Socket 939 Upgrade?

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buckweat420

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Jan 12, 2011
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I am currently using my old socket 939 build from 2005 as my Linux Server. Wondering if it would be worth upgrading the CPU from 3800+ to a 3800+ X2 or higher? Do you think its worth the $20 to upgrade a 6 year old computer??

I use this PC for development use, folding@home,SABnzbd, torrentflux, ETC.
 
Has anyone else upgraded from a 3800+ to a 3800+x2? Was the performance difference noticeable at all?
 
I had a hard time finding the specs on that processor. However unless I read wrong it seems they are both 2.0GHz parts. One is simply two cores. So if your OS/Software is multi-threaded you will see a definite jump in performance.
 
I would think even the top end S939 chips would be pretty cheap nowadays... Just get the fastest you can afford.

For what it's worth, my previous build had a 3800+ X2. It's a 2ghz chip, but I got it up to 2.4ghz on stock cooling. If I had a better HSF, I would have likely surpassed 2.6ghz.

At 2.4ghz with 2gb of RAM, it still serves solid duty at my place of employment as my photo editing system. For general use, it works just fine. Not bad for a box I built over 5 years ago.

The benefit of going multi-core really can't be understated, I think. It made a huge difference in my experience.
 
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Pyroja said:
I would think even the top end S939 chips would be pretty cheap nowadays... Just get the fastest you can afford.
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You would think that but they are pretty pricy. My x2 4200+ goes for $40 to 50 on ebay now days. The x2 3800's are around $40
 
I did this a few years back. Its not worth upgrading this socket anymore. I went from a single 2.2 to a dual 1.6. I paid almost 60 for the chip and 60 for xps ram. I could have spent that much on a new board. No more than 5 months later the on board video died. Sell the PC on craigslist and retire it. I've been finding dual P4 Dell & ASUS servers for 100 or less on Craigslist lately.

Just my opinion. I'd leave it be or sell it vs upgrading.

Good Luck!
 
older tech "brand new" always seems to cost a fortune because of limited stock and the abundance of ignorant people who will spend more money for less performance. If you have to stick with 939 buy the chip used on ebay or CL, and to your original question, yes, for what you do, I think it's worth it dropping 20-30 bucks to get a little more life to a machine you clearly have limited uses for and probably don't want to rebuild entirely.
 
I say go for it, it's $30 and an extra core never hurt anyone especially in this particular environment.
 
The AMD X4 640 is more than three times more powerful than the 3800 X2, it's also $99.
(The X4 640 is faster for a server than the Intel i5 that costs $80 more)

If you have the cash consider building a new server.
 
Just a thought I might still have that Dual 1.6 chip in my old board. I don't have anything to put the chip in but I could probably ship you the whole board and let you extract it for the price of shipping if your interested. I can't imagine the shipping being any more than 10 bux. Send me a PM if your interested and i'll do some looking.
 
Really depends if your current server is currently underpowered and if it is, if it's the processor that's the bottleneck. If so, then will adding ~100% more CPU solve the issue?

If you current processes aren't being held back by processes, but your server is having a hard time keeping up, it would be best to upgrade the hardware that needs it.

If not, then it's just $20 and wont hurt.
 
Skillz said:
Really depends if your current server is currently underpowered and if it is, if it's the processor that's the bottleneck. If so, then will adding ~100% more CPU solve the issue?

If you current processes aren't being held back by processes, but your server is having a hard time keeping up, it would be best to upgrade the hardware that needs it.

If not, then it's just $20 and wont hurt.
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This is the answer. If your processor bound or near it, for $20 it's good deal. I do agree if you plan on spending more than $20 to just look into cheap new stuff.
 
rcashier said:
Just a thought I might still have that Dual 1.6 chip in my old board. I don't have anything to put the chip in but I could probably ship you the whole board and let you extract it for the price of shipping if your interested. I can't imagine the shipping being any more than 10 bux. Send me a PM if your interested and i'll do some looking.
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If u have a piece of Styrofoam you can just cut it in half, carve out a place for the processor then tape it together. I'm interested if you wanna PM'ME
 
Alright. I think i do have some styrofoam. Lemme look to make sure I still have it and i'll get back with you. ;)
 
buckweat420 said:
Has anyone else upgraded from a 3800+ to a 3800+x2? Was the performance difference noticeable at all?
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I did this a few years back. Difference was huge for me playing games. Not sure about the performance increase for your needs but it should be a lot better would say.
 
I guess it all hangs on what "development use" really means. How often do you wait for this? It sounds like this is the only place you will notice an improvement. Folding should obviously improve (unless python spends all its time trying to aquire the GIL...).

WARNING: SABnzbd appears to be written in python, although I doubt your torrent programs still use it. Legacy python code* has some pretty big issues with multiprocessors. This isn't just the designed in "only run on one processor at a time" bit that was intended, it is a "make both CPUs run slower than a single core". I have no idea what to expect from this issue, but I thought I'd point it out.

* I'm pretty sure that it is possible to either migrate to the multiprocessing module, or rewrite the codebase to ignore threading on multiple CPUs (probably just porting to stackless). Code nearly half as old as your box might be an issue.
 
Wumpus said:
SABnzbd appears to be written in python, although I doubt your torrent programs still use it.
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SABNZBd itself isn't very CPU intensive. The par2, unrar operations are as multi-threaded as is available from those particular pieces of software.
 
buckweat420 said:
Do you think its worth the $20 to upgrade a 6 year old computer??

I use this PC for development use, folding@home,SABnzbd, torrentflux, ETC.
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Bad ideas often seem like a good idea at first :p

The older a computer part is, the more likely it is to suddenly DIE. :eek:

Why don't you man up and buy a new CPU/mobo/ram? Check out singlecore AMD cpu's that can be unlocked to dual core, and of course a mobo that can do it. Then sell the old parts on ebay or here as a combo and get $40 or so for it.

Then again, if the mobo is really good brand/quality with good specs, maybe it's worth the investment.
 
3800+ X2 can be easily overclocked to 2.6GHz (1.3-1.45V IIRC)

For $20, that is a huge upgrade over a 3800+
 
You will want to make sure there is a bios update to support the dual core cpu first.

If there is then for $20 I wouldn't even think twice about upgrading it. $50-60 then i would consider going all out on a new build. If you have a local micro center you can get an amd x4 and free mobo for ~$100
 
rcashier said:
Hey buddy I just looked and I do still have that chip. It's a Opteron x2
OSA165DAA6CD
CCBWE 0604TPMW
140981AA60544

Here's some stats.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Dual-Core Opteron 165 - OSA165DAA6CD (OSA165CDBOX).html

I'll PM you as well.
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What ever happen here? If you still have this chip I'm trying to update my daily driver. Would love to get into some [H]ardware tweaking before I end up being one of the ignorant people who will spend more money for less performance.
 
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