Which CPU to buy?

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limecat

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 15, 2004
Messages
101
I've decided to upgrade, finally. I'm running my 2400+ on a Epox 8RGA+, and its starting to show its age. I'm still trying to decide on what I should get to replace it. I need to buy a new mobo/cpu/video card. The mobo/cpu I can order this month and the video card will wait until next month.

I was thinking of getting a 939-based AMD chip. Maybe an X2 3800+. For a motherboard I was considering the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 because it has both an AGP port, and a PCIe slot. This would let me use the mobo/cpu and my old video card, then swap it out when the new one arrives. I've read a lot of great reviews of this motherboard. The fact its not very expensive is appealing because its that much more money I can spend on a CPU or video card.

Plus with this mobo I could upgrade to an AM2 at some point, if I felt so inclined.

The downside is that I'm not thrilled with its SATA options. I have a lot of harddrives.

What do you guys think? I have a budget of around $400 for mobo/cpu. What do you think I should get?
 
Upgrading to AM2 is almost a full system rebuild. You need a new mobo/CPU/memory. Not sure I would call that an upgrade?

If I were you I would wait til you can afford the video card also, and not get a motherboard with AGP. Will open your options to motherboards and by then the 939 stuff should have dropped price due to the AM2 release.

Also what memory do you currently have?
 
At the least I would wait until Intel releases the Core 2 (Conroe). If the performance is what is being talked about I would expect AMD to lower prices to keep Intel from being the best price to performance solution.
 
limecat said:
I've decided to upgrade, finally. I'm running my 2400+ on a Epox 8RGA+, and its starting to show its age. I'm still trying to decide on what I should get to replace it. I need to buy a new mobo/cpu/video card. The mobo/cpu I can order this month and the video card will wait until next month.

I was thinking of getting a 939-based AMD chip. Maybe an X2 3800+. For a motherboard I was considering the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 because it has both an AGP port, and a PCIe slot. This would let me use the mobo/cpu and my old video card, then swap it out when the new one arrives. I've read a lot of great reviews of this motherboard. The fact its not very expensive is appealing because its that much more money I can spend on a CPU or video card.

Plus with this mobo I could upgrade to an AM2 at some point, if I felt so inclined.

The downside is that I'm not thrilled with its SATA options. I have a lot of harddrives.

What do you guys think? I have a budget of around $400 for mobo/cpu. What do you think I should get?
Click to expand...

I agree with post number 3.

I would; Start by getting a PCI-E Video card and good DDR2 PC8000. Make sure you have good SATA-2 HDDs and etc......The prices on the AM2 mobos (sorry) if you're going to upgrade, skip 939 and go to AM2 if AMD is your thing.

I'd say something different if you already had 939. So even if you're not buying Conroe or anything from Intel, it is still a very good move to wait until after it ships. How much will prices Fall? You should be able to get an AM2 4400+ and motherboard (good mobo, not a cheap one) for the same price as the Processor alone right now. Just because Conroe is faster DOESN'T mean these processors will suck and they'll plenty fast for a couple of years at least.
 
limecat said:
So when will this new Intel chip be released?
Click to expand...

Intel has massive price cuts planned for the 23rd of July and Conroe could launch anytime from July the 1st until them. The price cuts and the launch doesn't have to be the same day but the price cuts are the latest date Conroe goes on sale.
 
m1abram said:
Upgrading to AM2 is almost a full system rebuild. You need a new mobo/CPU/memory. Not sure I would call that an upgrade?

If I were you I would wait til you can afford the video card also, and not get a motherboard with AGP. Will open your options to motherboards and by then the 939 stuff should have dropped price due to the AM2 release.

Also what memory do you currently have?
Click to expand...

With the ASRock 939Dual SATA-2 motherboard it isn't. You switch about 50 jumpers over and: TADA! AM2. Board accepts DDR and DDR2.

Get this board. It is so worth it. I have one and love it. If you have alot of drives, use the money you save by buying the ASRock, and buy a SATA controller. I am extremely happy with my board and Probably won't trade it up for a long time. However, I do agree with the other poster about waitng for Conroe. It will be out soon and AMD will drop their 939 prices. At that point go either X2 3800+ or X2 4000+.
 
once people start to upgrade here.. you can find some great deals on 939s... just a heads up
 
you could do like u said, swap to pci express card when u get the card.but enjoy having the faster 939 cpu chip now and ur current agp card.(btw u didnt mention what ram u are using, as long as its pc3200 400mhz i dont see any probs going to 939.
X2 for the win!

and save up some more and replace that mobo with another mobo with more SATA options and stay with 939, from what little i have read AM2 is nothing to write home about, memory being faster is a good thing, but real world performance may be negligble. and for Conroe dont know if its hype or what, but most of the people today are gonna pass on it till its either priced very nice or want to be part of the IN crowd.
 
dwilson041781 said:
save up some more and replace that mobo with another mobo with more SATA options and stay with 939
Click to expand...

Like I said before, stay with that board, it's a great board and works very well. If you buy that, you will have enough left to but a SATA controller card.

