AMD Socket 939 vs. Intel 915/925 long-haul

kad7b

Junior Member
Nov 3, 2004
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I have never built my own computer, but plan to do so within the new month or so. I'm looking to buidling a rig that I will be able to upgrade over the longest period of time and was wondering if any of you have any insights regarding the lenghth of time chipsets hang around. Can I count on AMD Socket 939 or Intel 915/925 to stay around the longest? I hear that AMD keeps their chipsets around for quite a while.

I've also heard varying opinions regarding whether or not Intel's new 915/925 chipsets will be around long and was also wondering if these will support dual core processors if I upgrade the CPU in the future. What type of issues might I run into in the future? I hope get 3-4+ years of useful life out of the components. Am I kidding myself by trying to stretch a system out over a long period of time? My upgrade plan would be to first max out the memory when I notice a decrease in performance, then upgrade the CPU down the line as I need more power.

I tend to multi-task quite a bit between Adobe products & other media creation software. No gamming (sorry), but do some modeling and rendering using Rhino, Viz, FormZ... maybe Maya in the future.

Seeing as how longevity is my primary concern, I am willing to sacrafice some performance going with an AMD (I understand that Intel is better for multi-takings and CAD packages). Also, I don't feel like I need a top of the line machine and realize that future upgrades will not give me a state of the art setup.

Wanted to spend <$1000. Any comments regarding any of this would be great. Thanks.
 

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
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I think expecting 3-4 years of usable life is probably reasonable, as long as you understand that technology will evolve around it.

If you look at a similar system from 3-4 years ago, you're talking about something in the 800-1000 MHz range either a PIII or Athlon. These kinds of systems, with enough memory, still offer reasonable performance now, even with the same CPU as when it started.

If you are looking at a socket that will definitely offer multi-core CPUs, I think the only platform that this is completely guaranteed is Socket 940. AMD has said 939 will have dual core, but who knows what will make sense by the time they actually come out. Based on what I've been reading the last few days, Intel seems to be mostly using 915/925 as a holdover to next years chipset release.

If I was choosing between 939 and 915/925 I think 939 definitely has a better chance of more staying power
 
Oct 2, 2004
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I see main 2 reasons for upgrading:
1. Gaming
2. Acquiring new Microsoft resource busting Operating System.

In your case i think Intel combo would be very appropriate.
I recommend 915G Chipset mobo with integrated GPU and 3.0 or 3.2 Ghz CPU.
(3.4 and 3.6 PRescotts tend to kinda overheat). It will easily last you 3 years and it's
much cheaper combo than AMD - 939.
 

Drayvn

Golden Member
Jun 23, 2004
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939 will support Dual core right off the bat.

U can get the new 3500+ core and a 939 board for cheap, and still overclocked it way beyond the FX-55, the current high end CPU.

939 is here to stay a long time, while Intel are now starting to push out a new mobo making the 915/925 obsolete.

But as u were saying ur doing more work that the Intel chip will be better at, namely multi tasking. But in a few months ATi are bringing out a shed load of mobos, which the mobo manufacturers really want as the intel boards are very bad at the mo.
 
Oct 2, 2004
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Kad7b specifically stated he uses multitaskin a lot and that he doesnt game.
Why a person who wants a solid lasting system would overclock and risk burning something?
Lasting 939 combo will be probably nf4 based and require not cheap pci-express gpu.
 

bim27142

Senior member
Oct 6, 2004
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3-4 years?? cmon thats too long considering how technology evolves?! if only i have lots of money, i'll build a system that's only good for two years max then dispose it off and build a new one... i think ther is no such thing that's gonna survive that long without getting obsolete in today's technology which is clearly relentlesly advancing...

but anyways, for this topic, i think AMD 939 has an edge...
 

jkresh

Platinum Member
Jun 18, 2001
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925x is already replacing 915/925 so with intel if you plan on upgrading cpu's plan on getting a new motherboard. As for amd, once nforce4 is out a 939 system should last a while and leave room for upgrading graphics. If you do serious 3d work then pci express is a must as the newer workstation cards are switching over, if you do it for fun then agp would probably be fine. For mutlitasking a p4 has a lead and will continue to until multicore systems become available. Depending on which 3d program you use most and how important it is to you, you can make a platform choice on that, as amd works better for some while intel works better for others. Also sse3 will be available in amd within a few months and that will probably give amd the lead in all 3d app's for a while.