Best SocketA performance?

[nJett]

Hi everyone,

So, I have not been able to afford a full on rebuild of my system and have been just upgrading bits and pieces to extend its life - I bumped the RAM up to 1gig, the videocard to a 6600GT - now my bottleneck is the CPU. It's an AthlonXP 1700+ - I can overclock it a little but in the summer it's too hot in my computer room to run at anything much over 1800+ levels (w/420mhz bus though). Anyways, my question here is:

What is the best SocketA performer - is it the AthlonXP 3200+? Is it a "slower" version overclocked?

 

[nJett]

hmm - so looking at Socket A cpu prices, they are completely insane!!! Really wishing I bought one before prices shot up like they are now
It would be just a little bit more money to buy a new mobo and A64 except I'm sadled with an AGP card

 

[BlueWeasel]

Not really what you're looking for, but you could upgrade to a ECS NF3 board with a Sempron 3100+ for $80 (current Outpost deal). You'd still need a HSF, but you get one of those for $10-$15. Quite a nice upgrade for only $100, and you could probably sell your Socket A hardware for almost that much.

 

[Zap]

I second what BlueWeasel said, and you are right in finding that socket A CPU prices are too high. The Outpost deal would get you a CPU that will on average overclock to run faster than most average overclocked high-end Bartons, plus run cooler.

 

[dguy6789]

Perhaps take a look at the FS/FT forum and look for some mobile bartons for sale.

 

[dug777]

Afaik Synth is selling his tbred-b 1700+, which he was running at 2.4ghz, in FS/T...

 

[TheStu]

If you insist on continuing to use your Socket A system, you will probably best served by getting an XP-Mobile.... they overclock like WTF, and have lower wattage and power req's

 

[nyker96]

you best upgrade is the 754, get a nforce3 w/ 2800+ then OC it to about 2.4, that's what I did for my upgrade. cost is about 100 but gets rid off the bottleneck nicely. Runs calculation based apps like a A64 3500+, gamez like a 3200+. You can keep the rest stuff 6600GT etc intact.

 

[Pciber]

Originally posted by: nyker96
you best upgrade is the 754, get a nforce3 w/ 2800+ then OC it to about 2.4, that's what I did for my upgrade. cost is about 100 but gets rid off the bottleneck nicely. Runs calculation based apps like a A64 3500+, gamez like a 3200+. You can keep the rest stuff 6600GT etc intact.

yeah, thats right.. go from one dead socket type to another fast-dieing type to save a few bucks.

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: Pciber

Originally posted by: nyker96
you best upgrade is the 754, get a nforce3 w/ 2800+ then OC it to about 2.4, that's what I did for my upgrade. cost is about 100 but gets rid off the bottleneck nicely. Runs calculation based apps like a A64 3500+, gamez like a 3200+. You can keep the rest stuff 6600GT etc intact.

yeah, thats right.. go from one dead socket type to another fast-dieing type to save a few bucks.

I am afraid that your information is incorrect. Socket 754 is the best possible socket you could go to at the moment for longetivity. 939 is being phased out with AM2 this year, and if intelligence data is correct, AM2 is being phased out by AM3 in 2007. AMD has stated that it plans on keeping Socket 754 as its value line of processors for quite a while. Socket 754 is going to outlive Socket 939 no problem.

 

[Furen]

Hardly, socket 939 is being phased out by the end of the year but there are technically superior CPUs on it. Just because socket 754 CPUs will be on sale longer doesnt make it the better choice... in that was the case then you could just stay on socket A, since AMD plans to continue shipping Geodes for a while yet.

 

[selfbuilt]

If you can find a cheap XP-M for a reasonable price, go for it - but I know that's easier said than done. I'd second the S754-Sempron combo for $100 - they overclock great, and would be faster than the XP-M upgrade.

 

[Munky]

There's no reason to upgrade from one old cpu to a faster old cpu when both are slower than the new cpu's, and those new cpu's can be had for reasonably cheap. Unless you can find a high end socketA cpu for under $50, I'd upgrade to a s754 sempron and a nf3 mobo.

 

[dguy6789]

There is no reason why Socket 754 won't have 2.8-3Ghz Semprons in its lifetime. Dual core is really the only thing you can get on 939 that you cannot on 754. It is possible that AMD will make dual core semprons in the future.

 

[Zap]

All the socket 754 naysayers are just jealous that they paid 100% more money for something else that only gave them 10% more performance. :evil: Example? How about a Sempron 3100+ with E3 or E6 core and an A64 3500+ for twice the money? Both can probably overclock to similar MHz, leaving the sole advantages as dual channel and double cache.

As for the dual core fans... well, SOME things benefit from that. At this time and in the next couple of years MOST things do not. That's like buying an SUV because you might someday have enough friends to fill all the seats and you might someday venture off the pavement. In the meantime all you have is a longer e-penis. Conspicuous consumption, exactly what the manufacturers want.

 

[furballi]

Dumb _ _ _ who paid too much $ for 939 are angry cause dual channel memory will only add 3% to top line performance.

As for dual core...my $80 3100 Sempron rig (overclocked to 2.44GHz) can transcode a 4 hr DVD movie at 62% compression (Nero Recode 6) in 11:54. With Prime95 running in the background (Max heat mode), the transcode time went up to 12:02. How's that for multi-tasking?

"Technically superior CPUs"....translation...uninformed noob who bought into the AMD marketing jargons.

