A64 Price Jump

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Streckfus

Member
Jan 24, 2005
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I'm two components away from my first build, but I bought the video card too early and the CPU too late....the A64 3500 Winchester that used to be $275 at ZZF has now shot upwards of $320. (And of course the 6800GT PCI-E has dropped below $400).

Anyone have any leads on reliable retailers that might be selling this thing at a more reasonable price? (Pricewatch, Pricegrabber, CNet, BizRate, NexTag are all showing pretty much the same stores.)

I know it's wishful thinking, but I gotta ask.

By the way, I'm looking at the retail box w/HSF....I have no intention of overclocking.
 
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Streckfus

Member
Jan 24, 2005
110
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Originally posted by: Koyanisquatsi
wtf. newegg jacked up the price on the 3500 winnies too. $319 for OEM there. what the hell is going on?
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I've pretty much stopped looking at NewEgg recently. Seems their prices have jumped considerably across the board. I got my OCZ PowerStream there because not many people carry it, but they're defintely WAY too high to consider buying mobos and CPUs right now. Yeah, $320 for OEM is ridiculous.

I dunno, supply & demand I guess. Maybe there's a shortage of 3500 Winchesters right now. Perhaps AMD and the gasoline companies are in cahoots.....
 
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Streckfus

Member
Jan 24, 2005
110
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I kinda want to stay away from the OEM chips, simply because of the HSF issue. Besides, buying the OEM chip and a HSF for $40 is going to shoot the price back up to the $300 mark. I guess I'm just lazy, I haven't researched any HSF's up to this point and I'm so anxious to get things rolling that I don't want to delay!

Speaking of waiting...are the Venice chips worth waiting for? I've read on here that it's best to settle for solid, proven components instead of jumping at the newest technologies, but maybe that doesn't apply to CPUs.

I'm just ticked off because I've been saving up for this new PC since October 2004, and after all of that waiting I finally have enough money to buy the rest of my gear (or I will after payday in a week) - and I just can't stand the thought of waiting another couple weeks. Ugh.

But if the Venice chips are going to be better and cheaper, then I suppose waiting will make sense, as long as it's CONFIRMED that they're going to start shipping on April 1.
 
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Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
2
76
ostif.org
Id wait for venice, especially if you plan to OC, they do consistantly better than the current chips it appears (there isnt a large enough pool of data to know for sure, but the overclocks ive seen so far have matched or slightly lagged behind the FX-55)
 
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Streckfus

Member
Jan 24, 2005
110
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As I said earlier, I don't plan on overclocking. I'm way too new at this stuff to risk blowing up my new system because of ignorance, especially since I've spent the last six months saving up for this thing. But regardless of overclocking, at this point I'm just shooting for a 3500+ 90nm, and Winchester or Venice doesn't really matter to me, whichever is cheaper.
 
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Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
2
76
ostif.org
You cant really damage a system from overclocking without changing voltages. Free performance :thumbsup:

While i agree its a bit more advanced, a little research would go a long way. Im not saying shoot for the insane OCs you see here, but a modest 15% OC is a nice boost for free.
 
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bunnyfubbles

Lifer
Sep 3, 2001
12,248
3
0
no problems here, the 3000/3200+ have remained stable if not have dropped a little on newegg

Originally posted by: Acanthus
You cant really damage a system from overclocking without changing voltages. Free performance :thumbsup:

While i agree its a bit more advanced, a little research would go a long way. Im not saying shoot for the insane OCs you see here, but a modest 15% OC is a nice boost for free.
Click to expand...

I completely agree, as long as you do your research and get some experience in under the belt it isn't that dangerou or risky.

Getting the next level out of your chip seems almost a guarantee, ie 3000+ -> 3200+ (1.8GHz->2GHz), if not two levels. Getting more you need a good chip and/or a decent ammount of experience with the right equipment, spending a little more on other components. A $100+ powersupply can seem like a bargain if it helps you get a $600+ CPU out of your $150 CPU.
 
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Balex99

Senior member
Sep 3, 2000
356
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I know you said you were looking at retail but Monarch has the 3500 winnie oem for $265.00 and a AMD64 certified HSF for $8.00. Combo works good especially if you are not overclocking. I have the HSF mentioned and it works fine.

Just a thought.

Reread your post and since you do not plan on overclocking why not go with the Newcastle as mentioned above. A lots cheaper. Still has some OCing potential if you decide to do so later on.
 
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Streckfus

Member
Jan 24, 2005
110
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Alright, so I've read that the new Venice chip will support 4 DIMMs at 400, whereas the current Winchester (I don't know if it's a "bug" or just a limitation) knocks 4 DIMMs down to 333. In that respect, score a point for Venice.

However, I've heard that the Winchesters run cooler than the Newcastles, which is why I was told to go with a Winnie instead of a NC in the first place. But I don't plan on overclocking, at least not right away, so does this make a difference?

And now, how about the NC vs Winnie in regards to the memory issue....does the NC support 4 DIMMs at 400, or are both the NC and Winnie limited to 333 when using all 4 DIMM slots?

The IRS hasn't sent back my tax refund yet, so I've still got time to decide on a CPU. So what does a guy do? Go with a cheap NC w/HSF for $267, spend upwards of $300 on the Winchester core, or wait for the Venice and have no idea how much it'll cost?
 
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lavaheadache

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2005
6,893
14
81
Although irrelevant to this conversation. I just picked up a 754 system with a a64 2800 newcastle, and this thing has no problems running 2500. From 1.8-2.5 I would say thats extreme value for $110 to my door
 
DrMrLordX

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
22,696
12,651
136
Wait for Venice. It's presence on the market will probably drive down Newcastle and Winchester prices, at the very least, and if you want the best core available, well, just spring for a Venice.
 
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Streckfus

Member
Jan 24, 2005
110
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0
Thanks...I'm gonna wait for Venice just to see what happens with the prices (unless it doesn't ship on or around April 4th as planned), but I'm still curious about the memory issue. Does anyone know if Venice is the only core that supports 4 DIMMs at 400? It looks that way, but I just want to be sure. I'm only starting off with 1GB (2x512), but for video/audio/image editing purposes, I plan to bump that up to 2GB (4x512).
 
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