AMD Socket 939 Dilemma

[mode101wpb]

I'm thinking of doing a cheap processor switch, removing my single core 4000+ San Diego and dropping in a dual core X2 4200+ Manchester, a $65.99 switch.

I'm on a budget with my system, I know I can step up to a new mobo, intel, DDR2 and etc. but I really don't want to invest into more gear until 2008.

This is my current set-up:

Asus A8N-SLI Premium
Ati X1950 Pro
2GB OCZ Platinum DUAL 2G(1Gx2) DDR 400
PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 510 SLI

I'm looking for overall improved performance, primarily gaming and some CAD work, photos and etc.

XP for now, no Vista anytime soon.

So for $65.99 would I see any improvement over my single core 4000+? Anything that would be night and day or just marginal?

 

[jjmIII]

It will be worth the $66 IMO.
Plus, you can sell your old chip and get some of that money back.

 

[21stHermit]

I just made the switch, see this thread, and I got a 5% boost on the single application I expect this computer to run. So from my standpoint it was a waste of $60.

Their are a number of benchmarks on Tom's CPU charts so you can compare both CPUs.

FWIW
Hermit

 

[spittledip]

If you want to run several things at once without feeling the hit, it is the way to go. If not, it is not worth it. Although I suspect hat with background processes and all the other services and crap running on your machine you would notice some difference anyway.

 

[mode101wpb]

I saw that thread and the link to Tom's, but it say's the opposite though I don't see anything I'm using on there just a rough idea. I usually kill background processes that are not needed, I was thinking of programs that support dual core.

 

[JackMDS]

Pure Bench does indicate a difference, the x2 being better.

I tried timing applications (while multitasking) that I use, I do not see any difference in actual functioning.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Sell the SD on ebay and get the dual core, it's worth it

 

[Mr Pants]

I am looking at the same issue but my cpu is a 3000+ at 1.8GHz so the upgrade for me would probably be much more significant.

Anyone know if these CPUs have heat issues? (Without Overclocking)

Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Manchester, 90nm, L2 Cache 2 x 512KB) 4200+ (E6 version)

 

[jjmIII]

Originally posted by: Mr Pants
Anyone know if these CPUs have heat issues? (Without Overclocking)
Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Manchester, 90nm, L2 Cache 2 x 512KB) 4200+ (E6 version)

No heat problems....

 

[Mr Pants]

"No heat problems.... "

Yeah, I guess I could have worded that a bit better. But I still take the answer seriously. Thanks.

 

[ajemm]

I wouldn't expect too much noticeable improvement unless the apps you use are multi-threaded. The the extra cache and 200MHz clock speed on the 4000+ would make up some of the difference of the two cores. I originally went from a 3500+ (2.2 GHz) to a 4400+ (2.2 GHz) and while I could do more at once, I wouldn't necessarily say it was faster. But...you have a pretty good mobo & RAM combination so overclock that baby!! Just my $.02.

I can't believe 10 posts into this thread and no one has recommended C2D:shocked:

 

[jjmIII]

Originally posted by: jjmIII
It will be worth the $66 IMO.
Plus, you can sell your old chip and get some of that money back.

Lets be honest. We geeks love to upgrade, and should be proud to admit it.
If you can get a new DUAL core chip (your first non-singe core I'll assume), and only spend $50 after selling your old chip.......why not?

Your inner geek will thank you with a warm fuzzy feeling, you get to play with a new OC, and dual core is getting more useful each day.....not less.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: jjmIII

Originally posted by: jjmIII
It will be worth the $66 IMO.
Plus, you can sell your old chip and get some of that money back.

Lets be honest. We geeks love to upgrade, and should be proud to admit it.
If you can get a new DUAL core chip (your first non-singe core I'll assume), and only spend $50 after selling your old chip.......why not?

Your inner geek will thank you with a warm fuzzy feeling, you get to play with a new OC, and dual core is getting more useful each day.....not less.

Wha? Edit that to say $30 after selling your old chip, and I'd agree.

 

[bryanW1995]

yeah, um, if you only net $16 after shipping on that 4000+ then you're not much of a trader I just sold my fx55 for $80 on fs/ft. I know that fx has the rep and all, but it was only 200mhz faster than your 4000+. $40 or so b4 shipping is very reasonable for that chip imho.

edit: btw, try to get a toledo/denmark core if you can. manchester is ok, but it's older technology. they only came with 256/512 mb cache vs 512/1gb cache for toledo/denmark, too. I know that the egg has the manchester right now but hold out man!

the 3800+ toledo for 55 on the egg is a better deal imho, esp when you consider the oc potential of your mobo. You should be able to get a similar final clock speed out of the 3800+ toledo as you would out of the 4200+ manchester.

 

[timxpx]

i just swapped my opteron 148 out for the $65 X2 4200+ manchester from newegg... can't really notice a difference since the opty never really felt bogged down from multitasking.

i hope this extra core is worth it!

 

[nemesismk2]

When I upgraded from a athlon64 3500 2.2ghz to a athlon64 x2 4200 2.2ghz I didn't really notice a big difference until I started to benchmark using games. 17% increase in performance with Doom 3, 15% with Supreme Commander and 31% with World in Conflict. In the future more and more games will be available which will require atleast dual core technology.

 

[myocardia]

nemesis, if that's all the performance improvement you got with those games, you need another video card. It's pretty close to a 100% improvement with SupremeCommander, I hear, when upgrading from a single core.

 

[Mr Pants]

"edit: btw, try to get a toledo/denmark core if you can. manchester is ok, but it's older technology. they only came with 256/512 mb cache vs 512/1gb cache for toledo/denmark, too. I know that the egg has the manchester right now but hold out man!"

Well, checked his board but not everything it can support and it looks pretty close to my
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum. Which MSI says only has support for a few Toledos and Manchesters. And I believe the Toledos go for a bit more $. When putting to much money into these older boards isnt the best idea.

I have heard there are 3rd party bios updates and such for helping the board support more variety of CPUs. Any truth to this? Or is it to risky anyways?

Sorry, when saying the board only supported the Toledos and Manchesters, I meant for the dual core processors alone.

 

[rogue1979]

I just swapped out 3 socket 754's for socket 939 dual cores.

Put three 3600+ on them and they all overclocked easily to 2.6Ghz or so at 1.45v.

While not a night and day difference on the desktop, mulitasking is much better.

Graw2 went from 45 fps average with a minimum of 28 fps, to 60 fps average/40 minimum.

This is with the same 7900GT's.

That's all I have noticed so far, didn't run any benchmarks, but that made it worth it to me.