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Athlon64 3500+ -- Newcastle vs. Venice

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imported_binjured

Junior Member
Well, time to chock another one up to poor research. I placed an order on Saturday for a substancial amount of hardware to include an Athlon64 3500+ Newcastle. I chose the Newcastle at the time because the last time I checked it was the best core, but of course that changed in the month or so between researching and buying. So, I read about Venice and how it's based on the 90nm process, runs cooler, less voltage, etc. Of course my immediate thought was "better = I must have it!"

Now, the problem is that I cannot cancel my order and replace it immediately due to credit card restraints (I would have to wait a day just for the charge to be dropped) and unfortunately that is not an option. My only option at this point is to place a separate order for the Venice chip then return the Newcastle chip when it arrives. However, this will make the returned chip valid for a 15% restocking fee which comes to about $40 of my money disappearing. Factor in the shipping back costs and instead of a Venice chip costing $10, it suddenly costs $60 more.

I want to be happy with my new hardware, despite how inherently difficult that is. I really don't want to spend $60 on a simple refab, which is why I'm posting this. I want to know what you guys/gals think. Is it worth it? Should I wait to upgrade sometime in the future? Is the Newcastle acceptable or just a pile of crap next to Venice?

Thanks for your time.
 
damn .. thats more then a month behind, newcastles are getting obsolete now, after newcastle and the other 130nm's, you have the winchester which was the first 90nm athlon, and now AMD has the Venice and the San Diego for its new 90nm cores.

Anyways back to topic, if you can try and send that 130nm old skool chip back, and then try and get the venice you will be a lot more pleased with the results of the new REV-e's.. i wouldnt say that the 130nm newcastle is a pile of crap compared to the venice but there will be a difference .. you could keep this chip for a bit then get a X2 when the price drops .. but at then end of the day i think you should ahve researched a bit more .. because it has come back and stung you ..
 
Is the purchase from Newegg?

If you call and speak to someone, tell them you made the purchase in error, They will allow you to return it upopened.. Especially since you are buying something else from them..

They should most likely strike the restock fee..
 
yes throw up a fuss as well as this usually works, especially when you are looking to spend a little more money and potentially more money in the future 😉
 
Originally posted by: bjc112
Is the purchase from Newegg?

If you call and speak to someone, tell them you made the purchase in error, They will allow you to return it upopened.. Especially since you are buying something else from them..

They should most likely strike the restock fee..
Click to expand...

I'm actually buying from ZipZoomFly because they were substancially cheaper. I still find it interesting that nobody can alter an order after it's placed... they are electronic orders, you can always alter them, go into your database and change the product number.. *shrug*.

I called them on the phone and the person I talked to didn't seem to know much of anything, I outlined the situation and asked if returning the first cpu would cause me to pay a 15% restocking fee and she said "I think so". I've never once paid a restocking fee at Newegg even on stuff that says you will, but I don't know about ZZF.
 
Maybe its too late, but with everybody ask to cancel the order, and don't try to explain the situation, it doesn't do any good. Basically keep the instructions as simple as possible. If the order has shipped then everybody charges a restocking fee (cept maybe Newegg).
 
One important question is will you be overclocking? The primary advantage of the Venice core is that it overclocks better. If your not going to overclock, there will be no difference in the performance of the two chips. Another consideration is the mem controller on the Venice handles four sticks of ram better than the older chip. If not overclocking and using only 2 sticks of ram I would keep the newcastle.
 
Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
One important question is will you be overclocking? The primary advantage of the Venice core is that it overclocks better. If your not going to overclock, there will be no difference in the performance of the two chips. Another consideration is the mem controller on the Venice handles four sticks of ram better than the older chip. If not overclocking and using only 2 sticks of ram I would keep the newcastle.
Click to expand...
I will only have two sticks of RAM (512 ea) and I don't plan to do anykind of considerable overclocking... the last core I overclocked was an Athlon 2000+ back a long time ago. I will probably OC it a bit just because there's not really a reason not to, but I don't expect any kind of crazy results.
 
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