A64 System Choices?

[GoHack]

Hi,

Some of my questions may of been discussed already, so bare w/me.

I'm looking into getting a A64 system.

My choices:

System #1:

m/b- DFI LANPARTY UT nF3 250Gb (754) (Single Channel Memory)

cpu- OEM 3200+ ADA3200AEP5AR, or 3400+ ADA3400AEP5AR, both 1 meg L2's, rev CG's

System#2:

m/b- MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (939) (Dual Channel Memory)

cpu- OEM 3200+ ADA3200DIK4BI, or 3500+ ADA3500DEP4AW

The m/b's are about the same price, but the 939 cpu's are more expensive than the 754's. The 939's have only 512K L2's, while the 754's have 1 meg L2's. The 939's have 2000 MHz FSB's while the 754's have 1600 MHz.

What about mobile A64's vs. the OEM's?

Are the Clawhammer rev CG's better over all than the Newcastles, including o/cing?

I think that's it.

The DFI's are back ordered w/everyone. The MSI's are available.

Thx.

 

[hitechjb1]

IMO, for 754, ClawHammer with 1 MB L2 would be preferred than a NewCastle (with 512 KB L2), since there is no clear evidence that the latter can be clocked on the average 5% higher which is about 100-150 MHz at 2.5 GHz level to break even with the larger L2 counterpart for average overall performance.

Difference between a ClawHammer and a NewCastle(post 53)

The 2nd post of this thread
A64 Overclocking Result Collection
shows some overclocking results for CH and NC.

Having said that, the 3200+ CG ClawHammer desktop is hard to find, unless going the route of mobile DTR or mobile 3200+ which only certain motherboards and bios would support. The DFI Lanparty UT is one of them. A 3400+ CG 1 MB L2 would be fine except for higher CPU cost.


For the 939, the new 3200+ 90 nm 939 is good, especially for
- covering memory intensive applications such as scientific, video rendering programs
- for future compatibility, having the option to upgrade only CPU or motherboard down the road (not necessary to change both)

Currently the choice of 939 motherboards is less compared to 754, and the motherboards with PCI-e supports (Nvidia Nforce4 or VIA 890) are not yet available till later this year.


Performance analysis of various A64 systems (including Barton, P4's) (post 7)

 

[GoHack]

Thanks.