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AMD64 3000+ Price Drop and Mem Question

S

SJGiant

Member
After lurking on these boards for about a month, I've finally decided to bite the bullet and upgrade my p4 1.5 to an AMD64 3000+, but i've got a few questions for all the guru's on the boards. I know the subject has been beaten to death in previous threads, so i'll try to stay on subject.

From all the rumors, intel's Prescott will drop the price of Intel's Cpu's and AMD may follow suit, but anyone have an idea what the drop might be? Now that i've started collecting everything but the MB and CPU, i've got the spending bug :-D If the AMD 3000+ is going to drop 40 bucks, and the ASUS K8V deluxe is same price, I don't really see the need to wait, or will the price drop be more signifigant?

The second question I have is on what RAM should I get? I know Mark is adamant about good PC 3500 with CAS 2 Lat, but looking on Newegg and Memory4less and similiar sites i'm not seeing much difference between units, maybe someone could clarify which would be the best buy. Here are some examples:

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 Level One - OEM -$95
CAS 2-3-3

Geil Ultra Series Platinum 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 - OEM -$108
CAS 2 6-3-3 1T

OCZ Performance Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 - Retail -$114
Cas Latency: 2.5-3-3-7 2T

OCZ Premier Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 - Retail -$115
Cas Latency: 2.5-3-3-7

Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 -$138
Cas Latency: 2-3-3-7-1T

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 Black Hi Perf Level II - OEM -$153
Cas Latency: 2


Ok, so that is what I found on newegg after a quick search for 512 MB of PC3500 Ram. I'm really confused on the difference between the two OCZ. The "premier" uses UNL technology while the Performance has the 2T latency. Are any of these worth buying, and if not, can you guys recommend what/where?

Also I plan to overclock both the Mem and the CPU and will use it mostly for gaming/web surfing.

Thanks to everyone that has helped all of us first time PC builders get their AMD 64's up and running in the past couple months, i've probably learned more than in the past year of lightly scanning industry news.

J~
 
Welcome to the forums !

Nobody really know what will happen on prices, but at that price point, I doubt it will drop a lot when the Prescott comes out. On memory, I am mad at Geil after my PC3200 will only do 192 stable, and only at cas2.5 when rated at 2. What I have now is that Kingston Hyperx PC3500, and I love it. I am just mad that newegg jacked the price up to $138. But remember this, The Athlon64 is a great cpu (IMO), but it loves fast low latency memory. All the problems I have seen on this platform almost allways stem from cpeap or slow memory. If you don't get the hyperx due to the price, at least get PC3500 CAS2.

Edit, and BTW, I can only run 2170 when running a 3d app, or a game. I think it is my video card stopping me, but thats the highest OC I get. But who cares, it almost runs the same speed as the 3400 per the benches I have run..... for half the price !!
 
I agree. CAS2 is a must, from a major brand. And obviously the fastest RAM you could possibly get at that aggressive a CAS rating, if you are going to overclock.

Markfw900:
Odd, my Corsair PC3200 rated at CAS2 runs fine at CAS2. No OCin, though. What kind of temps are you getting?

Before you make that jump, it might be good to wait for the dual channel socket 939s to come out.
 
Temps ? Well 29c right now, but usually is 32c, and 100% load (seti) after an hour or so, I actually saw it 44c when the house was warm with the woodstove burning ! Normally full load is 42c. and that is OC'ed on a $28 HSF (thermaltake silent boost K8 21 dba).

And the 939's will be dual channel HTT, but I wouldn;t want to pay the price after seeing what the 3000+ will do..... Just look at the 3400 vs the FX-51, there are only a few places where the FX51 whips up, and my OC'ed 3000+ comes close to the 3400+ benches.
 
Do any of you guys know how the A64 pairs with PC3200 Winbond CH-5 memory? I know it has issues with certain P4 motherboards, but what about the Nforce150? I believe my memory now is not low latency, it might be something like CAS3 😱. Would it be foolish to pair 2x512 of these sticks with the Athlon 64?
 
Originally posted by: Kai920
Do any of you guys know how the A64 pairs with PC3200 Winbond CH-5 memory? I know it has issues with certain P4 motherboards, but what about the Nforce150? I believe my memory now is not low latency, it might be something like CAS3 😱. Would it be foolish to pair 2x512 of these sticks with the Athlon 64?
Click to expand...

I repeat THE ATHLON64 LIKES FAST LOW LATENCY MEMORY, so yes I would never use CAS3, and not even PC3200. PC3500 CAS2 min. Haven't seen anybody unhappy yet with that combo.
 
Surprisingly, I get 48c (!!!) at the bios moniter on a non-ocd 3200+. Either my heatsink popped off, or something is wrong with my temp reading. I'm using the $32 Tt HSF unit (Venus 12, I think its called, I bought this one blind. I figured it had to be better than the retail HSF). I really don't know what the normal numbers are for the A64, but after your info, I'm a little concerned (as a full load might push the temp up to 60). 2 PSU fans, 1 CPU fan, 1 GPU fan, 2 case fans. Maybe the arctic silver didn't settle right. You are supposed to refrigerate that stuff, right?

