Keeping my s939 system a while longer

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: nerp
We should start a longevity thread or at least a "clingers-on" club to see who can outlast everyone else with these last 939 boards. I don't see myself breaking down for a new system for at least 1 - 2 years.

I don't plan to upgrade until after I buy a house. I don't plan on buying a house for another year, and I doubt I will have any money left after that to buy a computer for a while anyway. I may end up clinging on until it dies.

 

[MarcVenice]

My x2 3800+ @ 2.6ghz also still works fine, paired with a 8800gts 320mb. Only problem are games like SupCom, WiC and perhaps Universe At War: Earth Assault. There's another thread with direct comparisons between X2's and C2D's, and especially at higher resolutions there's barely any difference at all when you've got a X2 at 2.4ghz or higher.

 

[tornadog]

Ah I love such threads...such love for the 939s. I was running my Opteron 165 @ 2.7 Ghz with a MSI Neo4f motherboard. Seeing this thread I decided to push it further, 2.82Ghz @1.45V stock air...yea baby

I have my whole rig on sale in the FS forum. I think I will hold on to it a while longer

 

[hillrock]

Just upgraded my GPU. The 939 system still services me well on any games.

 

[MarcVenice]

Sorry, but a 2.8ghz s939 X2 doesn't cut it in SupCom or Wic. The only thing I could think of is the fact that my ram is running pretty slow, but that shouldn't make such big of a difference.

 

[hillrock]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Sorry, but a 2.8ghz s939 X2 doesn't cut it in SupCom or Wic. The only thing I could think of is the fact that my ram is running pretty slow, but that shouldn't make such big of a difference.

That is not true. I don't know Supcom, but in Wold in Conflict, X2 @ 2.8G does OK, I got 32 fps @ 1680x1050 with high quality, 0AA. Comparing to the AT review (http://www.anandtech.com/video...wdoc.aspx?i=3209&p=11), Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 @ 3.00GHz and 8800gts G92 scored 37 fps in WIC at the same setting. That is not big difference.

 

[Nathelion]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Sorry, but a 2.8ghz s939 X2 doesn't cut it in SupCom or Wic. The only thing I could think of is the fact that my ram is running pretty slow, but that shouldn't make such big of a difference.

I know for a fact that it cuts it in supcom, because I play it regularly. With a 2.5 GHz opty 165, I have never been in a game where my cpu is slowing the game down - it takes a really large map with 5000+ units to even push it down to -1 gamespeed, and there's always someone else at -4 in those situations (unfortunately).

Now if you try to play those gargantuan 20km x 20km super maps in 8 player FFA, you need something faster, I'll grant you that. But who does that? I never even see games like that hosted in the game lobby.

 

[MarcVenice]

Hmm, well even in SP campaign I get really bad framerates, with my x2 @ 2.6ghz. Could it be the ram, running at 333mhz speed, 4x512mb btw. I'm talking a fairly large map, but with only 2 players, and perhaps 500 units each ? Videocard is a 8800GTS 320mb, @ 1680*1050. I've tried lots of different settings too and a lower resolution to rule out the videocard as well.

As for WiC, yeah it's very playable I must grant you that, but it could be smoother with a faster CPU, because my FPS drop pretty bad running the built in benchmark.

 

[Lord Banshee]

i am now able to bring my Opteron back at 2.6, i am not sure what i changed in bios (maybe memory timing stuff) but now my system does not fail Prime95 OTHROS. I think i have at least another 6-8 months of 939 goodness left haha This this system is the final parts for this case, my next upgrade will a total upgrade and i am sure it will be intel this time I seems to go amd->intel->amd->intel, seems to work pretty good if you skip in-between generations lol

 

[rasczak]

seems i can't get the 3800+ to run past 2.65ghz stably. I was able to top out at 2.7ghz but it just seemed to not like my settings.

HTT x5
multi x10
fsb 265
mem divider 5:6 @ 333mhz (pair os OCZ el plat rev 2's)

my vcore os currently at 1.33v, think I could push this to 1.4v?

