New Processor... HELP!

[iviatt7]

I'm about to buy a new processor and motherboard for my computer. I know that I'm going AMD, and the computer is used essentially for gaming.

I'm either getting an Athlon 64 3700+ Clawhammer, 2.4 Ghz, 130 nm, s754; or an Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego, 2.2 Ghz, 90 nm, s939.

The Clawhammer is about 50 bucks cheaper than the San Diego, and it comes with a 50 dollar printer, which is something I need to buy anyway. So overall, the Clawhammer is 100 bucks cheaper.

I want the best for gaming, and I don't plan on upgrading for at least two years. I have two sticks of 512 corsair memory and one stick of 1024 corsair memory. I'm buying a new AGP video card as well.

Is the San Diego a better processor considering my circumstances, and if it is, is it worth an extra 100 dollars?

Thanks.

 

[dandragonrage]

-SD is a lot more efficient and still fast, and that's good enough for me.
-The $50 printer is probably crap anyway

 

[Steel Chicken]

-SD is a lot more efficient and still fast, and that's good enough for me.
-The $50 printer is probably crap anyway

not alot.
dual channel = 0-5% difference, a few minor core upgrades. those two chips are about equal (with the 754 running 200mhz faster)

however, I would not reccomend buying a 754 based mobo at this time. the socket has fewer upgrade paths than the 939.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

I want the best for gaming, and I don't plan on upgrading for at least two years. I have two sticks of 512 corsair memory and one stick of 1024 corsair memory. I'm buying a new AGP video card as well.

that.. may not work in dual channel with a san diego, deifnitly not on clawhammer.

do you plan to overclock?
what's your budget for the whole rig?

if you don't plan to upgrade for a long time, you should try to max out the performance you get for the money, even if it means sacrificing some upgradability

 

[iviatt7]

that.. may not work in dual channel with a san diego, deifnitly not on clawhammer.

do you plan to overclock?
what's your budget for the whole rig?

if you don't plan to upgrade for a long time, you should try to max out the performance you get for the money, even if it means sacrificing some upgradability

yeah... I've actually relooked some of my options. I'm either going to do the san diego with a pci-express card, or the clawhammer with an agp. I don't give a shit about the printer anymore either. The san diego/pci-e option will cost me around 200 dollars more than the clawhammer/agp option, considering the two video cards I'm looking at and the differences in price between 754 and 939. Like I said, upgradablity isn't really a priority for me because the next time I upgrade I'll just buy a new motherboard anyway. Strictly performance based, how do 754 clawhammer 3700 and 939 san diego 3700 compare?

p.s. yeah... i was originally on dual channel on my a7n8x with the two sticks of 512, but recently decided to upgrade my memory and only had one slot left, so i bought the single stick of 1 gb. so i guess i'm not too concerned with dual channel.

 

[SuddenDemise]

Either A, get the 3700+ SD or B, a 3200+ Venice and OC it like mutherfucker (both S939 in case you were wondering) pair one of those with a DFI SLI-DR (you may not wanna go SLI but at least it will be there if you ever want to) and a BFG 6800GT...That should do you very nicely....\m/

 

[iviatt7]

Either A, get the 3700+ SD or B, a 3200+ Venice and OC it like mutherfucker (both S939 in case you were wondering) pair one of those with a DFI SLI-DR (you may not wanna go SLI but at least it will be there if you ever want to) and a BFG 6800GT...That should do you very nicely....\m/

I haven't had an nVidia card since geforce2...

I'm actually a pretty hardcore ATI AIW fan, and I'm pissed that the best AIW in pci-express is the x600

 

[SuddenDemise]

I haven't had an nVidia card since geforce2...

I'm actually a pretty hardcore ATI AIW fan, and I'm pissed that the best AIW in pci-express is the x600

It happens I'm not bias towards ATI or Nvidia their both kcik ass companies, I go with whom ever has the best offering at the time of my purchase, I went from a 9800PRO to a 6600GT and Now I'm waiting to see what ATI's response to the 7800GTX is before I upgrade that aspect of my Rig.....

