Is it a bad time to build a PC? Discuss

[AdamUK]

Should people wait a while before building their next computers?

The reason is the 939 socket boards will probably be the dominant thing of years to come, and the price of them and an AMD Athlon 64 processor may go down soon (you can only buy a 64 bit 3500+ for a 939 and that's costly). Is buying a cheaper 754 a risk considering the advancements going to happen?

Also the PCI switch, and the fact there is no OS designed for a 64 bit - and when there is, there will be a new 64 chip for that OS and perhaps further mobo advancements.

What's the thought?

Should i hang on a year or so, or build for the moment! Heh.

 

[ts3433]

If you can wait 6 months, there's always something better, but just build whatever is most practical for what you have and need to do right now.

 

[daveshel]

Maybe also a bad time in terms of pricing. I guess then it becomes a question of whether to just think of spending money to contribute to the econony or if you would rather get involved in a stare-down with vendors, whose recent price increases do not seem to be related to overall market conditions. Take for example the Barton 2500 retail at newegg, which was $80 six months ago, now $96.

 

[ProviaFan]

I would build a PC whenever I need one (assuming the money is there).

However - and maybe I'm making a bigger issue out of this than it is - I am going to avoid any first-generation PCI-E stuff. I've gotten burned before being an early adopter, and have seen it happen many times to others, so I'm not about to risk doing that again.

Of course, if you just play games and do internet browing with your computer, then maybe reliability doesn't matter so much to you, but since I actually work on my computer, I don't want it to have "issues."

 

[AdamUK]

What do you think about getting a socket 939 mobo over a 754?

Do you think future processors and ram upgrades will be geared towards the 939?

 

[arredondo]

All new stuff is coming out for the 939. In early October you can get new 939 processors for under $200 (A3000 and A3200 are coming for it). It's a great time to get a PC if you don't care about PCI.

 

[ts3433]

Of course future procs are going to be 939. For RAM, the memory controller on the A64 would have to be redone to support DDR2 (which isn't worth it anyway) or DDR3 (far future). It's a non-issue.
754 won't be a risk unless you change boards often. I probably would upgrade my board only if I was buying a new processor.

PCIe's also nothing special until videocards actually exhaust AGP 8x completely.

 

[daveshel]

Originally posted by: AdamUK
What do you think about getting a socket 939 mobo over a 754?

Do you think future processors and ram upgrades will be geared towards the 939?

I'm sticking with the socket A until the end of the year for unrelated financial reasons of my own and because I didn't like the low end 64-bit sockets or processors.

 

[AdamUK]

Originally posted by: arredondo
All new stuff is coming out for the 939. In early October you can get new 939 processors for under $200 (A3000 and A3200 are coming for it). It's a great time to get a PC if you don't care about PCI.

So, i should wait a few weeks and get a 939 processor?

Is that true that AMD 64 3000 and 3200 processors that 939 compatible are being released in October?

I didn't know of this.

 

[Phrogman]

Personally,

I'm trying to wait for the 939 in a microATX form factor. I want to move away from overly large boxes and I like the look of the Antec Aria. I have a 3200XP right now, so I'm not in that big of a rush.

 

[AdamUK]

Can anyone confirm when the AMD Athlon 3000/3200 processors are available in a 939 socket board?

Has AMD released anything on this?

 

[bcoupland]

Hi. I just bought a S754 3400+ and a MSI K8N-NEO (250Gb) for less than a similar 3500+ setup. Also, the 3400+
is a Newcastle, so it runs at 2.4Ghz stock. That's as fast as a 3800+ for half the price. The A64 isn't bandwidth-
starved at all with a single memory channel, and tests have shown that the performance difference is about 3-5%,
at most. Sometimes, S754 even outperforms S939 at the same clock speed! I was going to go with S939 originally,
but then I thought, how often does one upgrade their processor? Usually it is with a new generation I.E.
(a new socket, brand new processor like K9 or Pentium 5, whatever.). So, I decided to go with 754, and I'm happy.
I also think that PCe won't make a diff. for the next 2 years. AGP 4x is actually all cards need now a days (most of the
time anyway.). Hope this helps. :thumbsup:

 

[AdamUK]

It just means, as you say - you have less upgrade potential.

How do i know if my 3400 is a Newcastle? It doesn't specify on the site i want to buy off (overclockers.co.uk).

I have seen the 3400 outperform the 3500 on various sites, especially at gaming.

I suppose 754 components will get even cheaper now the 939 is coming to the fore, which is a bonus in itself.

Is the MSI K8N NEO the best mobo for a 3400?


Thanks.

 

[HondaF1]

WHat about this DDR 2 thing?

 

[sandorski]

Really depends on your upgrade habits.

1) If you buy a complete new system every 2-3 years, but don't upgrade anything in between systems, then it doesn't matter what you buy as long as it all works for that duration of time

2) If you upgrade things like Video card, cpu, etc, then it might make a difference depending on your start point(Socket 754 3000+ can be upgraded to 37(/8)00+ and/or future vidcards will likely still come in AGP flavours)

3) If you upgrade constantly to latest fastest Vidcard/cpu, then waiting for Socket 939 and PCI-E makes sense, though you could just upgrade the mobo when needed as well.