 

[skillyho]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: jpbelauskas
I'm running my x2 3800+ stock. I want to OC but i can't remember which sata ports are locked so i don't blow out my OS.

x2 3800+ zerotherm nirvana hsf
DFI Lanparty Ultra D flashed to support SLi
2x512mb OCZ El Plat rev2 Pc 3200
XFX 7900GTX 512mb
36gb WD Raptor (still alive and kickin' )
1 x 160gb
1 x 250gb
1 x 320gb

Thats an easy one, all of em. I too have an early ultra-d with a 36gb raptor but, i have 2x1gb of teh plat rev.2 and a San Diego 3700+ at 3ghz. Good luck.

I thought I had a nice OC......darn Venice core!!!

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: jpbelauskas

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12

Originally posted by: jpbelauskas
I'm running my x2 3800+ stock. I want to OC but i can't remember which sata ports are locked so i don't blow out my OS.

x2 3800+ zerotherm nirvana hsf
DFI Lanparty Ultra D flashed to support SLi
2x512mb OCZ El Plat rev2 Pc 3200
XFX 7900GTX 512mb
36gb WD Raptor (still alive and kickin' )
1 x 160gb
1 x 250gb
1 x 320gb

Thats an easy one, all of em. I too have an early ultra-d with a 36gb raptor but, i have 2x1gb of teh plat rev.2 and a San Diego 3700+ at 3ghz. Good luck.

so when you oc'd did you unplug your hdd's? or did you keep them plugged in?

btw just read your sig, GOOD LORD THAT'S A NICE OC

First of all, thank you. Secondly, at one point, i had a 36gb raptor, two 200Gb SATA's and three 80GB IDE drives all hooked up at 3ghz. As I recall I had to loosen timings on my ram though. That one really messed with me for a while, couldn't get it stable then I dropped back my write strength and something else. I don't really remember. With just the SATA drives I could run full timings though. My plats are the DDR500 special bins though, I credit them for my 3ghz. I had 3ghz fully stable with some of the VX 625 specially binned for our motherboards but, it would only run to like 261 for whatever reason, all the way to 3.2v. I picked up the plat rev.2's because I wanted 2GB and they run all the way to about 267 with 3-4-4-8 and the right bios for my 274 I have to loosen them up to 4-4-4-8 and really loosen the lower half of the list. The 5/10 seems to work the best with these, IMHO. And make sure they're in the orange slots, the lower ones, OCZ ram does not like the yellow slots.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Yeah, I don't make too many platform upgrades either. I still use my RDRAM system for simple stuff and its a champ. Clocked @ 3.49 hyper threading ...very nice machine. I just recently was looking at desktop Ram, DDR2 and DDR3 and noticed the higher the memory speed the looser the timing speeds get so i thought why not try it on my 939 machine which has 2Gb of PC3200 @ 400 Mhz My timings rarely move and have been stuck at 2.2.2.5 2T for the longest so this was going to seem like an adventure. My Asus A8R32 has alot of nice features in the bios... so I make my way over into the 'CPU Configuration' area and jump into the timings area. Set the 'limit' from 200 Mhz to 250, and changed the timings to 3.4.4.8 with a little bit of memory voltage. Feels like I got a little bit of fresh air with my 939 machine and am content with it for another 1-2yrs

FX 60 @ 3.0 Ghz
X1900XTX 682/783
OCZ Rev. 2 PC 3200 @ 500Mhz 3.4.4.8 2T - 2.85v

 

[Dravic]

I?m in the same boat, as many of you. It would be nice to have a c2d system, but the cost to go to a ddr2 solution just hasn?t been worth it yet. I?m going to wait until the end of this year before looking at upgrading.

4800+ x2 @ 2.9ghz (1mb cache 939?s showed up newegg out of no where late last year)
2 x 1GB patriot 2-3-2
8800gt BFG OC

Since I found the 4800+ x2, I spent my upgrade budget on an 8800gt. This should give me a year to let AMD catch up and hopefully have several options for upgrading the entire platform.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: nerp
We should start a longevity thread or at least a "clingers-on" club to see who can outlast everyone else with these last 939 boards. I don't see myself breaking down for a new system for at least 1 - 2 years.

