Is It Too Late To Go Sk939

How bout we stop the flaming and such. I doubt the OP started this thread for a debate or flame war to happen.

AC3421 said:

Bah, big deal, your still on the false side.

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False side?.. Of what?.. Seriously.. I made a suggestion and you bashed me for it.. We are all open to our opinions here, No need to bash me for mine.. Single core is still dominate and will be for a year or so longer... and support for it will continue for a couple more years at the least.. But yeah.. No need to bash.. Kids these days, I swear.

Most Windows programs are just now starting to support dual core CPUs, and they are in no way required in order to run the programs, so I have to agree with SeasonalEclipse here. Regardless, the topic is about socket 939, and s939 dual cores do exist.

There's Athlon XP systems that are OC'ed nicely and are still completely usuable. 2GB of ram and a nice video card(wow , they still are making high end cards in AGP after it was considered "dead" over a year ago) will keep a system viable for awhile. I just happily shunned dual core and bought a new high clocking Opteron for $110. This is because I know my usuage and did enough research to find a dual core is most likely a waste for me. I certainly don't need a lower clocking dual core to play an online game or burn a CD/DVD and browse the internet or edit pictures at the same time. 939 will be usuable for quite some time and is certainly worth the price you can get a lot of used stuff for now.

One word... NO. 939 is still very much alive (unlike 754). I personally have not made the jump to AM2 yet.... but if you're building completely new then yeah, go AM2 (cash provided... DDR2 is expensive right now). But if you're budget conscious... 939 is still a very viable platform.

Taking into consideration that the Opteron prices have dropped as well.

There's this ASUS A8N SLI SE Sk939 board http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=3KGX&InMerch=1 and for £100 I could get a Opty 144 1.8ghz http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_Opteron_64.html that for me would be a big upgrade. I just want a decent system where I can save a little bit of cash and use a few parts like my DDR memory off this rig.

you know, in a lot of ways, skt939 is the smartest choice you can make right now. Think about the major argument for going am2. Basically amdroids will tell you that am2 is a future proof socket that already has great hardware associated with it. Well, sorta kinda.

Unfortunately, there are major drawbacks to this argument 1) the only advantage that am2 has over 939 is the use of ddr2. It has been PROVEN that ddr2 doesn't give any performance increase. Ok maybe a little, but we're talking like 1-4%. 2) in the near future, ddr3 will become a industry wide standard. It will be the memory many k8l boards will be designed around.

That being said, does buying AM2 REALLY give you a future proof socket. Yes you can argue that it will demonstrate compatibility, theoretically. But it may be a better choice to save a few bucks now, buy a great system, then purchase a new system in a year or two when am3, dx10, and ddr3 stabilize as industry reference.
Right now everything is either being phased out or stuck in a state of flux waiting for new processing techniques to come into commercial production volume.

i'm not saying wait, i'm saying throw down the big bucks when you have the ability to purchase a system that isn't made of components GUARANTEED to be obsolete in less than a year. Until then buy a pimp 939 system with a dual core processor and kick butt in every possible application you can buy today and in the near future. Seriously, an intelligently built $800 939 box will rock anything you throw at it. By the time it has deteriorated in usage, so many things will have changed that you might be pleased with how you spent your dollars.

MadMan007 said:

I'm just getting tired of seeing borderline flame posts with harsh tones where people dump on other's choices. It's one thing to disagree in a reasonable tone or make differing points in a civilized manner but another to rant and insult people.

It's funny to watch someone write a strongly-toned post about a hardware choice, then look at their signature and lo and behold guess what hardware they have? I honestly do think it's partly to make themself feel good about what they have, justify their own purchase decision and so on. But those things don't always apply to someone else seeking advice or input.

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Word

I expect that when a senior member like WK asks you to behave yourselves in a thread, that people listen to him.

