My 3400/3500 debate?

[lost0822]

Okay, I?m just about to drop the hammer and place my order, but I?m still kind of in the air on the 3400+, 754 socket compared to the 3500+, 939 socket. I?m doing this now and can not wait for dec. or jan., plus I just bought a 6800GT so I want to get the most of this card, before eventually one day upgrading to PCI-E.

Can someone give me good reasons to stay with one or the other? 3400+ is cheaper but will be the old socket? 3500+ is more expensive but be more up to date for upgrading, but I don?t plan on getting a PCI-E card for a long while, a year or so, so I would have to buy another motherboard anyway?.so it seems like the 939 socket is not worth it for me.
I plan to do very lite experimental clocking in the future, but I?m a newb at this so I would not be doing very much, any suggestions before I go and drop the cash? Thanks

 

[Shimmishim]

if you are buying right now, i'd say go with the 3400+ due to the fact that it is a lot cheaper at the moment.

the 3500+ has been under $400 but has skyrockted in the past couple of days...

i say either one will be fine... go with the cheapest...

 

[lost0822]

thanks, suggested ram and mobo? looking at asus, i heard to stay away from MSI.

 

[charloscarlies]

I would suggest either the Chaintech VNF-250 or one of the Epox NF3-250 boards. The Chaintech is a little cheaper, has a few less options, but they both overclock well and are nice and stable. The only issue I have with the Chaintech is the bios. The temps don't read correctly with the default bios, and the beta bios that fixes it causes some weird issues with mem ratios.

If I had to do it all over again I'd probably have gotten the Epox....but either are solid boards.

 

[Dman877]

I'd go with a 3400+ newcastle right now, or a 3000+ and oc it.

 

[orangat]

Socket 939 will have more upgrade options in the future since socket 754 will supposedly not have any processors for it after the 3800+. So its a tossup between spending more now for a more upgrade capable m/b or spending less on a 3400+ which is practically just as fast as a 3500+.

I would grab a 3400+ with a cheap and capable 754 mobo like the Asrockk8 or an Soltek.

 

[GhandiInstinct]

thanks, suggested ram and mobo? looking at asus, i heard to stay away from MSI.

Stay away from MSI? Have you read any of Anands 754 or 939 mobo reviews? They praise the Neo line. And highly recommend it.

 

[chuwawa]

Awesome!! So the dual core cpus will use the current socket939 motherboards? SOunds convenient!!!

 

[GhandiInstinct]

Very convenient indeed Chuwawa! You save $150 for upgrading your motherboard. Even though you lose the money spent for the CPU.

 

[nowayout99]

I hate to answer questions with a question, but will there even be a 754-socket mobo with PCI-E?

If you buy a 3400+, you *might* risk having to buy a new CPU along with the mobo, if there is no 754-socket mobo with PCI-E.

With a 939 socket mobo, you at least know your CPU will survive the mobo upgrade to PCI-E.

The $60 difference in CPU price might be worth the peace of mind. But if you planned on upgrading the CPU also, you might as well get the 3400+ now.

 

[GhandiInstinct]

Waste of money if you do.

 

[Dman877]

Last time I upgraded a cpu without upgrading a mobo.... never .

 

[GhandiInstinct]

Well last time you didn't have socket 939. This is a new socket and chipset which will have more technology coming out sooner than in the past with your cpus and mobos.

 

[trexpesto]

New 754 DFI is "supposed" to be out Sept. 2

 

[Shimmishim]

even if you get a nforce3 skt 939 board, people are going to be jumping ship to get the nforce4 board which is coming out in q4 04 / q1 05... which has pci-e

as dmann said... cpu w/o mobo... never

i am the same way... i figure if you're goig to get pci-e for "upgradability" then might as well get a 939 chip then...

at this point.. i still say stick with the skt 754 then jump ship to 939 which nforce4 comes out

and yes, dfi board is supposed to be out 9/2/04 hopefully... i preordered one already

 

[jinu117]

I can definitely recommend Asus KN8E. Underrated until very recent bios update which fully makes this oc'able board (minus memory voltage limtied at 2.7v ) Stability is top notch and features too. Only thing that isn't quite there yet is the VDIMM which is pretty easy vmod (or ddr booster). I even got higher OC with this one than Chaintech VNF3-250.
Disregard minus review on Asus as those were before the new bios came out.

 

[Zebo]

Stay away from ASUS, yes that's right. The KN8's have no locks and the 250Gbs can't go over 215-220 Mhz bus in every single review I've read.

 

[Wahsapa]

Originally posted by: GhandiInstinct
<blockquote>quote:
<hr>thanks, suggested ram and mobo? looking at asus, i heard to stay away from MSI. <hr></blockquote><BR><BR><BR>Stay away from MSI? Have you read any of Anands 754 or 939 mobo reviews? They praise the Neo line. And highly recommend it.

every forum iv been to hates the msi neo

anandtech reviews are one thing, theyre professionals with a direct line to the manufacturer. average joe is another.

