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Mobo/CPU combo for Under 450 (Gaming Rig)

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dbdynsty25

Member
I put this post in the motherboards forum on accident so I'm sorry for the repeat thread...I'm more interested in my CPU options because I know I'm severly limited staying with the AGP form factor. I just dont want to drop my X800 Pro at this point.

After having multiple problems with my Abit P4 combo, I'm going back to AMD I believe. I am still in my return policy so I can return it and switch back (I did have an AMD Athlon 64 3000+) but I wanted more performance. I've got 450 bucks to spend...what are my options? I don't want dual core yet, and I need an AGP board w/ 4 dimm slots (both are REQUIRED because of the ram and video card I've got, X800 pro and 2 gig of Geil DDR 3200).

I was thinking along the lines of the 3700+, but then again I've heard that the 3400 and 3500 are good chips too. What do you guys think?
 
A64 3500+ Venice (2.2GHz, 512k L2, 939-pin)
DFI Lanparty UT NF3 Ultra-D

OR

A64 3700+ (2.4GHz, 1MB L2, 754-pin)
DFI Lanparty UT NF3 250GB
 
I just upgraded to A64 and wanted to keep my AGP card, not really a gamer. After extensive research, I went with the Asus A8V Deluxe. The other option was the MSI NEO2 but I didn't like the price point as much.

OC'ing? Then I'd bet more people would recommend the NEO. IIRC, that's the OC king but the Asus is no slouch either.
 
Yeah I was assuming I'd be good with the 3500+ or the 3700+. Are there any big disadvantages to going socket 754 compared to 939 when it comes to overclocking?
 
Yeah, go with S939. The disadvantage of S754 is that it's gonna die pretty soon. Only Sempr0ns are coming out on it. Don't put your money on a dead horse, you'll lose either way.
 
Good points...plus, can you even get 754's that support Dual Channel anyway? I like 939's for that reason alone. So I should definitely look for a 939 with a 1000mhz FSB. Am I going to get a better "bang for the buck" with the 3500 as opposed to the 3700 or is it a fairly even comparison?
 
I'd probably go with the 3500+ because it's about 50-75 bucks cheaper (via NewEgg anyway). Which version is better? Winnchester or Venice? What is the difference anyway...the specs look exactly the same.
 
Will you OC or are you talking stock performance?

Venice is slightly better than Winchester. SSE3 was added, the cores seem to be more stable with lower voltage and/or higher clock speeds. The memory controller is slightly better on the Venice and it is ever so slightly higher performance per clock. Not drastically different.
 
Go with the 3500+ Venice Core. The new SSE3 instructions should result in a noticeable speed difference. And the only difference between the 3500+ and the 3700+ is 512kb in the L2 cache. It makes almost no difference in a gaming rig, where you're likely to have 1GB of dual-channel RAM. Both the 3500+ Venice and the 3700+ San Diego overclock extremely well, but the 3500+ is $60 less. Go for the 3500+ and get a DFI motherboard.
 
Ahh...thanks guys. I'll probably tinker with some overclocking, but I'm by no means hardcore. In fact, if I get a system to go from 2.0 to 2.2 or 2.4 I'm a happy guy. So going with the 3500 Venice, if I could get it up to 2.4 or 2.6 I'd be in heaven.
 
Actually another question is will I see a significant performance boost over something like the 3400+ (Newcastle or Clawhammer) that runs on the 754 boards? They are probably 50 bucks cheaper and have a slightly higher clockspeed at 2.4 ghz.

Another limiting factor is that I'm still using an AGP X800 Pro video card and I'm not ready to retire it. I assume it's going to be fairly difficult to find a decent mobo with support for the 939 processor and an AGP video card.
 
I assume it's going to be fairly difficult to find a decent mobo with support for the 939 processor and an AGP video card.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but it seems as if this entire forum is stone DEAF.

DFI LanParty UT NF3 Ultra-D...Socket 939...AGP...
 
No need to be sorry...

My issue is that I have to purchase this system at Fry's because I'm returning the one I bought last weekend. Understand?

Fry's isn't exactly the best when it comes to stocking boards, and if they do have it, it's probably opened already.
 
I didn't see the Fry's requirement in your original post, my bad.

Fry's always has new boards; if you only see an opened one on the shelf, tell the guy helping you to get a new one from the back. They don't care because 1)they want to make the sale and 2)they can always sell the opened board to someone else.

They don't have the NF3 Ultra-D at my local Fry's yet...
 
Well I never mentioned it...but that's why I kept harping on the fact that it may be hard for me to find a particular board. If I had 3 or 4 options, it would exponentially increase the odds that I find a decent one at Fry's.

I appreciate your input...I actually had already written your suggestion down...I was just hoping I'd get a few more so I could go into the store with a little ammunition ya know.
 
Now, would it be advisable to go down to the 3200+ Venice if I'm going to overclock a little bit? I can save around 70 bucks if I do that. What do you guys think?
 
I personally would not recommend anything made by ASUS, least of all their mobos. I've heard nothing but complaints from owners. Go with DFI; you won't be disappointed.

As far as the 3200/3500...it depends on your ultimate goal. I've seen people put both processors past 2.6ghz, but doing it on a 3200+ will require more voltage and a better cooling device.
 
Well I've got an Enermax Noisetaker 420 watt PSU and a Coolermaster Hyper 48 CPU fan that I figured I'd use. I've had good luck in the past with ASUS, MSI and Soyo boards...Gigabyte, Abit, ECS and Shuttle have all disappointed me over the years.
 
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