future of 754, 939, 940

[soicanstabyou]

i've heard that 754 was being cycled down and 940 was going to be cycled out and that 939 is going to be the new standard socket for amd. is this true? with the high cost of 939 is it worth it so my computer will be upgradable in the future?

 

[mitchafi]

No, it's not worth it right now. There is only a small performance increase from 754 to 939. Not enough of an increase to warrant spending the extra money, imo. You could always get a newcastle core Athlon 64 (512 less L2 cache, but clocked 200 mhz higher) and use it with a second generation socket 754 board (NF3-250GB or Via K8T800 Pro). Then when want to make the move to 939 you will only need to upgrade your motherboard.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: mitchafi
No, it's not worth it right now. There is only a small performance increase from 754 to 939. Not enough of an increase to warrant spending the extra money, imo. You could always get a newcastle core Athlon 64 (512 less L2 cache, but clocked 200 mhz higher) and use it with a second generation socket 754 board (NF3-250GB or Via K8T800 Pro). Then when want to make the move to 939 you will only need to upgrade your motherboard.

actually, you'll need to upgrade the cpu also. the socket 754 cpu's obviously have a different number of pins compared with the socket 939 cpu. theres a reason y their selling different socket cpu's of the same name. IMO, it worth getting socket 939 now, since u can get a good abit mobo for $145. also, you have have a much better future upgrade with 939. as for 754, you wont. amd will be utilizing 754 for low end class, which will be a degrade from the athlon 64.

 

[soicanstabyou]

mik3y - that's what i was thinking

 

[manko]

You can get a 754 motherboard and decent processor for the price of the cheapest 939 CPU (without motherboard, close to $500). By the time you'll need to upgrade, the 939 chips will be more affordable.

 

[mitchafi]

oops, my mistake

 

[n0cmonkey]

And 940 is supposedly going to be around for a while.

 

[Tostada]

It would be good if you could wait until 939 CPU's come down to a decent price and more boards are available.

If you're looking to upgrade now, though, the 939 CPU's and boards are too expensive for what you're getting. The good boards will probably all be Socket 939 by next year, but that doesn't need to affect what you buy now. Socket 754 CPU's aren't just going to instantly disappear.

If you could get a Socket 939 CPU for under $300, things would be different, but the cheapest CPU you can get is $485, and there aren't even any nForce 3 boards available yet.

 

[Mik3y]

socket 754 - low end
socket 939 - mid-high end
socket 940 - highest end

 

[Tostada]

Socket 940 isn't any more "high end" than Socket 939. Socket 940 is for server boards, and there's no reason to get a board that requires registered DDR. Socket 939 is better -- at least it will be in a month when more boards reach retail.

And it's a little early to call 754 low end, although it will be in a year.

 

[Bar81]

Don't forget that they'll still be making mobiles on Socket 754 for years to come so it won't be low end probably ever if you're interested in mobiles.

 

[Arcanedeath]

I think Socket 940 is the most future proof. you know they are going to have Opterons in that socket for a long time to come, the only downside is registered memory which is a bit slower and a bit more expensive. but if you are looking for longjevity I would suggest getting a socket 940 board.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath
I think Socket 940 is the most future proof. you know they are going to have Opterons in that socket for a long time to come, the only downside is registered memory which is a bit slower and a bit more expensive. but if you are looking for longjevity I would suggest getting a socket 940 board.

With S939 coming, and the FX series migrating to it, it seems unlikely that any mobo manufacturers will make new enthusiast mobos.
Basically it'll be S939 for consumers, and S940 for servers, hence it seems likely that all future S940 mobos will be tailored for server duties, hence no overclocking, etc.
You don't see many consumer oriented Xeon boards, do you?

 

[Vee]

Originally posted by: soicanstabyou
i've heard that 754 was being cycled down and 940 was going to be cycled out and that 939 is going to be the new standard socket for amd. is this true? with the high cost of 939 is it worth it so my computer will be upgradable in the future?