754 will have pci-e

 

[Richdog]

Originally posted by: GhandiInstinct
<blockquote>quote:
<hr>thanks, suggested ram and mobo? looking at asus, i heard to stay away from MSI. <hr></blockquote><BR><BR><BR>Stay away from MSI? Have you read any of Anands 754 or 939 mobo reviews? They praise the Neo line. And highly recommend it.

I think you need to stop posting until you know what you're talking about. The MSI has a rash of problems, many of which I have posted about on the MSI forums, along with many many others. I used one for a few months and it was awful. Anand's review was not accurate of the majority of the MSI Neo boards, that much is a fact. He was sent a "golden sample" as were most of the other reviewers. It is now regarded as the buggiest board to be released since the DFI Ultra B.

 

[robertsmcn]

I would stick with the 754 for now. You can build a killer 754 system that will last you a couple of years. I don't think 939 is worth the extra $$ right now unless you need to have the latest and greatest.

As far as MSI mobos, I've recently built two systems using the K8T NEO FIS2R (VIA chipset) and both boards worked flawlessly. Very easy to set up and tweak. MSI makes a quality product. I've been on the MSI forums and have seen some people having problems but based on my recent experience I would certainly buy another one in a heartbeat.

I plan to do a full system upgrade in the next few months - will prolly go with a 3200+ or 3400+. Will definitely be buying an MSI K8N Neo Platinum mobo. I would go with socket 939 if the prices on cpus and mobos dropped enough.

 

[jinu117]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Stay away from ASUS, yes that's right. The KN8's have no locks and the 250Gbs can't go over 215-220 Mhz bus in every single review I've read.

Did you even READ what I wrote? The reviews are old news ever since new bios. KN8E of course has locks (its NF3-250). The problem with 215-220 mhz bus was due to not having LDT multi in bios which has been fixed. I actually get more oc out of this board than VNF3-250.
Read and use the product before recommend or recommend against it. You OBVIOUSLY don't know what you are talking about in this particular product.

 

[Ariste]

At this point, I would say to wait for the DFI Lanparty 754 board. It's supposedly coming out on Thursday and will most likely be the most overclockable board for socket 754 to be released. Some guy reached 425 HTT on the sample board given to him for review :Q I've already got one pre-ordered... hopefully it'll actually come out when it's supposed to

 

[jinu117]

Originally posted by: Ariste
At this point, I would say to wait for the DFI Lanparty 754 board. It's supposedly coming out on Thursday and will most likely be the most overclockable board for socket 754 to be released. Some guy reached 425 HTT on the sample board given to him for review :Q I've already got one pre-ordered... hopefully it'll actually come out when it's supposed to

I sincerely hope it is. It definitely does have more voltage adjustment than any other socket 754 board. But when it starts going to extremities (volt modding, etc), that is when the true nature of board shows up. Both volt modded etc, I got 50mhz more on my clawhammer on Asus than Chaintech. If DFI can match up to that, it will be great board for both stock OC'ers and modder OC'ers. (I know VDIMM goes to 3.2v but lot of people loves going over that... OTOH, the Vcore sounds more than enough even for those with phase cooling which is truely nice).

 

[Richdog]

EDIT - Browser playing up, dbl post.

 

[Richdog]

Originally posted by: robertsmcn

I would stick with the 754 for now. You can build a killer 754 system that will last you a couple of years. I don't think 939 is worth the extra $$ right now unless you need to have the latest and greatest.

As far as MSI mobos, I've recently built two systems using the K8T NEO FIS2R (VIA chipset) and both boards worked flawlessly. Very easy to set up and tweak. MSI makes a quality product. I've been on the MSI forums and have seen some people having problems but based on my recent experience I would certainly buy another one in a heartbeat.

I plan to do a full system upgrade in the next few months - will prolly go with a 3200+ or 3400+. Will definitely be buying an MSI K8N Neo Platinum mobo. I would go with socket 939 if the prices on cpus and mobos dropped enough.

The VIA version may be OK and stable (after all you can't overclock for sh|t on it) but the Nvidia chipset is full of problems, I can promise you that. And their BIOS releases are pathetic. Did I mention that the actual board is shoddy quality, something lots of people have agreed on? MSI products suck, and their support sucks, if you had seen some of the replies I got back from MSI tech support even after detailing my problem clearly and concisely you would have cried. They were a disgrace. I spent a lot of time at the MSI forum ad as a result will never buy any MSI product ever again.

The DFI Lanparty UT will be the way to go, bigtoe broke the world HTT record on it and as long as they give it a good BIOS and good voltage regulation it can't fail. Gets my vote and im buying it as soon as it hits the shelves.