On topic: Dualcore is not required and I doubt it will be for a few years. I worked for 2 years in electrical retail in the UK and I reckon most people upgrade or replace their PC every 2-3 years. The chain I worked for only has, as far as I am aware, 1 or 2 dualcore machines available in the vast majority of stores. Most people will go for whatever machine is at the £500 price point as that is seen as a reasonable price for a new computer. Most people just browse the net and email people on their shiny new fast PCs anyway. Gamers are a minority out in the world and many people seem to forget this too quickly.

Dualcore does have its advantages however, but it depends on how you use it. *Some* games are beginning to take advantage and I find my Core Duo laptop very smooth for general use although I do tend to multitask a lot and I feel I take advantage of both cores. If you play mostly single threaded games and browse the web then a single core will function fine. I would say there is a threshold - at some point a dualcore chip will be as cheap or not much more expensive than a single core chip and hence there wont really be a reason not to go dualcore. I don't know if this applies to your situation or not.

AC3421 said:

Bah, big deal, your still on the false side.

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I strongly suggest you watch the tone and content of your posts, lest you offend someone with your opinions. They are, of course, opinions as they are not based on solid fact. Hence try not to ram them down people's throats.

Well this system of mine lets me listen to MP3's & Surf the net at the same time and thats about it well thats all I've tried I haven't gone any further. But I was just thinking with AM2 not really giving much more performance than 939 and 939 parts going cheap I was just going to get a decent board. The ASUS 1 in my above post is decent not sure what it means by SLI SE is that a lower version of SLI or something.

Anyways then maybe just get a decent A64 CPU or if I have enough get a Dual Core 4600+ which is £170. But I'm sure I can get either that or a 4200+ which is cheaper. I would use my DDR memory from this rig buy a Raptor 74GB for my main drive and a 160GB Caviar drive as a slave and then buy a 7600GT PCI-E card then later another 1 for SLi.

I might keep unused parts and just rebuild it back up like when I get 2GB for my new system. Put the 1GB back this copy of my XP Pro is tied to this motherboard anyway & for some reason I don't want to sell any of it to be honest.

AngelfireUk83 said:

Well this system of mine lets me listen to MP3's & Surf the net at the same time and thats about it well thats all I've tried I haven't gone any further. But I was just thinking with AM2 not really giving much more performance than 939 and 939 parts going cheap I was just going to get a decent board. The ASUS 1 in my above post is decent not sure what it means by SLI SE is that a lower version of SLI or something.

Anyways then maybe just get a decent A64 CPU or if I have enough get a Dual Core 4600+ which is £170. But I'm sure I can get either that or a 4200+ which is cheaper. I would use my DDR memory from this rig buy a Raptor 74GB for my main drive and a 160GB Caviar drive as a slave and then buy a 7600GT PCI-E card then later another 1 for SLi.

I might keep unused parts and just rebuild it back up like when I get 2GB for my new system. Put the 1GB back this copy of my XP Pro is tied to this motherboard anyway & for some reason I don't want to sell any of it to be honest.

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That etailer you linked sure does not have too many cpu's.
I say shop around some more and might find some good deals on dual cores. Also check the classified here, you might find a nice dual core or a link to one.
you have Athlon Xp 2500 @ 1.8ghz and moving to single s939 will not give you substantial improvement. I suggest getting a 3800 x2 or an opty 165 if you plan on keeping system another 2-3 years. Chances are even after getting a single s939 you will end up getting a dual core wasting money in between. it's human nature. Your desire for a dual core will make you buy one or just not happy why bought single. But I suggest shop around some more and might find that dual waiting for you. good luck.

As far as I know, the A8N-SLI SE is somewhere in between the standard A8N-SLI and the A8N-SLI Deluxe. I have the lowest end standard A8N-SLI board and it works perfectly, albeit a little HTT freq limited for an Opty 165. But I say that 939 is definitely NOT dead, as nothing is really CPU limited anymore (with how fast CPUs advanced), but GPU limited. As long as you have PCI-E and at least an AMD 64 3000+, I think you should be fine. Last I checked, this board was about getting the most you can with the least amount of money (the idea behind Overclocking); so if you don't think you'll use DC for anything, I would find the best priced single core that will fit your needs. I had a 3700+ before this Opty and, for the money, it was an awesome chip. It would clock close to 2.9 Ghz. The 3700+'s can be had for way cheap now, and they're worth every penny. Going 939 sounds like the best choice for you, as you can utilize the RAM you have and find some nice used parts for very nice prices.

