lga775 or s754?

[saimike]

its about time for me to upgrade my desktop and it's not an easy task as i hv to decide ... my main concern is upgradability in 2-3yr's time, ie. can i buy the top of the line cpu (after prices hv come down) 2-3yr later? i was able to go from a celery366 (bought in 99) to a celery1100 (bought in 2002) on my 440bx and am still using it. so i hope to be able to repeat this feat.

after reading anandtech's amd 2004 roadmap and intel 2004 roadmap, it seems that my best bet is either the lga775 or s754 architecture. as i understand it, s478 is eol so its out of the question. and with s939 prices at >$500 a pop according to pricewatch, i think its beyond my pockets.

i dont need outright performance as i mainly play war3, watch movies i download, play the occasional fps and encode divx/xvid a few times a yr. my plan is probably the 2.8ghz prescott or a64 2800, depending on which socket architecture i'll go with, and upg in 2-3 yr.

so, which architecture will u guys personally go with and why? and given my individual upgradability concerns, which would u go with? pls dont hesitate to chime in if i've missed anything, thanks!

 

[JackHawksmoor]

Socket 939 and Socket 775 will replace Socket 754 and Socket 478 respectivly, but I wouldn't make a purchase desision right now based on the theoretical ability to upgrade later on. It'll cost you more to go with the newer sockets, with no real performance benefit right now. Might as well save the money. Odds are you'll need to buy a new motherboard to get a dramatically more powerful system down the line anyway.

 

[Sonic587]

Originally posted by: saimike
i dont need outright performance as i mainly play war3, watch movies i download, play the occasional fps and encode divx/xvid a few times a yr. my plan is probably the 2.8ghz prescott or a64 2800, depending on which socket architecture i'll go with, and upg in 2-3 yr.

Sounds like either socket would be fine. I'd probably go with AMD just because it's a lot cheaper upgrade path right now. It may top out sooner than Intel, however.

 

[saimike]

do we have any indications of when s754 or lga775 will top out?

 

[PsharkJF]

I remember reading that Intel wants/wanted to scale the prescott up to between 4-5 ghz.
However, given the fact that we know Intel is coming out with a 1066 FSB as well as the launched 800 FSB for the LGA socket, I would think it would be unwise to commit to a LGA mobo that only supports the slower FSB speed. If you want to go Intel, I'd wait until after 1066 FSB hits shelves.

 

[Jeff7181]

Socket 754 won't be replaced anytime soon... it has at least another year left in it before everything is 939.

 

[Shimmishim]

i agree with jeff... the skt 754 will be around for a while especially with the sempron coming out end of this year

 

[AristoV300]

Being an Intel man I hate to say but the LGA775 does not look very good. I would say go 754.

 

[saimike]

PsharkJF, r u thinking that the 800fsb lga775 socket will be eol with the coming of the 1066fsb?

Jeff7181, the s754 might continue, esp for semprons, but how long more will s754 a64's be made? do u know how long more lga775 is gonna be ard?

Shimmishim, i'm aware that s754 semprons r coming out, but would it make sense to go from a a64 to a sempron?

 

[Goi]

According to the current roadmaps, the S754 A64s(clawhammer/newcastle) will end at 3700+, and Semprons will top out at 3500+. I'm not sure if AMD will come up with anything faster for S754.

 

[caz67]

Originally posted by: PsharkJF
I remember reading that Intel wants/wanted to scale the prescott up to between 4-5 ghz.
However, given the fact that we know Intel is coming out with a 1066 FSB as well as the launched 800 FSB for the LGA socket, I would think it would be unwise to commit to a LGA mobo that only supports the slower FSB speed. If you want to go Intel, I'd wait until after 1066 FSB hits shelves.

I have to agree.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: saimike
PsharkJF, r u thinking that the 800fsb lga775 socket will be eol with the coming of the 1066fsb?

Jeff7181, the s754 might continue, esp for semprons, but how long more will s754 a64's be made? do u know how long more lga775 is gonna be ard?

Shimmishim, i'm aware that s754 semprons r coming out, but would it make sense to go from a a64 to a sempron?

It's still going to be a while before 64-bit apps make their way into the market, even after a 64-bit Windows is around. So depending on clock speeds... a sempron could end up being a better choice (in terms of performance per dollar).
I bet a 2.4 GHz Sempron would hold it's own compared to a 2.0 GHz A64 in 32-bit apps.

 

[Alkaline5]

Let me sum up what's been said, because I totally agree: Socket 754 has already topped out and the LGA775 800FSB will be short-lived. If you want long-term upgradability, your best bet is to wait for one of 2 platforms:

1. Wait for lower priced S939 CPUs (939 Semprons should be available early next year)

2. Wait for LGA775 mobos capable of 1066FSB. (probably a similar timeframe as above unless mobo manufacturers get creative)

 

[saimike]

Alkaline5, do u think s939 a64's will make its way down to the $200 level from their current skyhigh $500+ price, or will semprons be my only choice for a cheap s939 cpu?

i'm kinda being forced to upg due to a recent hardware failure of my pri hdd -- leaving my rig disabled now ... my initial thoughts were: s754 a64 3700+ is ~$700 now, lga775 p4 4ghz isnt out yet, and when it debuts later this yr, it'll prob be price ard ~$500. both cpu will prob drop down to $200 level in 1-2yr's time too. so whether i go 775 or 754, the best cpu that'll fit will drop down to the $200 price point in 1-2yr's time.

