Worth it to upgrade such a small step?

[GRCRYSTYK]

Hey all,..It's been a while. ( real long story),...

Anyway, while trying to repair my machine that had a stick of memory crap out on me the other day, I ran across some listings for AMD Athlon 64 processors. They seem to have dropped in price quite a bit. My kids have Athlon 64 bit 3500 Venice chips right now,...Question is, would it be worth the cost to take advantage of the prices right now on the Athlon 64 4000 San Diego chip?
They both Game, and my oldest is into programing as well as some graphics work. Both running Asus A8N SLI Deluxe boards, and 2 gig Corsair XMS Pro DDR, not sure of the latency. Single PCI Express graphics cards. Solid OCZ Powerstream PSU's, and single Seagate SATA drives.

I have really lost track of things the past few months,and realize these chips are not the going thing, but thought if the difference in performance was worth it, this way, I wouldn't have to upgrade the Mother boards also.

Thanks much guys,...GRCRYSTYK,...>>>--->

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Invest in one of the X2 chips. Or if you wanna OC them, maybe the opterton 165 or 170. Whats your budge on each chip? No reason to go single core now.

 

[HangerBaby]

That's sort of a lame thing to say, hit

My friends got a dual core processor and it takes a lot for both cores to be going on even half load.......

I'd buy a single core and get more memory if I had to build another computer on a budget

 

[ochungry]

That's sort of a lame thing to say, hit

My friends got a dual core processor and it takes a lot for both cores to be going on even half load.......

I'd buy a single core and get more memory if I had to build another computer on a budget

What?
Maybe your friend has it all messed up and the system not functioning the way it suppose to.
Definitely go w/ X2, specially for the one used for programing and graphic.

 

[inkfx]

Dual core is definately the way to go these days. Something like an Opteron 165 or a cheap X2 chip would be a nice step up.

 

[AlabamaCajun]

The kicker is price, the 4000 can be sucked up for 109 each at the egg where the lowest decent dual 4600 starts in the $200s. I just made the dollar and the 1m cache choice to go from 3000Venice to 4000 Sandy on a machine that will not OC. If you can OC them, the Opti 175 would be a cross replacement in speed, picking up the extra core and quadrupling the cache (1M per core).

 

[White_Pawn]

3800+ X2 is a great cpu for cheap price. I got mine chugging at 2400mhz, cuz i don't really push it, but alot of my friends get it to hit 2600-2800mhz.

 

[GRCRYSTYK]

Ok,..You guys have me thinking to much about this now,... That means the testosterone is flowing, and that can usually mean trouble,...

I haven't been keeping track of things for a while,..Which dual core chips will fit in the 939 socket? As mentioned, if I were to make an upgrade, I would want it to be worth the cost, and trouble.

Budget wise,..I'm a tight wad, but value conscious, so that's a tough call. If something is really worth it, I will tend to gravitate that direction, even if it's a bit expensive. I got the 3500's when they were $200.00. That;s why it pains me to see the prices so low right now.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Further explanation for an old guy with little time to research is greatly appreciated,...

>>>--->

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

The opteron 165, 170, 175, and 180 will fit 939. So will the entire X2 line. Basicaly, they all will, just make sure its not an AM2 chip. Look in the desciption.

Well the 165 is now 155$ at the egg (great price!) Starts at 1.8ghz, but the opteron line is known for extreme overclocking due to it being a server quality chip. The silicon is usualy of better quality and tested under harsher environments to be able to withstand the life of a server CPU. If you have a mobo that can hit over 300fsb, your golden.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103588

Seems the only 939 X2 chips left is the 4600+ at 239 at mwave, 247 at newegg retail, 225 OEM at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1028&SubCategory=343
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewproduct.asp?PID=CPU-A64X2&updepts=CPU&DNAME=Processors+-+CPU


I say go 165. The 165 also has the added 2x1mb cache, where the 4600+ has 2x512kb cache.



As for research, basicialy dual core is Two CPU's on one die, in one socket. Its perfect if you do a lot of multi tasking or use programs that take advantage of it (alot of higher end video/photo programs, adobe, encoding stuff, etc) And even if you dont, its extremely noticeable.

Ever play a game only to have a virus scan kick in and freeze your game? You wont even notice that happening on a dual core. The scan will use one cpu, while your game uses the other.

