Can't decide on AMD 64, please help!

[BeerHunter]

LCDs are a waste of money at this point. Until they can come down in price and compete against a CRT without ghosting no reason IMO to buy one unless you need to cut the depth down. 200.00 for a 21" CRT with no ghosting and 1800x1440 rez vs a 17" for 300.00+ and low rez and some slight ghosting. Not worth it in my book. Get a nice 350.00 a64-3500+ and enjoy your gaming. for lan parties get a 17" notebook.

just my 2 cents on the issue. and like they say its your money to waste.

I'll probably never use a LCD for gaming but I would never buy a 200.00 CRT either.

 

[Gautam]

You always pay for performance either on the front end (high end processor) of backend (elaborate cooling and cheap processor) the differance is the later you can mirgrate though several platforms leading to reduced costs over time. Just depends what ones priorities are really. Another issue is a fixed budget where comprimise has to be made.. choices like buying a nice LCD monitor or a top flight processor will vary. I don't know if it's funny how people choose to spend thier money...after all it is thier money.

No no, not at all, this in fact, was my point all along. I couldn't have put it any better.

 

[Grov]

since you have a GIG of good memory why not use it.

clock for clock both the 939 and 754 bench within 1% of each other. The 754s are great chips but don't waste time on a 512 version. The soon to be gone 1mb cache versions are killer and are lock step with the 939s.

Most newer games are video card dependant not CPU. I would get a 3400+ CH or 939 3500+ OC either to 2.5ghz and coupled with your X800 XTPE you will enjoy a mucho fast gaming computer.

mobo wise the new DFI for the 754 or the Asus A8V for the 939 would be my recomendations.

also get a nice power supply like an OCZ powerstream.

Thanks for everyone comments.

I have a 550watt Antec PSU, so thats all good.

Changed my mind again for the 3500+ hearing it clocks well, but this site saying there gonna get mobile 3400 1mb and DFI board looks cool.

Would you guys reccommend the stock cooling, if i decide to go with either the 754 or 939?

Gautam apart from what you said there the same, so in the right board there good? are they same steppings, overclock same etc, thanks.

Sorry for dragging this on, i just wanna make the right choice. These A64 chips are impressive.

As for the guy who posted the link to a 3400. Im English!

 

[mata2974]

t really is funny how all the people with the cheap procs always have the priciest cooling and power supplies, eh, BH?

The old idea was to get the cheapest CPU and crank it up all the way, well if you have the best PSU, cooling gear and ram you could achive this. Are you saying the price of overclocking is steadly rising, no more 1GHz overclock from a cheapo CPU. I get your point, I guess it takes time to get used to that.
Well I am just about to buy this LCD and you think its a waist of money?? No ghosting on this one ....!!

 

[Grov]

Found a 3500+ in stock, for 241, so not bad, what mobo should i go for?

There's still not that many 939 boards aroun are there Is the Neo2 Plat the best???? id rather go Nforce 3.

 

[hitechjb1]

DFI board for 939 is expected to come out, don't know when.
The DFI LanParty UT for 754 has been tested/reviewed to be a very good board.

For existing 939 boards, they are:

Nforce3 Ultra 939 Motherboards (for A64 and A64 FX)

Anandtech tested some Nforce3 Ultra and K8T800 Pro 939 boards,
including:
- ABIT AV8 939 (VIA K8T800 PRO)
- ECS KV2 Extreme 939 (VIA K8T800 PRO)
- Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 (Nforce3 Ultra)
- MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum 939 (Nforce3 Ultra)
- MSI K8T Neo2 Platinum 939 (VIA K8T800 PRO)
- ASUS A8V Deluxe 939 Revision 2 (VIA K8T800 PRO) (revised and added this later as A8V rev 2 apparently fixes AGP/PCI lock problem).
The top three are:
- MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum 939 (Nforce3 Ultra) (1st)
- ABIT AV8 939 (VIA K8T800 PRO) (2nd)
- ASUS A8V Deluxe 939 Revision 2 (VIA K8T800 PRO) (2nd)
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=1
[Put both 939 Nforce3 Ultra and K8T800 Pro here since they came from same testing source].

