Need some pros and cons for S754

T

TrueBlueLS

n00b
Joined
Sep 20, 2005
Messages
12
Okay... I've decided I'm going S754 due to not wanting to spend crazy amounts of money on my computer. I'm really only looking to spend $130. Which of the two would be a better choice and why?

1) Athlon 64 2800+ >>> Epox 8KDA3I (NF3 250)
or
2) Sempron 64 2500+ (256KB) >>> DFI NF4X (NF4-4X)
 
TrueBlueLS said:
Okay... I've decided I'm going S754 due to not wanting to spend crazy amounts of money on my computer. I'm really only looking to spend $130. Which of the two would be a better choice and why?

1) Athlon 64 2800+ >>> Epox 8KDA3I (NF3 250)
or
2) Sempron 64 2500+ (256KB) >>> DFI NF4X (NF4-4X)
Click to expand...

Neither setup is ideal, in this case. The Sempron doesn't have quite enough juice to produce anything spectacular through the PCI Express x16 slot, especially with a high-end graphics card. On the other hand, the NF3 250 mobo on the A64 rig locks you into a soon-to-be-outdated AGP interface: There are no current plans for either NVIDIA or ATi to produce anything faster or more advanced than the current GeForce 6800 Ultra and the Radeon X850XT-PE cards in AGP.

As for memory, remember that Socket 754 does not support dual-channel. And installing two double-sided modules in the Socket 754 rig will drop the memory speed from DDR400 to DDR333. And its HyperTransport bus runs at only 800MHz instead of the 1GHz which Socket 939 processors run at. Those are worth noting, even though the performance reduction from 939 to 754 is negligible at the same PR rating.
 
I would invest another $50 to 60 and do the following:

If for some reason you really want S754, pick up a 3000+ DTR and one of the mobos that are compatible with the chip, I know the DFI NF3 is, and I think the MSI NF3 is as well. However this is a waste of time IMO

instead go S939 and pick up the retail opteron 144BNbox that is available for around $140 shipped and find a cheap NF3/4 S939 mobo

Both the above will give you a chip w/ 1 mb L2 cache that will OC to around 2.6 ghz ++

If you want to stay on the cheap completely, Fry's sells combos of an ECS NF3 mobo with a sempron 2600 for around $90 every so often, and you can do all the OCing w/ clockgen.
 
Go with the Sempron combo and overclock it. Later, you can replace the Sempron with a 3700+ or a mobile chip and you'll have enough CPU horsepower to last you a while.
 
E4g1e said:
Neither setup is ideal, in this case. The Sempron doesn't have quite enough juice to produce anything spectacular through the PCI Express x16 slot, especially with a high-end graphics card. On the other hand, the NF3 250 mobo on the A64 rig locks you into a soon-to-be-outdated AGP interface: There are no current plans for either NVIDIA or ATi to produce anything faster or more advanced than the current GeForce 6800 Ultra and the Radeon X850XT-PE cards in AGP.

As for memory, remember that Socket 754 does not support dual-channel. And installing two double-sided modules in the Socket 754 rig will drop the memory speed from DDR400 to DDR333. And its HyperTransport bus runs at only 800MHz instead of the 1GHz which Socket 939 processors run at. Those are worth noting, even though the performance reduction from 939 to 754 is negligible at the same PR rating.
Click to expand...

I'd go with the sempron 3100+ or better. Look for the model with 256k of cache instead of the 128k.

As for the double-sided dimm issue, this is only if you put in more than 4 banks (more than 2 double-sided dimms) in there. If you stick with 1GB sticks, you won't have a big issue. you can have 2GB of memory and still have the 400mhz speed and 1T timing.


Pro's of s754

Inexpensive for what you get. I love the cost/performance ratio I get with my s754 setups.

Con's

Outdated. Its going bye-bye. Planned obscalecence.
No dual channel support


My take:
The value of a s754 combo is terribly difficult to beat. No dual-channel is not that big a deal since there are few real-world applications that actually make use of it. FPS in games is what, 5% (being REALLY generous). If you need a PC for 12 months max, go for a s754 and a PCI-express mobo. The money you will waste on the mobo and processor is less than the mainstream high-end mobo's alone. Get M2 after the market matures and prices drop.
 
pro: fewer pins that can get bent :)

con: fewer pins through which you can push data :(
 
Except that kinda exceeds his budget. ;) Hence, go with the Sempron for now, overclock it, and pop in a better processor later.
 
TrueBlueLS said:
Okay... I've decided I'm going S754 due to not wanting to spend crazy amounts of money on my computer. I'm really only looking to spend $130. Which of the two would be a better choice and why?

1) Athlon 64 2800+ >>> Epox 8KDA3I (NF3 250)
or
2) Sempron 64 2500+ (256KB) >>> DFI NF4X (NF4-4X)
Click to expand...


I have an Athlon 64 3700+ and a Biostar NF3 250 chipset board, go with the athlon. "AGP outdated, blah blah blah." Mine works fine and I can still play all the latest games. Then in a few years or sooner, when all the 939 and PCI-E crap comes down in price, you can upgrade to that. The 754 works fine.
 
here's what i would do, and did;

Sempron 64 2500+
Chaintech VNF3-250 nForce3

i also picked up 2X 512MB RAM - total cost was $197 plus shipping.
this replaces my everyday workhorse Barton 2800 based system which is going to my wife. when the M2 comes out, she gets this and i turn the Barton into a server.

-da baron
 
E4g1e said:
And installing two double-sided modules in the Socket 754 rig will drop the memory speed from DDR400 to DDR333.
Click to expand...

No...but three double sided sticks drop you down to DDR333. :p

There are a handful of s754 solutions that come with both AGP and PCI-e.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130493
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153036

Visit MSI's website for more info on their AGP slot because they call it an "AGR" slot...supposedely only specific cards work on there. There is a list on their site, thought I think many have gotten cards not on the list to work...

The Dual Channel is a minor plus, so don't hesitate going s754. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top