Socket 939 upgrade question

[Wild1]

I?m getting my son?s computer ready for him to head off to college. His 6800GT died last month. It was 27mo old, just past the 2 yr EVGA warranty but luckily it was covered by AMEX for 1 addl year. They paid us $375 so he added another $120 and just bought an 8800GTX. So now I?m wondering whether his CPU is holding back the system and should be upgraded. He will use this desktop primarily for gaming/movies since he has a laptop for school. I don?t want to mess with the MB, only the CPU (and maybe the RAM). Could he make a significant improvement in gaming performance by upgrading? Any recommendations? Current system is

A8N-SLI Deluxe
Athlon64 3500+
BFG 8800GTX
1GB RAM PC3200 CL3 (el cheapo Kingston KVR400/512R x2)
Neopower 480
Dell 2707WFP

 

[BlueWeasel]

If you overclock, then pick up a cheap 939 X2 or Opteron and overclock it to 2.5Ghz (or higher).

The performance won't be significant in games that don't support dual-cores but it's the best (and last) upgrade for those of us still with 939. My personal suggestion would be to get an Opteron 165 from Newegg for $90-100 and overclock it to 2.7Ghz.

 

[lopri]

That machine needs more RAM first.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Holy crap, you bought this all for your son? Interested in a new son?

But seriously, pick up a 2x1gb kit and a 3800X2 or Opteron 165 and overclock it.

 

[bob4432]

most important - ram - get 2GB

next - more cpu but not as important. even single threaded games like bf2 benefit from dual cores because the game does have more than 1 thread - this is back when i had a P4, 2.8 and a x800xtpe. i know that the p4 wasn't a true dc but my performance monitor on a true dc is nearly the same, more like 60/40 or so but definately both cores getting used.

 

[MarcVenice]

In upcoming games it will hold him back for sure. I'd indeed go with a x2 3800+ or a opteron 165, OC it to 2.4ghz +, add 1gb of ram, and he can game on for quite some time. It's what I did, I have a 8800gts 320mb though, and not a gtx Also have a x2 3800+ at 2.6ghz myself, and 2gb of ram.

 

[Wild1]

Thanks everyone. I?m going to go with the Opteron and overclock. The 165 is $100 and the 170 is $120 at Newegg. I?ll be using air cooling with the XP-120 heatsink we currently have. Can someone suggest specs needed for a pair of 1gig memory sticks that will support the OC? Fry's has a pair of Corsair Value Select PC3200 (VS2GBKIT400C3) on sale for $95 but maybe too slow?

 

[BlueWeasel]

If that's the same 2x1GB Corsair Value Select that Newegg had on sale a few weeks ago, then I'd say go for it. I have no problems running it at 4-4-7-2.5 (1T) at 215-220Mhz.

 

[ashishmishra]

I'm running an Opteron 170 at 2.6Ghz using a 166Mhz memory Divider, performance is not affected using the Memory Divider on A64s owing to the on chip memory controller. I'm running my Ram at 216.6Mhz (433Mhz DDR), and couldn't be happier. In summary, get any RAM value or not and run it using a memory divider if it doesn't overclock 1:1, CPU speed is more important.

 

[Flammable]

Originally posted by: Wild1
Thanks everyone. I?m going to go with the Opteron and overclock. The 165 is $100 and the 170 is $120 at Newegg. I?ll be using air cooling with the XP-120 heatsink we currently have. Can someone suggest specs needed for a pair of 1gig memory sticks that will support the OC? Fry's has a pair of Corsair Value Select PC3200 (VS2GBKIT400C3) on sale for $95 but maybe too slow?

if there are 4 slots get 2x of the crucial ballistix(1GB 2x 512sticks) on sale at newegg for 47$ AR

 

[heyheybooboo]

The Kingston KVR400/512R is on sale @ Circuit City for $20/stick after rebate.

CPUz reports the Kingston KVR400/512R as Nanya Technology ram. I have some paired with an Opty 170 at a 50% OC - set the mem freq @ 133MHz and with the OC you should be back to PC3200.

I think I ran 2T, 3-3-3-8 . . . . but your mileage may vary. Loosen the timings until you get the fsb (mmmm....I'm thinkin' 240-250MHz!**) where you want it. If I remember correctly my cpu volts were 1.375 and ram at stock 2.6v.

Don't forget to dial back the PCIe . . .

Edit: ** I was guess-timating the Opty 170 with the HTT @ 4x.