You could buy a better board, but why would you need to? The functionality and upgradability of the ASRock 939Dual SATA-2 is so amazing, I don't see why you would spend so much more on a board that wasn't so functional.
 
So what's going to make the Conroe so great that I should wait two months for it? Are there any previews of it anywhere?
 
limecat said:
So what's going to make the Conroe so great that I should wait two months for it? Are there any previews of it anywhere?
Click to expand...

1 word HYPE. no need to wait.
and the test they did with Conroe, they compared to AMD's Cpu's thats had no intention of competing against.*fixed
all AM2 is DDR2, not very appealing.

only reason i suggested buyin another board later is cause of Sata options he stated and Mobos arent all that expensive compared to counterparts, but i would imagine there are reasons why ppl would choose other 939 boards such as ASUS, DFI, Gigabyte etc...over the Asrock.

could even sell the ASrock mobo later to help with upgrade, but its all up to you weigh the pro's vs. cons im not sure if their are any but thats how i like to make decisions.

after looking at mobo only thing i can think of is not sure i like the ULi chipset, and how about overclocking options.

im in a similiar boat, i want to keep my s754 3400+ cpu, but want to go pci-express for vid card. im looking at all of my options.
 
DeadlyAura said:
With the ASRock 939Dual SATA-2 motherboard it isn't. You switch about 50 jumpers over and: TADA! AM2. Board accepts DDR and DDR2.

Get this board. It is so worth it. I have one and love it. If you have alot of drives, use the money you save by buying the ASRock, and buy a SATA controller. I am extremely happy with my board and Probably won't trade it up for a long time. However, I do agree with the other poster about waitng for Conroe. It will be out soon and AMD will drop their 939 prices. At that point go either X2 3800+ or X2 4000+.
Click to expand...

While that is a neat trick, not too sure how stable it will be. Have they released the expansion card that will hold that cpu? The reason I question the stability is the circuits between the socket and the memory are rather important considering the high speed and low voltage that is handled here.
 
limecat said:
So what's going to make the Conroe so great that I should wait two months for it? Are there any previews of it anywhere?
Click to expand...

Conroe is quite likely to be a very impressive chip.
It may be a smart idea to go the second hard route and get a cheap(er) 939 board + chip from the FS/FT forum.
Waiting is never a wrong choice, unless you need more speed now.

dwilson041781 said:
1 word HYPE. no need to wait.
and the test they did with Conroe, they compared to AMD's Cpu's thats had no intention of competing against.
all AM2 is DDR2, not very appealing.
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As much as I despise all the intel fans in every AM2 thread, your post is just about as bad. You certainly cannot believe what your typed, can you? Have you looked at the benchmarks? While I agree that Conroe cannot be purchased yet, which in itself means that there is some uncertanty with respect to its performance, the inital reports are stunning.
DDR2 is appealing for its value, it is cheaper than DDR, unless you go the 2nd hand route.
 
limecat said:
So what's going to make the Conroe so great that I should wait two months for it? Are there any previews of it anywhere?
Click to expand...

If you really want to find out about Conroe, go to the Intel side of the forum? There's NO hype LOL! I'm getting Conroe but I also feel you should but what you want, its YOUR money. If you want AMD, hell, buy it. I don't like when people use BS reasons for doing so.

Conroe will be cheaper and faster, use less power and give off less heat. AMD will have to cut prices to compete. If I were buying anything AMD, I'd buy a Mid-range motherboard from DFI, Asus, Foxconn or ABit. Asrock and Albatron don't suck either. NOT the one-board-fits-all model talked about though. I'd want all four DDR2 slot just in case I wanted to go with 4GB of RAM. Money spent up front mean savings in the long run. I'm betting K8L and etc.. will be compat with AM2 while not with the other stuff. SATA 2 HDDs, even the 16MB cache models, are CHEAP. PCI-E video cards have come down as well.

Although I think AMD should have held back AM2 until 65nm K8 Sc-AM2 processors launched, if I had to and or needed to buy I'd get AM2 and maybe the cheapest processor to get by with.Then sit back and wait. Now that's advice from someone who's waiting on Conroe. I might even pick up a Cheap X2 939 to replace my 3500+. See, I already have PCI-E and 16MB cache WD and they are worth it=P
 
I;m not one to argue....but....

Donnie, I'm sure that some people would appreciate it if you either took it to a PM, or to the Intel side.

I for one do not give a damn what Intel is going to do. :p <3!
 
BlackTigers91 said:
I;m not one to argue....but....

Donnie, I'm sure that some people would appreciate it if you either took it to a PM, or to the Intel side.

I for one do not give a damn what Intel is going to do. :p <3!
Click to expand...