Well, I am surprised to see so much heat over a simple question. To throw in my .02, no, AngelfireUk83, in your situation it's not too late to go 939. If you were building from scratch then I would say go for the AM2, but for a budget upgrade it makes very good sense. The key is getting a good board and right now the 939's are getting more scarce. Once you have cleared that obstacle you are on your way. Good luck.

Oh, and thanks guys, this thread has just warmed up my room on this chilly morning.

AngelfireUk83 said:

There's this ASUS A8N SLI SE Sk939 board http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=3KGX&InMerch=1 and for £100 I could get a Opty 144 1.8ghz http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_Opteron_64.html that for me would be a big upgrade. I just want a decent system where I can save a little bit of cash and use a few parts like my DDR memory off this rig.

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I think you've got a good plan. Personally I'd go with the DFI Ultra D over the Asus A8N SLI, as I've had both and the DFI is in another class. But I'm on the Asus now and I can't complain. (I sold the DFI in anticipation of Conroe then after finding a few deals, I could get a X2 and A8N SLI Dlx for about half the price of the C2D CPU itself )

Go Ultra-D if you like to tweak... and like to be forced into spending plenty of time doing it. (you'll get to know memory timings better than you ever thought you would). But once you've got it locked in the Ultra-D definitely surpasses what the Asus can do.

Easier OC = get the Asus, it's still a great board.

I own three Ultra-Ds and love 'em! I also recently purchased two DFI RS-482 mobos which are running an Opt144 & Opt146. They OC wonderfully (still lots of memory tweaking though, ala Ultra-D)... I have one @ 322HTT w/the 144 = 2.9GHz.

Just throwing out other options.

I'm running an Abit AN8 Sli with a x2 3800 and loving it. Also just bought a DFI RS-482 and a Opty 165 for my HTPC.

Does the DFI board support SLi just that it has 2x PCI-E X16 ports and from the picture it looks like it has SLi ports on it. As it is tempting anyways cause I could just get a single card for the price of 2x 7600GT's and I like the idea that I will be able to learn a bit more about memory timings.

The RS482 has a single PCI-E slot... and it's an ATI chipset, hence RS482. I hear these boards game quite nicely with a single 1900XT or better series.

There's nothing wrong with s939 as an upgrade, especially with RAM prices how they are. The performance difference is very small, and probably not noticeable.

All of the DFI Lanparty NF4 boards have 2 pci-e x16 slots, there are jumpers to make it normal(x16, x2) or SLI(x8, x8). The Ultra version of the board does not technically support SLI, so it doesn't come with a bridge(somewhat hard to find), and it require a simple mod, see the stickies in the DFI AMD section. Personally I would get the DFI board over the ASUS. I just bought a Ultra-D myself and modded it, coming from the A8R-MVP board in my sig, it was a dream come true.

Dual-core is probably the better choice right now, and I see you're already looking at the 4200+. You might consider a Opteron 165 or 170, since they're similarly priced and tend to clock higher.

I'll send off for the DFI Ultra board next week to store it until I get my CPU and new hard drive over the next few weeks. As long as the DFI board isn't hard to mod to SLi and back to standard 16x ports and it dosn't cause any problems afterwards. I'll be happy to purchase it, the board and a decent 939 CPU is all I need cause we all no there not around as much.

After I have them I'll be using my GEIL 1GB RAM for now below and getting a 74gb Raptor and a new 120GB Caviar SATA drive 16mb cache. Then just buying a 7600GT 2 if I can get SLi working. I was looking at a Operton 144 but there Single core I'll just go for a 4200 or 4600+ which ever I can afford.