I've seen a lot of BS about this on websites. Anandtech included. AMD intends to keep all three sockets, for any amount of time that is worthy of consideration.
But is that really an issue? My position is that I've never once upgraded CPU only. When I was new at this, making my own, I paid a lot of attention to mainboard "quality" and features, trying to get it as future proof as possible. The result of that was expensive deluxe mainboards that became obsolete anyway.
I've never once judged it worthwhile to upgrade only cpu. These days I try get a mainboard more fitting my needs and more fitting the CPU. Cheap CPU, cheap mainboard. I'm amazed how well that strategy have played. Just my cents.

 

[Wahsapa]

the mobile issue is a good point and i dont think amd is dropping s754 anytime soon neither is it gonna focus on s939 only. s940 is gonna have the dual opterons and the s754 is the dollar for dollar intel beating machine that oems are gonna use forever(ie:not going away cuz its cheap and 64bits is the point of sale).

meanwhile s939 is gonna compete againt dual core prescots and m's? its got its work cut out for it.

 

[sisooktom]

If you need a system now, buy S754 now. It's not worth waiting for 939 to become cheap. Vee hit the nail on the head regarding upgrade paths.

 

[Penth]

How long until s939 prices will be near s754? 5 Months? Of course, I realize you would all be speculating, but I'm probably going to build around then. Just wondering.

 

[Cobalt]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
And 940 is supposedly going to be around for a while.

For Opteron.

 

[fkloster]

Originally posted by: Tostada
Socket 940 isn't any more "high end" than Socket 939. Socket 940 is for server boards, and there's no reason to get a board that requires registered DDR.

That is, unless, u disable ECC check on your low-latency speedy registered memory

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: Vee
I've seen a lot of BS about this on websites. Anandtech included. AMD intends to keep all three sockets, for any amount of time that is worthy of consideration.

Of course AMD will keep up with supply as much as needed. As others have stated, though, the fact is that by the end of the year enthusiast boards will almost all be Socket 939. Socket 940 will be for servers only, seeing as the only difference is slower, more expensive registered memory. Socket 754 will be around, but it'll be in older and cheaper motherboards. It's just simple logic. People are going to want Socket 939 because it is the best. It has dual-channel and takes cheaper memory.

Originally posted by: Vee
These days I try get a mainboard more fitting my needs and more fitting the CPU. Cheap CPU, cheap mainboard. I'm amazed how well that strategy have played. Just my cents.

Don't worry. Sooner or later the strategy of getting cheap motherboards will come around and bite you in the ass.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: Penth
How long until s939 prices will be near s754? 5 Months? Of course, I realize you would all be speculating, but I'm probably going to build around then. Just wondering.

The AV8 is already down to $145, which is the same price as a K8N Socket 754 until about two weeks ago. That's pretty good, seeing as they can't keep Socket 939 boards on the shelves and could charge just about whatever they want. I'd say that in a month they'll be shipping enough that the price will be perfectly reasonable.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-181

 

[Dug]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: Penth
How long until s939 prices will be near s754? 5 Months? Of course, I realize you would all be speculating, but I'm probably going to build around then. Just wondering.

The AV8 is already down to $145, which is the same price as a K8N Socket 754 until about two weeks ago. That's pretty good, seeing as they can't keep Socket 939 boards on the shelves and could charge just about whatever they want. I'd say that in a month they'll be shipping enough that the price will be perfectly reasonable.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-181

Actually they are down to $134 at Newegg. Not bad, but I'm waiting for an Abit Nforce3 939 board.

 

[RaiderJ]

The main difference between 754 & 939 is the dual-channel memory controller, right? How much of a performance boost does the dual-channel really provide? If it's minimal, then what really is the point of 939?

It looks to me that you could buy a faster 754 for the same price as a slower 939 chip, thereby removing the dual-channel advantage for the same price point.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I don't believe Socket 939 is ripe yet.

When it gets PCI-Express and DDR2, then it'll be worth it, IMO.

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
The main difference between 754 & 939 is the dual-channel memory controller, right? How much of a performance boost does the dual-channel really provide? If it's minimal, then what really is the point of 939?

It looks to me that you could buy a faster 754 for the same price as a slower 939 chip, thereby removing the dual-channel advantage for the same price point.

1)Dual Channel doesnt really provide that much for AMD Systems, we aren that memory dependant...(Correct me if I am wrong)
2)Its easier to have one socket instead of two....? Anyway, the future is with 939....