 

[iviatt7]

It happens I'm not bias towards ATI or Nvidia their both kcik ass companies, I go with whom ever has the best offering at the time of my purchase, I went from a 9800PRO to a 6600GT and Now I'm waiting to see what ATI's response to the 7800GTX is before I upgrade that aspect of my Rig.....

yeah, 9800PRO All-in-Wonder is what i've got now. great card.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

p.s. yeah... i was originally on dual channel on my a7n8x with the two sticks of 512, but recently decided to upgrade my memory and only had one slot left, so i bought the single stick of 1 gb. so i guess i'm not too concerned with dual channel.

just go with s754 then, it's more cost effective, but the a64 line tops out at the 2.4ghz, 1mb cache 3700+ (which is basically a 4000+ without dual channel)

 

[forumposter32]

I know some people may not share my opinions but how about buying an Athlon 64 3000+ socket 939 and buying a dual core next year? Then you'll be able to wait like 4 years before upgrading. When software written for dual core processors start coming out, you're going to wish you hadn't spent that much on a single core. But, that's just me.

 

[forumposter32]

It happens I'm not bias towards ATI or Nvidia their both kcik ass companies, I go with whom ever has the best offering at the time of my purchase, I went from a 9800PRO to a 6600GT and Now I'm waiting to see what ATI's response to the 7800GTX is before I upgrade that aspect of my Rig.....

Holy x-mas, are you kidding? I thought the 9800 Pro and 6600 GT are at the same level. WTF?

 

[iviatt7]

I know some people may not share my opinions but how about buying an Athlon 64 3000+ socket 939 and buying a dual core next year? Then you'll be able to wait like 4 years before upgrading. When software written for dual core processors start coming out, you're going to wish you hadn't spent that much on a single core. But, that's just me.

The way I look at at, computer technology is going to keep advancing indefinitely and no matter what I buy, something 100 times better will come out within six months of my purchase anyway. With that in mind, I just prefer to live in the present, not the future

 

[ScHpAnKy]

Holy x-mas, are you kidding? I thought the 9800 Pro and 6600 GT are at the same level. WTF?

6600GT is quite a bit faster

 

[Aldoria]

I think in your situation, it's not about which processor is better. I think you should go with the s939 mobo if nothing else because in my mind the 754 is the past, the 939 is the present and the m2 is the future

This will give you a lot more to work with, PCI Express, Dual Core. You've mentioned that you want to live with "present" technology so it makes sense to have some of those features available to you because Dual Core and PCI Express only graphics cards is now

*Edit: And I agree, the printer is probably crap

Ald

 

[iviatt7]

I think in your situation, it's not about which processor is better. I think you should go with the s939 mobo if nothing else because in my mind the 754 is the past, the 939 is the present and the m2 is the future

This will give you a lot more to work with, PCI Express, Dual Core. You've mentioned that you want to live with "present" technology so it makes sense to have some of those features available to you because Dual Core and PCI Express only graphics cards is now

*Edit: And I agree, the printer is probably crap

Ald

Not a bad thought, yet I don't necessarily want the best technology available in the present because quite frankly, I can't afford it. I'd love to go dual core, 939 mobo with the best pci-e card available but I don't have 1500 dollars. So I guess what I'm going for is a best bang for buck scenario, aiming to spend around 700-900 dollars for cpu, mobo, and graphics.

 

[Aldoria]

I'm bored so I played around with some numbers and config a system without Hard / Case / Power Supply which I'm not sure your preference on cases (since you can get ones from cheap to super expensive ) and I'm not sure how much hard drive space you use.

But, you can get a pretty decent computer for about $1,000 with.. 939 motherboard!

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego Retail: 325
NEC Silver IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM: 49.99
OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) OCZ4001024ELDC-K - Retail: 127
MSI RX800XL-VT2D256E Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail: 298
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail : 136

Total without (Case / Power / Hard Drive / Shipping): 935.99

All prices via NewEgg and with an example setup like that, you can upgrade to dual core and better video cards for years to come

Ald

 

[iviatt7]

Hey thanks for that, although luckily for me I'm not building from scratch- I built my computer a couple years ago and I just feel like upgrading now. I am taking what you said into consideration though- possibly spending an extra couple hundred to just go all out and get the best I can so I really won't have to upgrade for a while. Here's what I'm looking at:

Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego, 2.4 Ghz, 90nm, 1 MB L2 cache
Asus A8N - SLI nForce4 mobo s939
ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition 256 MB PCI Express x16

All that with shipping for 1100 off of newegg. A hell of a lot of money, but that'd be a fucking awesome setup, paired with my 2 GB of Corsair XMS and SATA Western Digital Raptor 10000 RPM.