Re PCI-E and Socket 939: It appears that ATI will be releasing their first Socket939 chipset at the end of this month. So perhaps Socket 939 and PCI-E will be available sometime in Oct. There is a risk in buying New though, it is all too common that New Chipsets have bugs and other issues that require a couple months of widespread use before they are discovered/fixed.

Personally, I'm the type of guy who has an aversion to Mobo upgrades, though when it comes down to it they are no more difficult or troublesome then Upgrading other parts. I just prefer my Mobo lasting 2-3 cpus and same amount of Vidcards or other Upgrades/Replacements. Which is why I'm waiting for Socket 939 and Socket 939 Semprons, though I'll probably not rush out and get it when it becomes available. So far my Barton 2800 is still keeping up fine for me and my biggest problem is my aging Radeon 9600Pro.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: HondaF1
WHat about this DDR 2 thing?

DDR2 is not worth waiting for, it won't be any better than DDR for at least another year or so.

 

[AdamUK]

When they make the 939 available for the 3200 and 3400 - would it mean i could just plug my current 3400 into a 3400 939 socket compatible mobo? Or will it involve AMD changing the 3400 chip and releasing a 3400 chip that is compatible. I hope it is a mobo thing.

 

[ts3433]

Um... you can't put a CPU for one socket into a different socket. On 939 chips the memory controller's different for dual channel anyway.

 

[bcoupland]

No. The 3400+ for S754 has 754 pins, where ,as the name suggests, a S939 processor has 939 pins. They are
incompatible.

RE: the K8N-NEO-Platinum (by the way, I meant to say platinum in my last post) is the best mobo for S754,
but the new DFI Lanparty UT NF3 250Gb (coming out soon) is just as good. So pretty much either of those boards
will be a great choice. The DFI just wasn't available when I was looking.

 

[arredondo]

I guess I'll confirm myself:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com...mp;Category_Code=AMD64

http://www.monarchcomputer.com...mp;Category_Code=AMD64

You can wait until 10/1 can't you?

 

[AdamUK]

Thanks for that. I'll definitely wait!

And i'll for for the MSI neo2 mobo with that, or the ASUS A8V.

People say the ASUS is better as it is more reliable. The K8T800 is supposedly faster than the NVIDIA 250Gb. What's the SIS 939 equivalent? And what Mobo should i go for?

 

[arredondo]

I'm in the same boat as you buddy. I'm upgrading my Athlon 1.0 Ghz computer after nearly five years of gaming goodness. I want another rig to last me at least four years or so. Since most games in the forseeable future will be based off the new Unreal 3/Doom 3/HL 2 engine, I'll be fine playing them just like I was last generation playing Q3 engine based games. Resolution and AA are far less important to me than frame rates, but Call of Duty, Max Payne 2 and GTA:VC still look super sweet at 1024x768, so I don't complain.

I only added 256MB of memory 18 months ago and switched my GeForce 2 64MB Pro to a 9600 Pro this Spring and I've still been able to enjoy almost all the top games (before Far Cry) at 40-60f fps with tweaks (and no OC'ing!) while saving mucho dinero. I'm still using WinME as I write this!

Now I'm going all out... An A64 rig with all the fixings. I figure a 939 board with a 3200+ processor allows me to do pretty well for three years, then I can replace the processor with a cheap FX-53 for little money. I don't care about PCI at the moment. Even with the vid card, whatever I get will last a loooong time so I want to get it right the first time.

The board I'm eyeing is the 939 LanParty rumored to become available. Many raves on their 754 version, so since I plan to try out OC'ing this time I'll get that one. I figure I'll know in a few weeks, then I'll make the purchase.

 

[AdamUK]

It's a good boat to be in, too.

The 3400 might be a better option for you in those years as it runs at a higher clockspeed than the 3200 i believe (around 2.4 compared to 2.2). You have to pay alot extra though.

With the 939 3200 coming out, perhaps the 754 3200 will go down in price. I just hope the 939 3200 out next month as i need a PC asap.

When will a 64 bit OS be available? And if it is, i suppose it would run slower than windows 2000 pro and other non-64 OS's, perhaps requiring quite a high 64 bit processor to run it well. It remains to be seen.

 

[arredondo]

It seems in tests I've read about, the 3200 can OC almost as much as the 3400 can, but for like $100 less in cost. I think the 3200+ will be fine for now since most games are vid card hungry anyway. About the 64 bit OS, I figure when it comes out next year, it'll take a two years before games require its use. I'll watch reviews to see how important it'll be.

Likely I'll stick to my own upgrade schedule. WinXP has a lot of rae reviews, but WinME has been awesome for me all these years. No major problems and it's as smooth as can be. I will only upgrade from XP on my next rig if I absolutely have to.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I would say it depends on your current machine and what you want from the PC.

If you are a hardcore gamer and you have a P3 with a Gefore 2 then it's time to upgrade. If you have a Barton and a 9700Pro ... then hold off for a while unless you have lots of extra disposible income.