Good Socket A mobo

[KoolDrew]

I currently have a 1500+ and I am planning on upgrading my CPU and mobo, but I am on a tight budget. I want to overclock very well though too. So I was thinking of upgrading to a 2500, but I can't figure out what mobo would be best for ocing. What would you guys suggest? Also if you could reccomend a CPU that would help too.

I will also be buying a 6600Gt to help my gaming experience. Also any difference in DVI inputsand Regular Vga inputs? The card i was looking at has only DVI slots on it, which is perfectly fine becuase my lcd has dvi slots as well, just wondering if this would run any different from regular VGA connections.

Also if there is anything else you guys could reccomend to get the best possible OC that would helkp too. Like best cooling, RAM etc.

 

[ts3433]

At this point, you may want to consider waiting a while till you can get an A64. Otherwise, get a mobile 2200+, cheap but good Speeze heatsink, and a Shuttle AN35N-Ultra (or a used Abit NF7/NF7-S version 2--NOT the NF7-S2!!--or DFI NFII Infinity). You should easily get to the standard 11x200 overclock with something like this as long as you have some decent DDR400 RAM (Corsair/Crucial/Mushkin value RAM is fine). That same RAM would also go great in an A64.

 

[Pciber]

Originally posted by: ts3433
Otherwise, get a mobile 2200+, cheap but good Speeze heatsink, and a Shuttle AN35N-Ultra

The mobile is a good idea, but i would go for an epox 8rda3+ (i think the latest model is.. an 8rda6i, or something, its close enough), or an asus a7n8x-e dlx. Really any Nforce2 based motherboard is great, but some are a bit better than others.

 

[Cerb]

...or a DFI NFII Ultra-AL.

However, I'd also recommend saving a bit for a A64 solution.
I say this having been someone who did not wait, and got something new anyway, and would have been better off waiting just a wee bit longer with a palomino.

 

[KoolDrew]

What would you guys suggest for a cheap A64 solution that would be good for gaming and overclocking?

 

[ts3433]

The cheapest would be an A64 2800+ or 3000+ (S754) with something like a Chaintech VNF3-250. A 939 setup would tack $50 on to the cost of the board.

 

[KoolDrew]

Would that overclock well. I would want the best bang for buck CPU and mobo for overclocking. For overclocking I have alwways heard the DFI Lanparty is the best for s754.

 

[ts3433]

Yeah. It's about $30-40 more, last I checked. The Chaintech can still overclock pretty well, though (you asked for "best bang-for-buck," not "best," right?).

 

[KoolDrew]

What would be good cooling for a 2800 with that Chaintech? I also need good RAM and yes I do want bang-for-buck. It does not need to be the best, but be a great value and overclock well.

 

[ts3433]

Good RAM: Value RAM from Corsair/Crucial/Mushkin is fine.

Cooling: You should be able to get at least a somewhat decent overclock with the stock heatsink/fan (at least that holds true for Winchesters; I'm not quite sure, but it should be almost the same for Newcastless). Consider a Zalman 7000A AlCu if you find you need something better.

 

[KoolDrew]

Are you sure I would be able to overclock well with value RAM?

 

[ts3433]

Yes (the testing was done with a S939 setup, but this information will also apply to S754)

Dividers don't really affect performance on an A64.

 

[Reiniku]

it's been very well established that there is very little performance to gain when oc'ing with an a64 between value and higher rated ram.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Would that overclock well. I would want the best bang for buck CPU and mobo for overclocking. For overclocking I have alwways heard the DFI Lanparty is the best for s754.

1. Overclocking wouldn't be bad there, but don't expect too much from the s754 chips.
2. A 2800+ A64 (1.8GHz) will beat the crap out of a 2GHz+ Barton, in everything but office apps. In addition, what overclocking you do get will get you better performance for the OC. 10% more MHz on a A64 will get you more performance than 10% more MHz on any AXP.

The only thing that could really matter for OCing parts, assuming the mobo isn't limiting (I don't know much about what boards are better for OCing the A64, except that SiS chipset boards rock--but no really high quality ones are out there), would be memory. If the mobo allows the RAM to not be equal to the HT speed, any RAM will do, otherwise you might want to try for some cheap TCCD stuff. Faster RAM in itself offers no tangible benefit. If the mobo lets you choose different RAM speeds, then any PC3200 RAM will do well.

 

[imported_brad]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
What would you guys suggest for a cheap A64 solution that would be good for gaming and overclocking?

i have an MSI-KT3 Ultra/Via KT333 chipset, and i love it with the AMD 2200. its for athlonxp/athlon/durons.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
What would you guys suggest for a cheap A64 solution that would be good for gaming and overclocking?

Sempron 754 you can get a motherboard and Sempron for less that $200, If you want to go all out you could spend $250.

Guys he seems to care more about money than 64 bit, seeing as his original choice was Socket A, so 32bit should be fine for his purposes. Sempron, performs just as well (with in a few percentage points) as a full fledged athlon.

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: Googer
Sempron 754 you can get a motherboard and Sempron for less that $200, If you want to go all out you could spend $250.

Guys he seems to care more about money than 64 bit, seeing as his original choice was Socket A, so 32bit should be fine for his purposes. Sempron, performs just as well (with in a few percentage points) as a full fledged athlon.

The only problem is that the retail Sempron 3100+ costs a trivial $4 less than an A64 2800+. Between the OEM chips, the difference is only $6. For the price you may as well get the A64.

Cerb: As my link to Zebo's tests showed, RAM is not a limiting factor in A64 overclocking.

