Good 939 setup

[Gusty987]

I'm looking to upgrade my 754 system to 939. I'd like to find the best mobo/CPU combo I could get for around $150 or less if possible, a little more if absolutely necessary. Appreciate any advice.

 

[justlnluck]

I've been in a dilemma because of my ordeal with Epox. I had purchased a 939 X2 3800+ because I thought my board supported it, as was advertised on the Epox USA site. But unfortunately, I didn't find out until it was too late that my board was Rev 2.1 and it needed to be Rev 3.x or higher. So now I am ordering an ASUS A8V-XE from Newegg for $54.99. This was the cheapest board I could find that didn't have a chipset fan and had an SPDIF coax out which was a must for me. I will let you know how things turn out when it arrives. This might also be an alternative for you under your budget.

 

[pontifex]

why 939? why not AM2 now?

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: pontifex
why 939? why not AM2 now?

Yup, you can find AM2 Mobos for the about the same price as 939s, and the CPUs are cheaper and far more available. It's getting tough to find 939 CPUs.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: pontifex
why 939? why not AM2 now?

My guess would be DDR memory support.

 

[Ultralight]

Finding a good 939 board is getting very difficult. You can always try Tiger Direct because they are known for their combos. NewEgg might have combos but for a decent 939 offering I think they are passing quickly.

939 is dead; I think if you want to stick with AMD look for an AM2 combo. Right now NewEgg has the dual core X2 3800+ 2.0Ghz AM2 cpu for $98 and free 3 day shipping. The problem is you would have to purchase DDR2 RAM and that isn't cheap.

justlnluck, you are aware that is a VIA chipset board, correct?

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: pontifex
why 939? why not AM2 now?

My guess would be DDR memory support.

As usual John, excellent point

You could sell off your DDR1 and use that to help w/ buying the DDR2. Actually, DDR2 prices are falling faster than DDR1.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Gusty987
I'm looking to upgrade my 754 system to 939. I'd like to find the best mobo/CPU combo I could get for around $150 or less if possible, a little more if absolutely necessary. Appreciate any advice.

there is no benefit to go from a skt 754 cpu to a 939 - the dual channel memory controller doesn't mean anything more than 2-3% at most. if you are going to do a change, move to am2 or c2d.

could you give us an example of why you want to do this? for $150 there is much better stuff to get because you are probably going to go a refurb 939 board at this point. i know newegg had some open box asus a8nsx (or whatever the board is in my sig) for ~$32 shipped. i have bought refurbed stuff from newegg before - cpus, m/b, ram, hdds and have no bad luck and if you do get a dud, the manf will still honor the warranty, at least the decent manfs do.

 

[justlnluck]

Also make sure your PSU supports the 24 pin connection. I know 754 boards use the 20 pin.

 

[John]

I use a lot of these 939 micro atx boards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186086

X2 3800+: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103562

Check our FS/T forum for some deals.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: justlnluck
Also make sure your PSU supports the 24 pin connection. I know 754 boards use the 20 pin.

You can use a 20-pin on a 24-pin atx board without a problem. There's no need for a converter either.

 

[Gusty987]

Yeah john's right about the DDR, sounds like I should probably save up for a new C2D rig than go to 939.

 

[justlnluck]

Oh ok, my bad. So why did they change from 20 to 24 pins anyway?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Gusty987
Good 939 setup

I'm looking to upgrade my 754 system to 939. I'd like to find the best mobo/CPU combo I could get for around $150 or less if possible, a little more if absolutely necessary. Appreciate any advice.

A "good 939 setup" would depend on your usage of the PC. I wouldn't recommend a blazing fast dual core combo if you were simply going to be surfing and checking email.
I wouldn't recommend a slow/cheap combo if you are going to be doing heavy gaming and video editing.

It's like calling a car dealership and saying "what car should I buy".
They must have more information about family size and vehicle usage before they can sell you the correct car for your situation.

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: Gusty987
Yeah john's right about the DDR, sounds like I should probably save up for a new C2D rig than go to 939.

Though there is that AsRock board for the C2D that works with DDR and DDR2. People seem to like it, and it'll even OC an e4300 some.