AMD continues to support 754 because this platform makes MORE $ than 939. That's the bottom line. PC vendors want 754 because it's the best value for most PC users. Again, there is no reason why 754 cannot support DC in the future.

 

[dug777]

it's a pity my suggestion regarding synth's tbred-b has fallen by the wayside...

It hit 2.4Ghz on air so...

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: furballi
Dumb _ _ _ who paid too much $ for 939 are angry cause dual channel memory will only add 3% to top line performance.

As for dual core...my $80 3100 Sempron rig (overclocked to 2.44GHz) can transcode a 4 hr DVD movie at 62% compression (Nero Recode 6) in 11:54. With Prime95 running in the background (Max heat mode), the transcode time went up to 12:02. How's that for multi-tasking?

"Technically superior CPUs"....translation...uninformed noob who bought into the AMD marketing jargons.

AMD continues to support 754 because this platform makes MORE $ than 939. That's the bottom line. PC vendors want 754 because it's the best value for most PC users. Again, there is no reason why 754 cannot support DC in the future.

Yes, but can it encode a dvd into divx with 640 resolution at 90 or more fps? The fact that I paid more for s939 does not make me a dumba$s, it just means I like the additional upgrade options and performance that it offers, and the higher price is not a big deal to me.

 

[furballi]

Why the obsession with FPS? If you encode DVDs 24/7, then a 10% boost in speed may improve your productivity. Time is relative in my book. At $80, I can afford to upgrade the MB and CPU once a year!

So how does one rationalize flushing $ down the toilet?

1.Future upgrade options (you know in advance which technology will take-off)
2.$ don't matter (I can borrow from the bank at 15% APR)

That's okay. Gotta keep the economy purring.

 

[nJett]

Being saddled with AGP makes moving to a new motherboard not worth it for me (no way am I replacing my 6600GT anytime soon) - I'm also very fond of my current board (Epox 8rda series) - My goal here is to get enough performance to hold off on a full rebuild for awhile longer (at least a year). I'd rather not buy a 1700+ tbred, it's what I have now and I'm not confident I can replicate a 2.4ghz OC with the kind of ambient temps I have to deal with - it was a good suggestion though. The whole transition to PCI-E has really screwed my upgrade path

I'm not familiar with the 754 sockets - they are Sempron only? What boards and CPUs are good?

 

[nJett]

Here we go:
754 I could go with:

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
A64 3000+ venice
Total = $190

for 939 I could go with :

ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Socket 939 ULi M1695 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
A64 3000+ venice
Total = $200

The ASRock has both AGP 8x & PCI-E so I would have an upgrade path. The drawbacks are 939 is being replaced soon and it's an ULI chipset - I've never heard of them and don't know anything about them. I've been very happy with the nforce2 and beyond chipsets. Via has been OK to me in the past too. I also don't know much about ASRock, they are new to me.
The gigabyte board is nforce3, I've dealt with gigabyte boards before so I know their style - it's also a tiny bit cheaper but $10 isn't significant. It lacks PCI-E and has no dual core support currently.

Anyone have any thoughts? Are there better boards? I found an AGP/PCI-E socket 754 board but it looked like crap and the AGP on it is apparently some faked out PCI thing.
I think upgrading my poor Socket A system might not be worth it at this point $200 for a new set up w/64bit support or $150 for a phased out CPU that used to cost half that

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: nJett
Being saddled with AGP makes moving to a new motherboard not worth it for me (no way am I replacing my 6600GT anytime soon) - I'm also very fond of my current board (Epox 8rda series) - My goal here is to get enough performance to hold off on a full rebuild for awhile longer (at least a year). I'd rather not buy a 1700+ tbred, it's what I have now and I'm not confident I can replicate a 2.4ghz OC with the kind of ambient temps I have to deal with - it was a good suggestion though. The whole transition to PCI-E has really screwed my upgrade path

I'm not familiar with the 754 sockets - they are Sempron only? What boards and CPUs are good?

Upgrading to a NF3 and Sempron combo means you can still keep rocking with your current AGP card.

For the price, it's hard to beat the ECS and Sempron 3100+ combo for $80, and it's pretty easy to hit 2.3-2.4Ghz with those chips. The ECS board maxes out at 250Mhz FSB in the BIOS, but others have had no problem going up to 280FSB using Clockgen.

 

[nJett]

hmm - I'm not too familiar with current Semprons, I looked at the pre-64 versions a little but they never impressed me. How do they stack up to the "real" thing?

 

[BlueWeasel]

By Pre-64, do you mean Socket A Semprons?

Socket A Semprons aren't worth the money -- stay away from them. The only difference between the A64 chips and Semprons are the Sempys have less L2 cache and socket 754 runs in single-channel mode only. But, since the Semprons OC so well, you're losing very little because of the lower cache size and SC configuration.

 

[furballi]

Only differences between the Sempron and A64 are the onboard cache (256 vs 512 up to 3500 speed) and the dual channel memory. The maximum speed penalty with the 754/Sempron platform is around 150MHz CPU core speed.

Oh yes, currently, there are no dual core CPU for 754 and bells and whistles like SATA II, NCQ, etc....

With the ECS NF3/Sempron 3100 combo, you can run at A64 3200 939 speed for $80! Start out today with a stick of 1GB Corsair VS RAM. Wait two more years and add another 1GB stick, plus a CPU upgrade (probably 65nm Sempron running at 3.0GHz).