 

[Googer]

Sempron 754 3100+ $108- No heatsink
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=19-104-207&depa=1

Asus motherboard- 84.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-131-513&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-131-512&depa=1

Total for motherboard and cpu is $192.50
Not bad, and a heck of a lot better than a rusty old socket A for the same amout of money.

As far as ram goes, If you already have some DDR lying around re-use it; if not then I would recommend Crucial http://www.crucial.com/






Retail Sempron With Heatsink $124
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=19-104-214&depa=1

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: ts3433

Originally posted by: Googer
Sempron 754 you can get a motherboard and Sempron for less that $200, If you want to go all out you could spend $250.

Guys he seems to care more about money than 64 bit, seeing as his original choice was Socket A, so 32bit should be fine for his purposes. Sempron, performs just as well (with in a few percentage points) as a full fledged athlon.

The only problem is that the retail Sempron 3100+ costs a trivial $4 less than an A64 2800+. Between the OEM chips, the difference is only $6. For the price you may as well get the A64.

Cerb: As my link to Zebo's tests showed, RAM is not a limiting factor in A64 overclocking.

Why does that matter? He was ready to buy a 32bit Socket A motherboard with no future. At least the Sempron 3100 will perform better in 32bit than the A64 2800. Also we are atleast 2-3 years away from any 64bit applicaitons and when they do come out, there will be very few of them. By that time a better and faster processor will be avalable for less than $50 (754). I would even go so far as to say $30 for a Socket 754 A64 3500+ when 64bit becomes prevalant.

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: Googer
At least the Sempron 3100 will perform better in 32bit than the A64 2800.

Give me a reputable link that demonstrates this with results outside a reasonable margin of error. I have a hard time believing this, partly because the A64's extra L2 cache should give it a slight advantage.

As for the 64-bit applications: what does that matter if the price difference is only $4? There's always the possibility of future utilization of those features. (FYI, I don't consider this a major selling point at the moment either. The Sempron 3100+ is still a fine processor--I just don't see any compelling reason to get it instead of the 2800+ unless the 3100+ retail is indeed available for $100.)

 

[Googer]

I am asking all of you to answer this question: "How many of us are running 64bit applications right now"
I bet the answer for most of us is NO ONE.

He does not need it, It is just a waste of money for somthing he cannot use.


Here is a poll I have set up.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...2641&enterthread=y

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: ts3433
Cerb: As my link to Zebo's tests showed, RAM is not a limiting factor in A64 overclocking.

I know there are still a few boards that sync RAM w/ HT link speed, in which case RAM does become a limiting factor. If RAM can be set to 200MHz async, or at some ratio, as is common, any RAM will do.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Googer
I am asking all of you to answer this question: "How many of us are running 64bit applications and OS right now"
I bet the answer for most of us is NO ONE.

He does not need it, It is just a waste of money for somthing he cannot use.


Here is a poll I have set up.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...2641&enterthread=y

a waste of $6?

I would not recommend the Sempron 3100+ to anyone. An A64 2800+ is only $6 more.

Irregardless of one being 64 bit and 1 not. Even in 32 bit windows the A64 will outperform that Sempron.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: ts3433

Originally posted by: Googer
Sempron 754 you can get a motherboard and Sempron for less that $200, If you want to go all out you could spend $250.

Guys he seems to care more about money than 64 bit, seeing as his original choice was Socket A, so 32bit should be fine for his purposes. Sempron, performs just as well (with in a few percentage points) as a full fledged athlon.

The only problem is that the retail Sempron 3100+ costs a trivial $4 less than an A64 2800+. Between the OEM chips, the difference is only $6. For the price you may as well get the A64.

Cerb: As my link to Zebo's tests showed, RAM is not a limiting factor in A64 overclocking.

Why does that matter? He was ready to buy a 32bit Socket A motherboard with no future. At least the Sempron 3100 will perform better in 32bit than the A64 2800. Also we are atleast 2-3 years away from any 64bit applicaitons and when they do come out, there will be very few of them. By that time a better and faster processor will be avalable for less than $50 (754). I would even go so far as to say $30 for a Socket 754 A64 3500+ when 64bit becomes prevalant.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...c.aspx?i=2139&p=10
Mr. Wilson says otherwise. 64-bit is irrelavent. The plain old Windows XP performance is enough to warrant another few bucks for the A64.

In addition, I think we can all agree that a bit more cache will help it age. Durons are feeling much slower nowadays than Athlons. The Sempron will have the same fate. If it were $70 vs. $120, it would be worth the savings.

OEM $108 vs. $114
Retail $124 vs. $128

The genuine Athlon64 is definitely worth it.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: ts3433

Originally posted by: Googer
At least the Sempron 3100 will perform better in 32bit than the A64 2800.

Give me a reputable link that demonstrates this with results outside a reasonable margin of error. I have a hard time believing this, partly because the A64's extra L2 cache should give it a slight advantage.

As for the 64-bit applications: what does that matter if the price difference is only $4? There's always the possibility of future utilization of those features. (FYI, I don't consider this a major selling point at the moment either. The Sempron 3100+ is still a fine processor--I just don't see any compelling reason to get it instead of the 2800+ unless the 3100+ retail is indeed available for $100.)

Cache on these chips makes very little differance, as we found out when AMD first cut it from 1024(1mb) to 512k there was little differance in the performance. Same can be said for the sempron's 256k It has not hurt it much because of the Intergrated (FSB) Memory Controller.

The smartest use of this mans money would be sempron now, is a $108 sempron 3100+ and Athlon 64 3500+ later for $40(in 2006/2007) when he actually needs it. Its not worth spending more for a lower rated processor with a feature he cannot use.


Sempron Is anands personal pick for a budget procssor
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2139