"budget" 939 or 754?

Q

Qwertyman

2[H]4U
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Mar 4, 2004
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building a computer for someone and i can't figure out based on a "budget" system which will be zippier and last longer (well relatively). It will be used for office work, multitasking, editing music (occasionly), playing dvds, burning, etc...I know sempron can do it, but for only 70 bucks more the benefit will outway the cost (i guess.)

Variables:

CPU 2800+ 754, nforce3 mobo

CPU 3000+ 939, nforce4 mobo

PSU 300w Forton 20pin

PSU 350w Forton 24pin

Constants:

Corsair Value Ram GIG
HD 7200RPM WD SATA
52X Combo Drive
Case something steel, flimsy "tin" sucks
LX700
X300SE PCI-E or 5200fx (DVI)

Thanks guys!
 
A P4 would be good for that...

The cheapest one at the egg though is $160. Plus 70 or so for a good mobo. So that probably out of range.

2800+ 754 is a good buget choice for 120 @ the egg. 939 probably is not a good idea unless he is a computer enthusiast.
 
That's nothing my old P4 2.4C can't handle easily...also whatever you do, just get an AGP video card, PCI-E isn't worth the price hike if you're not stuck with it.
 
CHENMING 301KEB-0-0 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$35.50
eVGA 128-A8-N304-LX Geforce FX5200 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
$49.00
FSP Group (Fortron Source) ATX300GU ATX 300W Power Supply - OEM
$19.49
AMD Athlon 64 2800+ Newcastle 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor Model
$111.00
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
$79.00
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
$58.00
Lite-On Combo
$38.99
ARCTIC COOLING Silencer64UltraTC 87 x 87 x 33 mm Cooling Fan - Retail
$19.49
NFORCE3 DFI Lanparty Refurb (i've had good look with them) $64
probably be about 560 when all is said and done. sound good?
 
It's not a gaming system, about the most it ever has to do is play a DVD. How exactly does a $160 graphics card make sense? However it does look like the PCI-E X300SE's can be had for about $50 on Newegg now. I haven't been able to get on there in about a week, turned out my firewall was blocking its IP as part of a larger range...meh.

Prices on the 2.4C it turns out haven't gone down in the years since I got mine...it actually costs MORE than mine did. Sick, eh?

Exactly how multitasking is this multitasking anyway? An AXP or lower-end A64 sounds like it might fit the bill, nothing you mentioned is exactly very taxing.

[edit] I have to start posting faster instead of getting distracted in the middle...anyway yeah, that looks fine. Might have to get DFI to send you an I/O shield before everything's done, then again it might come with one.
 
I wouldn't get an athlon xp. Maybe an older p4 with HT if it can be had reasonably.

Athlon 64 sounds good, but I can't see where it'd be better than a p4 with HT(which will probably be more useful than a 10% performance gain/loss) unless it comes to cost.

Video card, ehh.. Maybe a tv tuner/AIW type one, if you think that'd be useful.

AGP vs PCI-E. Doesn't matter for this case,imo. PCI-E can be more expensive, but that's usually just with 6800ultras and ATI's pe's. So my advice is get whichever, since it shouldn't matter, even if it's agp x4.

And 754 vs 939, I'd have to agree with what Eclipse keeps moaning about, which is that you should probably get 754 if you won't upgrade for more than a year. Since this seems to be the case, I'd go with 754, especially since it's not an entirely dead sector.
 
well i rather stick with amd just because i favor it and it seems to always work well, its cheaper too (some cases.) I guess the question becomes is it better to get a sempron 754 around the 2800 speed or go for the slightly more a64? I'm hoping to remain "budget" if i could and allow this thing to last 2 years. would it be more beneficial to extract more money out of him (budget 650-700) and get the 939 to last a least the initial hump or get a cheaper system now and hope for the best later? Overclocking comes to mind, but it would cease to be a cheaper system.
 
Newer is better. A socket 939 motherboard and CPU will be far more upgradable in the future than a 754. In a year or two, you'll still be able to find 939 CPUs... 754s are likely to be few and far between, if you can find them at all. And I totally agree with getting an ATI x300SE. I have that exact card in the computer I'm on right now... and I can play World of Warcraft on pretty decent settings no problem. If you can find one for $50 like someone said, jump on it. It's well worth it.

-Nate
 
Isn't the whole point of overclocking to do the most possible with the least hardware?

For the tasks listed, if this thing's going to be overclocked, ANY Athlon64 will probably be more than sufficiant for a while to come. 939 has dual core in its future, but that's going to be unavailable for a while, and then it's going to be $600+ for a while more. 754's just fine.

Intel with HT unfortunately starts at around $160 even for the C's, and those are damn hard to find much of.
 
Dont get a socket 754, they are being phased out very fast. 939 will be the future and theres no point to building a system that will have a dead end upgrade path in the near future.

I would seriously try to get some more cash for a higher quality PSU. No sense going cheap on that when a little hickup could kill your entire hardware setup.

I didnt really follow everything you said you were going to do with this rig but the fx5200 is a horrible card (and Im a Nvidia roadie). I really dont think you will be happy at all with it, IMHO.


Overall I would have to say i would save about $200 more dollars if possible and build a very decent rig that will last a long time to distance yourself from the upgrade future. This is all my opinioin of course. :)
 
thats what i'm gonna say, but the problem with 939 is the other stuff you need to go with it. An Atx2.0 compliance, a more expensive mobo, and a more expensive cpu, i'm thinking about a forton 350w (atxv2.0), an ati x300 pci-e, a nforce4 chaintech/(cheaper/better?), and a 3000+ winchester or venice(?). He already has the monitor a 1905fp. I think he'll be happier with the socket 939. so should i stick with that?
 
well i bought a 939, here's the specs:
Chaintech Nforce4 ultra
Winchester 3000+
Logitech 2.1
Logitech LX700
Dell Ultrasharp 1905FP
Forton BlueStorm 350w
WD 80g 7200RPM SATA
Sapphire X300SE
Chenming Black
Liteon Combo Drive
Corsair Value Ram Gig
Artic Cooling HSF
Some Budget huh, under a 1000? It'll be a good workstation for a while though. thanks for all your help in deciding.
 
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