 

[Alkaline5]

As you say, in two years' time the current top end CPUs should have fallen to the sub $200 dollar range. If you're not worried about upgrading past 3700+ or 4GHz, then forget what I said about waiting.

At this point, S754 mobos are going to be cheaper and possibly more compatible with your existing peripherals than a 915/925 LGA775 board. OTOH, the maximum upgrade of LGA775 will be at least 4GHz vs. 3700+ for S754. I'd go A64 since it's cheaper, but I hate Prescott anyway so I may be a bit biased.

 

[Sonic587]

Let's not forget being able to go 64bit with S754 when MS gets XP64 out the door. Could end up giving some more life into it vs LGA775.

 

[Cobalt]

Be prepared to buy a new vidcard and memory (maybe) if you go 775 which may not go well with your budget.

 

[saimike]

cobalt, as u can see from my sig, whether i go with lga775 or s754, my shopping list will be mobo, ram, cpu and psu. furthermore, with the lga775 i'll wait for pci-e vid cards to drop in price a little by going with the 915g; with the a64 s754, i'll need a new vid card like u said. so yeah, unfortunately its a bullet i hv to bite

Alkaline5, as far as peripherals go, i hv 4 ide devices (cdrom, dvd, hdd, zip), 3 pci devices (ata133 controller, nic, sound card) and floppy. this shouldnt be an issue whether i go intel or amd rt?

whats the current speculation as to how much further s939/lga775-1066 would outlast s754/lga775-800? 6mth? 2yr? as i understand it, s754 will be there (almost) as long as s939, except that it'll be a sempron platform rather than a64.

 

[Cobalt]

Yea sorry, didn't read your sig ^^. But hey, if you get a new computer, send it my way, seriously. I'm still on a P3 600mhz coppermine

 

[Alkaline5]

If you go 775 you'll need to make sure that any mobo you purchase has at least 3 pci slots if you want to take all your old cards (not counting if there's a PCI slot under the x16 PCI-E slot). The boards I've seen have 3 PCI slots and the rest are PCI-E. As for your ATA devices, the reference 775 review boards that Anand and others looked at only had one PATA connector. You'll need to ensure that you get a board that has at least two PATA channels unless you want to go ahead and convert to SATA.

754 isn't dead, but there aren't any planned releases that would be any better than what is already out. Likewise, once Intel goes to the 1066FSB, don't expect any more 800FSB CPUS for your 775.

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: Alkaline5
754 isn't dead, but there aren't any planned releases that would be any better than what is already out. Likewise, once Intel goes to the 1066FSB, don't expect any more 800FSB CPUS for your 775.

actually, i'm a little confused abt this 800-1066fsb thing. i've not kept up with all this stuff, but back in the day ... when fsb was 66mhz, 100mhz or 133mhz, mobos like my bf6 could take 66fsb and 100fsb cpu's. indeed, my bf6 can go to over 133fsb at 1mhz increments. is this not the case anymore? ie. mobo these days cant do 1066?

 

[Goi]

Originally posted by: saimike

Originally posted by: Alkaline5
754 isn't dead, but there aren't any planned releases that would be any better than what is already out. Likewise, once Intel goes to the 1066FSB, don't expect any more 800FSB CPUS for your 775.

actually, i'm a little confused abt this 800-1066fsb thing. i've not kept up with all this stuff, but back in the day ... when fsb was 66mhz, 100mhz or 133mhz, mobos like my bf6 could take 66fsb and 100fsb cpu's. indeed, my bf6 can go to over 133fsb at 1mhz increments. is this not the case anymore? ie. mobo these days cant do 1066?

It could, just that you'd be overclocking it by A LOT, rather than running it within spec. Also note that with 1066MHz FSB mobos, you can overclock them beyond 1066MHz, but taking a 1066MHz FSB CPU to 1066MHz on an 800MHz FSB mobo is already pushing the limits, so you won't be able to overclock it much more. In fact, it may not even work at 1066MHz due to Intel's overclock limit on the current LGA775 mobos.

Realistically I don't think a lot of 800MHz LGA775 mobos are gonna reach 1066MHz since that calls for a 266.6MHz base FSB, and most are only doing 220-230MHz max currently.

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: Goi
It could, just that you'd be overclocking it by A LOT, rather than running it within spec. Also note that with 1066MHz FSB mobos, you can overclock them beyond 1066MHz, but taking a 1066MHz FSB CPU to 1066MHz on an 800MHz FSB mobo is already pushing the limits, so you won't be able to overclock it much more. In fact, it may not even work at 1066MHz due to Intel's overclock limit on the current LGA775 mobos.

Realistically I don't think a lot of 800MHz LGA775 mobos are gonna reach 1066MHz since that calls for a 266.6MHz base FSB, and most are only doing 220-230MHz max currently.

hmm, let me try rephrasing it this way:

when fsb's were 66mhz for celery and 100mhz for p3, mobos like my bf6 could do both. thus, u could buy a bf6 and a 66fsb celery, then upg to a 100fsb p3 later when prices came down.

extrapolating from this, what i had in mind was: if a mobo can do 800fsb and 1066fsb, what will prevent me from first buying a lga775-800fsb cpu, then upgrading to a lga775-1066fsb cpu later (same mobo)? can lga775 mobos these days accept a 1066fsb cpu when they come out?

 

[Alkaline5]

No.

 

[saimike]

i guess my understanding of fsb is incorrect then ... just out of curiousity, how is 800-1066 fsb diff from 66-100 fsb a couple of years ago?