Socket 939 upgrade to dual core....when to do it?

[shredman]

Current System:
AMD Athlon 3700 o/c to 2.6
2gb ram, DFI Ultra D MB

I know that the conroes are cheap now and even the AM2s....but I'm hoping to get by for a little while with just a Cpu upgrade and in about 1.5 years or so change sockets.

if I want to stay with my current ram and motherboard and just get a dual core 939 and overclock it....I'm trying to decide when to pull the trigger and which one to get. I'm thinking of an Opteron 185 (2.6) or a an Athlon X2 at the same speed. But, I can't seem to find the higher clocked Athlon X2 dual cores anywhere and the opteron 185 is $335 at the egg. I know they stopped making the X2 in 939 flavor, are they doing the same with the opteron 939s? Do I need to get a 185 now or can I wait a bit for the price to drop to around $200???

 

[Munky]

The longer you wait, the less practical it will be to upgrade your s939 system to a dual core cpu. You can find Opteron 165 or x2 3800 for under $200, and most of those will Oc to 2.6 or higher. Since s939 is discontinued, the prices aren't going to drop.

 

[shredman]

Hmm, are they going to stop making the opteron 939s also?

Newegg has the x2 3800 for about $120 but I don't think I could get it to pass up my current clock speed of 2.6 on my single core 3700....so I think I may see a performance DECREASE in many applications, ie...current gen games.

 

[Zambien]

What is the reason for your CPU upgrade? The reason I ask is that for games, clock for clock the A64 is about the same as the X2 and the X2s overclock about the same as the A64s. Of course, if this isn't for gaming primarily please disregard.

I'm in the same boat as you and I'm sticking with what I have until the next release and price drop of the Intel chips. By the the R600 should be out and the 8600.

EDIT: You beat me to it. ..

 

[shredman]

Zambien, I'm pretty happy with my 3700 right now, but I'm worried that if I don't get a new chip now, they will be gone when I want to upgrade in a year or so - so I would be forced to buy a new motherboard and ram as well (probably about a $300 purchase in addition to the new cpu).

 

[smitbret]

If you're gonna do it, do it now to get the best return on investment. Prices seem to have bottomed out and with new sockets on the horizon, S939 will be dated tech soon. If you want to wait awhile, just wait a little longer till the new stuff comes out.
-Brett

 

[shredman]

 

[shredman]

Hmm, any suggestions on a particular X2 or opteron? I'd like to at least match the 2.6 speed I have now on my 3700 overclocked.

 

[Neurodog]

I would recommend the Opteron 165.

I also have the X2 3800 running stock and my 165 running at 2.7

Most games I play don't need the full CPU speed for now on the Opty so I'm good for now! But my next upgrade will probably be a Core 2 Duo

 

[shredman]

Ok, I guess my question is, which opty is the easiest/most reliable to get to 2.6 or higher? And have they stopped making the opty 939s?

 

[myocardia]

Both the 165's and the 170's nearly always reach 2.6 Ghz, and since the higher stock speed Opty's start out at a higher clock speed, they also nearly always hit 2.6. With your motherboard, a 165 or 170 would be fine, since it has no problems with 300+ HTT speeds. Oh, and they've already stopped making the Skt. 939 processors; all of them. They stopped production at the end of 2006. That's why the supply has already dried up on them.

 

[kmmatney]

I'm in the same boat - wondering about upgrading my 939, since I already have 2 GB of DDR. I'm going to make a gradual switch over to core duo, though. NewEgg had an open-box Dual-VSTA motherboard for sale for $25 shipped, and I bought it, even though I have no cpu for it yet. That will allow me to keep my DDR, and I'll pick up a E4400 or E4300 when the prices drop in April.

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
I'm in the same boat - wondering about upgrading my 939, since I already have 2 GB of DDR. I'm going to make a gradual switch over to core duo, though. NewEgg had an open-box Dual-VSTA motherboard for sale for $25 shipped. That will allow me to keep my DDR, and I'll pick up a E4400 or E4300 when the prices drop in April.

how is your ECS KN1 Lite?

 

[kaiten]

I did a similar upgrade that you are considering - not wanthing to get rid of 2BG ram and an A8N-SLI Prem. I went from a socket 939 3200+ at 2.6 GHz to an X2 3800+ at 2.6 GHz. I could probably go higher, but I haven't tried to increasing the voltage too much 1.45. Maybe I could get close to 2.7 on going to higher voltage. You could more easily get another 100 MHz out of a Opty 165 or 170, which I was also considering. It is tough to beat the current price of a X2 3800+.
I mainly did the upgrade or gaming, since I had a little CPU limitation gaming at 1920 x 1200 in Oblivion with 7900GT's in SLI.

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: Rottie

Originally posted by: kmmatney
I'm in the same boat - wondering about upgrading my 939, since I already have 2 GB of DDR. I'm going to make a gradual switch over to core duo, though. NewEgg had an open-box Dual-VSTA motherboard for sale for $25 shipped. That will allow me to keep my DDR, and I'll pick up a E4400 or E4300 when the prices drop in April.

how is your ECS KN1 Lite?

I've been pleasantly surprised by my ECS KN1 Lite. It came virtually free with a $99 NewEgg combo deal, so I wasn't expecting much. I'm pretty happy with the overclock I was able to achieve and its been very stable. It runs Vista fine as well. Overall a great board, especially when it comes in a combo deal.

The speed isn't quite right in my sig - I had to back down from 2.6 Ghz, since Oblivion would crash too often. Every other app and benchmark ran fine at 2.6 Ghz, but not Oblivion, so I'm running at 2.54 Ghz. My video card is my bottleneck, for the most part.

I really wish they had a Brisbane X2 3600+ for Socket 939... I just saw that newEgg has the X2 3800+ 939 cpu for $119 shipped. - I don't remember it being that low before.

 

[trOver]

Did you happen to buy the ECS KN1 LITE mobo w/ the athlon 64 3400 combo for $99 like i did? that was a great buy...

 

[Rottie]

what is the difference between KN1 lite and KV2 lite? I believe both have different chipset right?

 

[ineedaname]

Those damn 939's seem to be getting more and more expensive ever since amd stopped production so i would say the sooner you get it the better.

hmmm but factoring in intel's price drop probably the best time 2 buy is RIGHT after april 22nd.

 

[cubeless]

just ordered a $120 3800x2 from ne... i'll let u know how it oc's...

 

[shredman]

Sounds good cubeless.

I've been thinking about it and considering the advice given. Since I don't really NEED the dual cpu now, and my current cpu is not having any problems with games, etc....

I'm thinking as of now is to wait until after april price drop...and see. If the top opterons come down a good amount then I will get one. If not, I am going to hold onto my current setup and let it ride for a while until it really is getting unbearable...and then go with a new mobo, ram and cpu if I can't find any 939s.

 

[catalysts17az]

go with the 170 as it has a 10 multiplyer. i have one with a DFI expert at 2.5 Ghz, i will push her harder later but i am fine with a 500 Mhz OC. i also have the 165 too, but it has a 9 multiplyer. either way you can't go wrong so get one while you can!

 

[catalysts17az]

go with the 170 as it has a 10 multiplyer, its also a very good OCer!!!!!! i also have the 165 but it has a 9 multiplyer..........you cant go wrong with either but get one while you can!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[catalysts17az]

sorry for the double post, its 3 am and i need sleep! Chiao