 

[Aldoria]

Hehe, whichever way you decide, you will have a nice computer

Ald

 

[labmann55]

If you go with the 939 later all you have to do is put the dual core 939 in they are compatible they will work with any 939 board. Just have to upgrade bios on board. Venice is good have 3000 running at 3500 nothing to it. And it carries the SSE 3 instructions and is faster core.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

If you go with the 939 later all you have to do is put the dual core 939 in they are compatible they will work with any 939 board.

I want the best for gaming, and I don't plan on upgrading for at least two years.

by then, M2 will be in full force, making s939 and the current technology somewhat.. old

 

[iviatt7]

by then, M2 will be in full force, making s939 and the current technology somewhat.. old

yeah, to put it quite frankly, i know that I will not be purchasing another s939 chip ever. the next upgrade will most definitely be M2.

which is precisely why upgradability has never been a factor in this decision. yet for some reason people keep trying to sell me on that basis. right now sockets are changing far too rapidly for me to give a damn about worrying what my mobo may or may not be compatible with in the future. supposedly M2 will be around for a while once it comes out, so maybe then upgradability will be a factor. but until then, i need what is best right now.

 

[SpoogeMonkey]

yeah, to put it quite frankly, i know that I will not be purchasing another s939 chip ever. the next upgrade will most definitely be M2.

Never say never.......and never look back at what you spent on an upgrade. For the money and overclockability, you can't beat a venice 3000-3200, a 939 mobo of your choice, 2 x 6600gt pci-e vid cards, and a new ps.....~$800-850. And
just in case a great deal comes up on an x2.....you can do it if you want/need to.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

no, in his case, he really can. the time span is just too big for him to even consider going s939 if he goes s754 for now.. M2 really will be the way then. hell, i know i'll never own a s939 rig either, unless i chance upon one for free. and yes, i did just say NEVER!!!!!

 

[iviatt7]

Never say never.......and never look back at what you spent on an upgrade. For the money and overclockability, you can't beat a venice 3000-3200, a 939 mobo of your choice, 2 x 6600gt pci-e vid cards, and a new ps.....~$800-850. And
just in case a great deal comes up on an x2.....you can do it if you want/need to.

From the benchmarks I've seen, 6600gt SLI kinda sucks. Just a single 6800GT or a Radeon X800 beats it in almost every 3D test. (http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/vga_charts-04.html) X2 is just too damn expensive right now and IMO not worth it, especially for gaming purposes. I'm almost sure I'm gonna go with s939 now, still unsure about what chip though. I'm hearing a lot of good things about venice, but mainly because it supposedly overclocks well. However, I've never had much luck at overclocking, so I was wondering what everyone thought of the San Diego chip- I'm very interested in the 90nm process and 1MB L2 Cache.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

s939 is a good choice for oc'ing with one (well kinda two) problem.

some people seem to be having trouble oc'ing the bottom bin cpu's... this means the 3000+ venice and 3700+ san diego. there's just too many cores that really are meant to be their rating
though, on the opposite side of the coin, since there's a pretty good demand for these two cpu's, a lot of them are also pretty good oc'ers. it all depends on your luck

 

[iviatt7]

s939 is a good choice for oc'ing with one (well kinda two) problem.

some people seem to be having trouble oc'ing the bottom bin cpu's... this means the 3000+ venice and 3700+ san diego. there's just too many cores that really are meant to be their rating
though, on the opposite side of the coin, since there's a pretty good demand for these two cpu's, a lot of them are also pretty good oc'ers. it all depends on your luck

how about the san diego 4000+?

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

the 4000+ is not a bottom bin cpu (a step up from the 3700+), but it's cost makes it kinda meh. i'd personally go for the 3200+ venice