I'm sure you could have done the same :D
 
from what ive seen in benchmarks etc... comparing Conroe to Fx-62 and speculation of Conroes being half the cost? so it indeed is no HYPE if it is priced at $500 compared to the $1000 AMD chip, but 2 questions to the OP is it gonna be in your budget?, and do u want to wait another month or 2? and ditch ur ram unless of course its supported, like i said earlier i like to weigh pro's vs con's when making decisions.

are there official models and prices out for Conroe?
 
dwilson041781 said:
from what ive seen in benchmarks etc... comparing Conroe to Fx-62 and speculation of Conroes being half the cost? so it indeed is no HYPE if it is priced at $500 compared to the $1000 AMD chip, but 2 questions to the OP is it gonna be in your budget?, and do u want to wait another month or 2? and ditch ur ram unless of course its supported, like i said earlier i like to weigh pro's vs con's when making decisions.

are there official models and prices out for Conroe?
Click to expand...

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2531

1556_large_conroe_launch_small.png
 
m1abram said:
While that is a neat trick, not too sure how stable it will be. Have they released the expansion card that will hold that cpu? The reason I question the stability is the circuits between the socket and the memory are rather important considering the high speed and low voltage that is handled here.
Click to expand...

That's a very valid concern, but in this case the cpu and memory are on the same expansion board. Have a look

here. It's a pretty slick setup IMO.

Very tempting for me actually since I could keep my 2GB of ram and 6800GT.
 
Roman79 said:
That's a very valid concern, but in this case the cpu and memory are on the same expansion board. Have a look

here. It's a pretty slick setup IMO.

Very tempting for me actually since I could keep my 2GB of ram and 6800GT.
Click to expand...
WOW, very impressive. However lets see, you have bought new memory, new cpu, an expansion card to mount them on. Why not just buy the new motherboard and be done with it.
And how can you keep that 2GB of RAM. The reason the ram in on the card is because the AM2 CPU requires DDR2 memory. It will not be able to do DDR, no memory controller for it? Remember the memory controller is built into the CPU.
 
m1abram said:
WOW, very impressive. However lets see, you have bought new memory, new cpu, an expansion card to mount them on. Why not just buy the new motherboard and be done with it.
And how can you keep that 2GB of RAM. The reason the ram in on the card is because the AM2 CPU requires DDR2 memory. It will not be able to do DDR, no memory controller for it? Remember the memory controller is built into the CPU.
Click to expand...

Good point and I would go with a new AM2 if I were going AMD. I don't want add in cards or to hold on to old tech. I want DDR2, SATA-2 the updated system like newer buffers and etc.. Then I want PCI-E as well in that case.
 
Ok, I think I've got my plan figured out. I can get a ASrock939 Dual for about $65. I need a new CPU to run it. Since I mostly play WoW and surf the net, I don't think that getting a dual-core will really benefit me at this time. FX Athlons are obscenely expensive for me.

I think I'm probably going to go with the 3700+ for about $230. This is good enough to run pretty much everything I do right now, and I've seen it overclocked to nearly 3.0g speeds. If I need a speed boost, this processor seems like it'll do it nicely.

Now the big advantage of getting a new CPU/mobo combo for $300 is that it leaves me about $300 for a new video card. =)

Any thoughts on this?
 
i say ATI for bang for buck on newegg can get the x1800xt's for $260ish manf. from Sapphire, but ur gonna need a decent power supply as well. say a enermax, antec, etc...

heres some links.

x1800xt Video Card suggestion for Power supply says 350watt but id go with 400+watts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...69609641+1067918503&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48

comparison of the 3 x1800xt cards, they appear the same not sure why the price diff.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16814102007,N82E16814102698,N82E16814102008



Enermax 460watt better deal than antec for 69+shipping 33amps on +12v ($10-15 shipping
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA20589

Antec SmartPower 2.0 450W Power Supply $67 with shipping only 15amps on +12v rail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103936

Enermax 420watt dual 12v rails and $72.70shipped and has 18amps on +12v rails
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103459


and for NVIDIA some things to know, if u get XFX they have a double lifetime warranty say if u sold it to someone they get the warranty also.
But if u get a card from Evga they have a awesome trade up program where within 90days u can upgrade ur card if ur a fanatic like that.

for Nvidia i suggest 7900gt's bout same price as x1800xt's but i noticed while they do have 24pipelines compared to x1800xt's 16pipelines, the core n memory are slower on the 7900gt, i dont have any info myself as i havent dabbled with either yet.so its up to you, im sure others will chime in and help ya.


nvidia 7900gt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...69609641+1067920129&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48

i think you are gonna be a happy happy man either way u go.have fun thats what its all about!
 
limecat said:
Ok, I think I've got my plan figured out. I can get a ASrock939 Dual for about $65. I need a new CPU to run it. Since I mostly play WoW and surf the net, I don't think that getting a dual-core will really benefit me at this time. FX Athlons are obscenely expensive for me.

I think I'm probably going to go with the 3700+ for about $230. This is good enough to run pretty much everything I do right now, and I've seen it overclocked to nearly 3.0g speeds. If I need a speed boost, this processor seems like it'll do it nicely.

Now the big advantage of getting a new CPU/mobo combo for $300 is that it leaves me about $300 for a new video card. =)

Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

My thoughts are... I have the same set up with 1GB G.Skill RAM. Its a great rig, and I have the processor clocked to the speeds in my sig. The board and processor are a great combo.
 
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