Well, I was trying to go for the 'silent' PC with the sound dampening material and rubber grommets. Its quiet alright, but I guess that stuff packs in heat little more than I want it to. Then again, it may be a wrong reading. If there is anything I hate more than a stuffy, hot case, there isn't anything. Aggh... I which there were cheap R134 coolers.

Good thing is, this thing is fast as hell! But, after using a PIII 550 with 128MB of RAM for a few years, anything that loads Windows in less than three minutes seems fast.

Kai:

As far as I know, the A64 will boot with RAM at any CAS rating, it'll just be slower. Its just most of the time an additional cycle needs to be added to the tRCD for stability (so RAM rated 3-4-4 would be run at 3-5-4). Unless you are overclocking (meaning you have PC3500 and beyond RAM), you have nothing to negate the performance lost by posting less aggressive timings (since fast RAM isn't rated at such low latencies). But then again, I really don't know enough to tell you exactly what RAM will work and what RAM wont. The A64 is nitpicky when it comes to RAM. It might run fine, it might run shabby, it might not run at all. 🙁 You could always try your RAM, and if works, great. If it doesn't, shell out $150 on some CAS2 proven to work with the A64.
 
Farmer, you can't say anything is wrong. What are your case temps ? Right now I am idle, case temp=28c, cpu=30c. I picked the silent boost since it was 21 dba fixed, and less than the Venus12. Case temps are the big factor here. What are yours ?
 
Hmm, if I remember correctly, case temp as around 38-40c, which is also surprisingly hot. I think I'll just throw in an extra fan, see if that clears things up near the CPU.
 
Well, that would do it. a 40c case and a 48c cpu would be be normal for that case temp, and still be much cooler than a 3.2 P4c (I think in the same situation) at what load ?

Edit : And what is the room temp ?
 
Load? At boot, well, after POST, since this is the BIOS reading. I guess there is a period of intense CPU activity at boot. Room temp? Probably a little above 27c.

SJGiant: Apologies for going off topic.
 
Hey no problem, I was enjoying watching the discussion. Gave me something to do as I flipped through page after page of Memory deals lol.

Looks like it will be between:

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 Level One - OEM $95
Cas Latency: 2-3-3
(has two good reviews on newegg, but thats what I expect to see)


Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 -$129 at Fry's (5 minutes away a big plus)
Cas Latency: 2-3-3-7-1T (only thing is the 2.6 support voltage, will that be a problem?)


Geil Ultra Series Platinum 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 - OEM
Cas Latency: 2 6-3-3 1T (people have said they are unable to get it to 2-2-2-6 specs stably though, so may not bother with this)

NewEgg seems to have the best prices on PC3500 Ram, except for the Kingston. I've heard Mushkin is supposed to be good memory correct? $95 for the OEM seems like a good deal versus the Kingston retail, but may not be worth any problems. I'll probably decided and order/buy tommorrow.

Thanks again for your guys input and advice, it has helped me tremendously.

J~

 
One more thing to remember when you say
(only thing is the 2.6 support voltage, will that be a problem?)
Click to expand...
I and NFS4 are both using this memory on Athlon64 systems with NO problem. I have no idea on the Mushkin and if you get it and it works and OC's I might try it. I have PC3200 from Geil that won't run at rated speed, so I will not try them again (until about 500 people say they have changed)
 
One last Noob question for you Mark.

I was going to get the CPU and the Asus K8V Deluxe bundled together from Mwave, but it will come with the Fan installed as well. Would this prevent me from adding the Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 (as I had already ordered it) or can the stock Fan/HS be removed?

Thanks again,

J~
 
mwave ? What's the price diff from newegg ? switching the HSF should be pretty easy.
 
Mushkin recommends the level 2 ram for the Asus K8V.
Go to their site and click the Athlon 64 special report link near the bottom of the page.
www.mushkin.com

Markfw900 what does your setup get in Super Pi to a million places?

 
NewEgg AMD64 3000+
OEM (no Fan, HS) $215
Retail $236
Asus K8V Deluxe $137

Mwave
CPU $225.33
MB $139.92
Assembly/Test $9

Slightly more over all to go Mwave because of shipping, but it would come assembled and test booted.

J~
 
Replacing the HSF will not be a biggie. Just loosen the clips and use a little force as the thermal compound tends to stick somewhat.
 
I don't think the Prescott will effect AMD prices very much if at all unless it's priced extremely competatively, which isn't something Intel is known for. AMD prices will likely have another big price drop when socket 939 is out. The FX-51 might drop in price when the Prescott is out, but the socket 940 FX-51 has pretty much already been replaced by the 3400+
 
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