A tough choice

[Sliver]

I've already lined up a good Socket A motherboard, but on the off chance I've burned out my CPU that means I've got to buy a new one. Long story short, my question is this.

Which choice would be better, a 50 dollar Socket A motherboard and a 50 dollar Duron, or a 50 dollar Sempron and a 50 dollar Socket 754 motherboard?

If I get the Applebred it'll be a good overclocker and I can potentially unlock the extra cache, but that's an unsure thing. However I've got a good Nforce 2 motherboard lined up for 50 bucks.

On the other hand, the equally priced Sempron will probably be the better CPU, but I've got no clue if there are any good 754 motherboards with AGP/PCI locks at all, let alone ones for 50 dollars.

Any information would be apreciated.

 

[c627627]

Which choice would be better, a 50 dollar Socket A motherboard and a 50 dollar Duron, or a 50 dollar Sempron and a 50 dollar Socket 754 motherboard?

Socket 754 MHz is A LOT BETTER than Socket A MHz.

which is why Socket 754 is always a better choice but they cost more, the only reason people still go with Socket A is they usually get them a lot cheaper...

 

[Sliver]

I'm not sure of that, my 2200+ XP stock with 256 megs of RAM wastes my little brothers 2200+ sempron with 768 megs of RAM. This is with the exact same video card on 3DMark 2001 which is supposed to be CPU intensive. (10k with the sempron and 13k with the XP.)

 

[c627627]

That is because that 2200+ Sempron is Socket A not Socket 754.

Socket A 2200+ Sempron is just a 1750 T-Bred, nothing more, see:
http://www.c627627.com/AMD/AthlonXP/


It is really a bad idea to buy Socket A Semprons as they are nothing but T-Breds and real T-Breds (Athlon XPs) are better and cheaper...

 

[Sliver]

Hot damn you're right! Except for the cheaper part. Newegg is selling the 2200+ XP for 72 dollars, the 2200+ Sempron for 43.

 

[c627627]

...and what is the stock speed of each?

The best budget CPU is the 2100+ B because it's always multiplier unlocked and overclocks to 2.3 GHz *every time* with adequate voltage, cooling and power supply brand.... if you can only find one nowadays... pricewatch.com has some but I would check vendor ratings and feedback at http://www.resellerratings.com/

 

[The Coolest]

If you want a 50 dollar chip, you can't go wrong with the AthlonXP 1800+ on newegg if its still there.

s754 and sA are not interchangable, I think you understand that.
Now with 50 bucks overall there's not much you can do except buy the XP I suggested, as that's the best bang for the buck, and these chips OC like crazy on the right board, with the right memory, coz they're superlocked, the XP2100+ TbredB will probably be unlocked, but won't hit the speeds that the 1800+ can hit.
You can not get a 50 dollar s754 chip, period.
As they may be 50 dollar s754 boards, they gotta suck. The best cheapo board you can get is the EPOX 8KDA3J for $70 on newegg, but you'd need a new CPU which is $100+

 

[Sliver]

well considering 50 bucks is where my budget tops out it's either the 2200+ Sempron 1.5 GHz, or the 1.8GHz Duron.

 

[The Coolest]

Oh, well, the 1800+ is no longer available, that sucks.
In any way, the sempron will perform better than the 1800+, because it runs at the same MHz but has higher FSB and its a TbredB core.
I'm not too sure on what to recommend.
What motherboard and memory do you have?

 

[Sliver]

256 stick of dirt cheap bargain bin memory, and a dead motherboard. (I'm thinking of buying the AN35N-Ultra that PingSpike recommended.)

 

[The Coolest]

What is the RAM rated at? if its PC3200 then I guess you could go with the sempron, and then OC. If its rated lower, I'd recommend the 1.8GHZ Duron.

 

[Sliver]

PC2100

Looks like it's Duronville for me.

 

[c627627]

...or always unlocked mobile 2400+, 2500+, 2600+ Bartons, and always unlocked 2100+ B and 2700+ B. Classifieds and auctions may still have them for cheap...

PC2100 generic sticks of RAM don't go over 150 FSB much on average...

MHz Frequency = FSB x multiplier

150 FSB x locked multiplier may not be much... and all new Durons are locked...


All 1800+s are almost certainly locked now so you only get 1.7 GHz or so with PC2100 RAM...

 

[Sliver]

I had this stick of RAM doing 200MHz with tightened timings running rock solid for several months. I don't know exactly how much more it had to give since my motherboard didn't allow adjusting of the voltage but I think it had a bit more to give.

 

[The Coolest]

hmmm, well. Look at it this way:
MHz = FSB x Multiplier
The multiplier is locked on both the duron and sempron.
The duron has a x13.5 multi, say x200 = 2700MHz potentially.
the Sempron has a x9.5 multi, again x200 = only 1900MHz potentially.
I think you should either go with a second hand, unlocked chip or a new mobile if u can afford it, or the duron, as it'll do 2.4-2.6ghz on the right hardware, and will definatly perform better than a sempron at 1900mhz.

BTW, what board are you using?

 

[c627627]

Also be sure RAM is 1:1 or 100% insync, not Auto.

Maybe it's doing 200 because it's on Auto. If it's doing 200 and it's 100% insync, then you have a mislabeled PC3200 stick, not PC2100 stick.

Even average generic PC2700s can't do 200, the ones that can, are mislabeled PC3200s...

And when I say mislabeled, I mean purposely or otherwise, ALL Samsung PC2700s do over 200 FSB which means they're all PC3200s sold as PC2700 for marketing purposes...

 

[speed bump]

I personally look for a slightly older 1.6ghz duron as you can use the pencil trick to unlock the the extra cache, which ussually doesn't work on the 1.8ghz durons. You also have a decent chance to unlock the multis. However I think if you paid alittle attention to ebay and the classifieds then you can get a mobile or a barton for about $50-$60.