A64 Nforce3 Motherboards (754, 939) (post 11)

A64 K8T800 Pro Motherboards (754, 939) (post 12)

 

[BeerHunter]

The old idea was to get the cheapest CPU and crank it up all the way, well if you have the best PSU, cooling gear and ram you could achive this. Are you saying the price of overclocking is steadly rising, no more 1GHz overclock from a cheapo CPU. I get your point, I guess it takes time to get used to that.
Well I am just about to buy this LCD and you think its a waist of money?? No ghosting on this one ....!!

Does'nt look to bad. I never liked LCD's..maybe something like this could change my opinion. They have superor text, convergence and crispness (as long as in native resolution mode) for sure but I don't think color reproduction is as good nor do I like ghosting on them.

 

[Grov]

DFI board for 939 is expected to come out, don't know when.
The DFI LanParty UT for 754 has been tested/reviewed to be a very good board.

For existing 939 boards, they are:



A64 Nforce3 Motherboards (754, 939) (post 11)

A64 K8T800 Pro Motherboards (754, 939) (post 12)

Yeah, the 754 DFI board looks kick ***, might be worth going with that and a 3400 CG+ over a 3500+ now im thinking, unless the 939 DFI board comes soon, and i doubt it will.

 

[Guns22]

Lol my 64 3000 droped 50$ the next day after i bought it, thankfully newegg credited me the cash.

 

[oc_byagi]

A64 3500+ and Shuttle SN95G5 arriving this week. I can't wait.
I'll post how it performs once it arrives.

 

[hitechjb1]

A64 3500+ and Shuttle SN95G5 arriving this week. I can't wait.
I'll post how it performs once it arrives.

Don't forget to write down the CPU codes and enter the results here .
A64 Overclocking Result Collection

 

[hitechjb1]

This is a tough choice for many people, not just you.

If you have to build within 1-2 week when the DFI 754 board is available, the choices are
DFI 754 LanParty UT + 3000+ NC (cheapest)
or
DFI 754 LanParty UT + 3400+ CG CH (3200+ CG CH hard to find)

If you can wait, there is always more options and cheaper parts down the road, this is always TRUE like a theorem.

Between Sept - Dec 2004, there will be cheaper 939, better 939 boards. Further down, there will be 90 nm 939, board with PCI-e, dual-core, and on and on, ....

There is no one answer for all people, ....

You have to put in more constraints and conditions (e.g. budget, time frame, usage, ...) based on your situation in order to find an answer to suit your need.

 

[ap673]

Alright i've got 3 questions if anyone can answer them.

1)What is the true advantage of 90nm 939? Is it just ganna be like the 90nm Prescotts, not really offering much performance, but a lot of heating issues.

2)If someone goes S939, is AMD planing on creating dual-core cpu's on the S939 platform, or just S900.

3)Will NF4(PCI-E) be only available for S939 boards, or will it be for S754 boards as well.


Thanks!

 

[Fragmaster]

I went A64 3500 too! Got tired of the fan noise from excessive overclocking, so I got the 3500 so I wouldn't have to OC much. Plus I can go FX-55 when they drop down in price after the dual core invasion! Expect a smidge higher or lower than a Clawhammer 3400, but with dual-channel.

 

[mata2974]

)1. What is the true advantage of 90nm 939? Is it just ganna be like the 90nm Prescotts, not really offering much performance, but a lot of heating issues.

Actually the opposite, runs cooler @ same frequency as prevoius grade (160nm), thus more room to overclock....like crazy....

2)If someone goes S939, is AMD planing on creating dual-core cpu's on the S939 platform, or just S900.

Probably, but still fazzy picture

3)Will NF4(PCI-E) be only available for S939 boards, or will it be for S754 boards as well.

Again I would say fuzzy picture, well AMD just
announced that PCI Express will arrive Q1, nobody knows for sure how things will shape up.

 

[Grov]

Here's what iam lookin at, dunno if it's a CG though, can you tell from this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=93613

Ive posted a message to em.

 

[ap673]

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1639

It looks like the A64/PCI-E chipsets from VIA, SIS and nVidia will be supporting AGP8x and PCI-E. VIA and SIS are suppose to be out by the end of this month, and nVidia's chipsets later this fall. But nVidia will be the only chipset with SLI, even though it might cost a fortune.