Hah... I still have a couple of S-754 rigs going

 

[dennilfloss]

My 4200+ slows me down in Oblivion, particularly in towns, something to do with the AI I bet. Overclocking it to 2.7GHz makes a little difference but I have a very warm apartment so I prefer to run at default speed.

 

[vanvock]

I'm hangin' on too. I'll get a 8800gt & that'll probably be the last upgrade. It's been a great 'puter.

 

[Jschmuck2]

<---

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I've got two 939 systems that I hope to use for quite some time. They both have x2's, 2gb ram and good enough GPU's 8800gts 320 & X800GTO2. They are both running 2.6ghz and are plenty good for everything we use them for.

 

[Dravic]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
I've got two 939 systems that I hope to use for quite some time. They both have x2's, 2gb ram and good enough GPU's 8800gts 320 & X800GTO2. They are both running 2.6ghz and are plenty good for everything we use them for.

Yeah my upgrade to the x2 4800+ and 8800gt allowed me to pass a x2 3800+ that did 2.6ghz down to the kids ?new? computer (my old secondary gamer), and the 7800gt over to Linux workstation (dual socket 940 opty?s).

When I switch platforms if afftects the upgrade path for more then just my PC.

 

[hennethannun]

My girlfriends s939 3000+ has a flaky motherboard (mATX too!), so I think i will build a new e8400 for myself and slide my X2 4400+ (@2.4ghz in the summer and 2.8ghz in the winter) over to her (sans my aging 7800GTX 256MB). I was hoping to get another 6-12 months out of my machine, but this seems way more practical than trying to find a good replacement mATX s939 board these days just to save a 3000+.

Or maybe I am just giving in to the upgrade urge...

 

[nerp]

Having a girlfriend is great. It's a way to keep older systems alive as well as a backup place for spare jumpers, wires, cables and a ram stick for troubleshooting every once in a while.

PLUS, when you build a new computer for yourself, you can distract her from the fact that you're spendign all that money by constantly talking about how she's getting a new build.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: hennethannun
My girlfriends s939 3000+ has a flaky motherboard (mATX too!), so I think i will build a new e8400 for myself and slide my X2 4400+ (@2.4ghz in the summer and 2.8ghz in the winter) over to her (sans my aging 7800GTX 256MB). I was hoping to get another 6-12 months out of my machine, but this seems way more practical than trying to find a good replacement mATX s939 board these days just to save a 3000+.

Or maybe I am just giving in to the upgrade urge...

If you want a replacement Matx 939 mobo, this is a decent one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813186115

$45 + ship

 

[lightzout]

It may be a while until my c2d system is revived so I am going to throw my 939 back together. Eventually, I am hoping to male a silent htpc from this platform since it always ran so cool. But for now I will try the 8800 GTS so I can frag again. Big hug for the 939! I hope it likes the zalman hsf I just installed. I couldnt get off the backplate so I am using the stock plate instead. Felt like MSI glued it on. When I pulled the stock heatsink off it actually pulled out the cpu so I may be fubared there. *crossing fingers*

 

[hennethannun]

I saw that one, but was scared off by the rather ambiguous customer reviews on newegg. Plus I have never tried a Foxconn board and am (probably unfairly) a bit wary. so yeah, I did consider it, but $50 to save a 3000+, especially when my girlfriend has started using photoshop pretty frequently over the past year, just didn't seem worth while.

Not when I can jump up to a wolfdale for $450 (less the price for selling my DDR400) and make her photoshop time significantly easier.

Plus, I have been looking enviously at the C2Ds for a quite a while and couldn't pass up the opportunity to upgrade!


lightzout: I had the exact same problem the first time I tried to change the hs/f on a socket 939 processor. I find that it helps to take the heatsink of directly after running the machine. hot thermal compound doesn't seem to be quite as sticky as cold. Good luck, hope you didn't bend any pins!