Alot of games nowadays (basicaly, all new games that come out) will take advantage of dual core and multithread there games to get increased performance.

Dual core is the future, single core is the past. It is almost a waste to spend any money on a single core as of right now when dual cores are not that far away in prices.

Pretty soon, quad core will come out and well have 4 cpu's in 1 socket


P.S. you also get twice as much folding powa!! Check out the Folding@Home section to see what im talking about

 

[GRCRYSTYK]

Hit,.
I just popped in to see what's going on at lunch,..Say I'm not going to overclock much if any. Would there still be much of a performance increase with the dual core,...I realize there is more to a processor than it's rating, so at 1.8mhz, this Opteron will walk over the single core 4000 at 2.4mhz?

Thanks so much again,..>>>--->

 

[DeadSmiley]

Hit,.
I just popped in to see what's going on at lunch,..Say I'm not going to overclock much if any. Would there still be much of a performance increase with the dual core,...I realize there is more to a processor than it's rating, so at 1.8mhz, this Opteron will walk over the single core 4000 at 2.4mhz?

Thanks so much again,..>>>--->

If you don't overclock the 4000 will make the Opteron look slow in comparision for most things.

The exception is if you use lots of apps designed for dual CPU's. Most applications are not designed to take advantage of this.

I have an X2 3800+ and it really shines for encoding videos, running a server and a client at the same time (CS:S) and things like that. My son's machine is a single core and 200MHz faster, but does not run the CS:S client at top speed if he runs the server too. I can run the server and the client with no speed loss on the client, but not as fast as my son's does running the client only.

Bear in mind that you are talking about a 600MHz difference between the 4000 and the Opteron. The 4000 is faster at stock speeds for single appications.

Some will say that you can run the OS on one core and the app on another which is complete BS. The OS actually takes a hit for the overhead of managing the two cores. If you compare a single core CPU with a dual core CPU at the same speed the single core will generally be faster than the dual core for most applications. If the application is written for for dual CPU/cores you will see gains from 50-95%.

 

[fabulouscoops]

Budget upgrading a 939 3500+ can only go two places.

X2 3800+ which it seems Newegg does not sell anymore...?

And lets not forget the FX-55 which can be had for $139 on sale.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103492
I would sooner go for that than the 4000+ if you are not going the dual core route.

 

[DeadSmiley]

Budget upgrading a 939 3500+ can only go two places.

X2 3800+ which it seems Newegg does not sell anymore...?

And lets not forget the FX-55 which can be had for $139 on sale.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103492
I would sooner go for that than the 4000+ if you are not going the dual core route.

Yep, looks like you are right about the X2 3800+ in socket 939. Even Zipzoomfly has the X2's on back order.

I was just using my X2 vs. my son's machine as an example of what to expect.

Good call on the FX, BTW.

 

[GRCRYSTYK]

Dadgumit guys,..You really have me looking at this now,...How much difference is there between the Clawhammer,a nd the Sandiego chips,..I thought the Sandiego's were top of the heap,..Is this still not the case?

Thanks again for all your help, and info,...

>>>--->

 

[fabulouscoops]

San Diegos are the best. The Clawhammer was on sale for $139 so I linked to it, but the Sandys are still available for $179 I think. There was a coupon code for this CPU. type in "AMDROCKS" in the space provided in the checkout page to see if it is still in effect.

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Dadgumit guys,..You really have me looking at this now,...How much difference is there between the Clawhammer,a nd the Sandiego chips,..I thought the Sandiego's were top of the heap,..Is this still not the case?

Thanks again for all your help, and info,...

>>>--->

San Diegos have the 2x1mb cache, whereas the clawhammers have 2x512kb cache. The sandy's are also much better OC'ers. Expect 3ghz+ from newer revisions. I have a 4000+ that will hit 3ghz that im not using anymore. Replaced it with my 4800+X2.

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Yes the Sandy's are still the best one bump under the Denmark's. Those older Sandy's and Venice's make excellent folding layers as they are still powerhouse chips.

 

[68Injunhed]

I was going to buy this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103526

...actually had it ordered, then cancelled it in favor of a Opty 170 that I hope to push to FX-62ish levels. I plan on keeping this rig for a while til the quad core stuff all comes out, and prices start falling.

But $139 for what could easily be pushed to a FX-57 is pretty sweet.