bandwagon?

The ClawHammer 939 was only marginally better than the 754s, let's say 1-2%. Then the NewCastle came out and were slightly better than the ClawHammers, let's say 3-5%. Now the Winchesters are out and not only do they run cooler, but they seem to add a 3-5% performance increase over the NewCastles. Add to that the upcomming Venice revision (E0 i believe) that's supposedly consumes less than the Winchesters and add another 3-5% performance increase.

At the end of the day, that's a lot of successive increases.


Basically it depends on what you want to do, and how much you have to do it.
 
Homey D. Clown said:
i'm also considering jumping onto the 64 bandwagon but my problem is trying to deside if I should get 754 or 939 socket? Computer is mainly for gaming.From what I have been reading it seems that performance wise there isn't that big of a difference between the 754 and 939,I know the 754's don't do dual channel but unless i've been misunderstanding what i've been reading dual channel doesn't help that much with the 64 cpus anyways.Is there anything i'm missing? what would you guys recommend? If I go with 754 i'm definately getting that DFI board! But if I get a 939 i'm thinking of the MSI NEO2 Platinum,unless you guys think there is a better one.Also I won't be overclocking!
Click to expand...

I grabbed my little 3000 754 mainly just to mess around with it and see what type of differences i'll see over a 32bit Barton. Im a sucker for tinkering with stuffs.
 
Id say the DFI Nfroce3 mobo as well. Great board. I got some bh-6 2-2-2 special oced em both to 240 and still runing them on 2-2-2-5 with 2.9 Voltage
 
when buying these cpus, how can you know which is a winchester versus a Newcastle?? retailers never mention that info. Also when is the NF4 mobos coming out? any dates?
 
clone#13 said:
when buying these cpus, how can you know which is a winchester versus a Newcastle?? retailers never mention that info. Also when is the NF4 mobos coming out? any dates?
Click to expand...

Yes they do, but anyways, all S939 3000+ and 3200+ are winchester, and there is a 3500+ that is also winchester. Any 90nm S939 is winchester. There is only a 3400+, a 3500+, and the 3800+ that are newcastle S939. nForce 4 has been out for a couple weeks.
 
thanks man, but when I mentioned that retailers don't mention that info, that is because I was checking my local stores here in Montreal where they mention jack sh..
 
clone#13 said:
thanks man, but when I mentioned that retailers don't mention that info, that is because I was checking my local stores here in Montreal where they mention jack sh..
Click to expand...

I see. Well, I'd never buy from a local store again since they *always* have had higher prices in my area.
 
My DFI lan party hit 2.7 ghz w/ stock voltage and crap ram (I like GeIL but it aint no Hyper-X, XMS or Ballistix)

Did you already get the 3000+?

I've also used the Chaintech VNF-3 and it's pretty sweet too.

BTW both the DFI and the Chaintech Nforce 3 boards have surprisingly awsome sound, the DFI's even has that little soundstorm tray Icon I had with my ABIT NF7-S 2.0.
 
clone#13 said:
thanks man, but when I mentioned that retailers don't mention that info, that is because I was checking my local stores here in Montreal where they mention jack sh..
Click to expand...

Montreal's a tricky place to shop for computer parts, there are more comp stores here than corner stores.

I suggest NCIX for your shopping needs
 
clone#13 said:
when buying these cpus, how can you know which is a winchester versus a Newcastle?? retailers never mention that info. Also when is the NF4 mobos coming out? any dates?
Click to expand...
here's how you tell. on the heatspreader the first line of the OPN will look something like this: ADA3200AEP5AR (note that this is my 3200+ clawhammer)
for the winchester, the last two letters = BI
so if you get to see the cpu, you'll be able to tell by looking for the "BI" on the end of the OPN
 
Thanks alot people, you've been very helpful in guiding me in the right direction. Thats why i always come here and ask my questions before buying, too see what all of you have to say on the hardware. THANKS AGAIN!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top