Poll: Which Processor do I choose?

[filterxg]

I just recently upgraded my office computer to a 3500+ with 256MB 6800 vanilla card, and wow the thing screams. I really can?t stand going home to this computer anymore. So after doing a fair bit of research I?m down to 2 choices.

· Get a A64 3200+ Venice core when it comes out. Should be (from what I?ve read) roughly the same time as XP 64-bit, so it?s a nice convergence of events. This configuration would have to last me 2-3 years.
· Go cheap, likely a Sempron 3000+ now. The computer would be half the price, and thus would have to last half as long. This would allow me to buy a dual-core, and possibly wait for longhorn. Also I could flip this into a media center PC (which I want anyway) when I do upgrade.

I?ve ruled out getting a 3200+ Winchester now, because the 2005s look very hit and miss when it comes to overclocking. A 2800+ is tempting, but if I?m on a budget of this kind, $20 difference in price is big.

What it really comes down to is what kind of performance improvement should I expect from dual-core+longhorn versus venice+xp64?

I?ve included a poll for fun, but I?m really interested in you explanations of the previous question.

 

[carlosd]

Get a 3000+ or 3200+ 939 winchester with an nforce 4 MB, this will allow you to ugrade to dual cores with only a CPU upgrade in the future.
Also you can get an athlon 64 2800+ with a cheap 754 board like chaintech 7VNF3.
The CPU costs like US$120 an the board like 70. It is cheap and will last like 2 years.

 

[filterxg]

In all likelyhood when I do upgrade to dualcore, I'll upgrade motherboards. I wish I could find the article now, (it some amd roadmap from the UK) but it looks like AMD will come out with a new socket for dualcore, the article did not comment on dualcore 939 support. AMD is on the record (I think) saying 939 will support dualcore, but how much support will be there I don't know. I am confused about all of the above, but it is how I understand it.

As far as going cheap with a A64 2800+, I haven't ruled it out. But $20 is a big deal when CPU+mobo+1GB RAM needs to be under $300, and $275 if at all possible. I'm looking for an NF4 4x 754 board. Asus MSI and ECS make one, but it seems to be very rare to nonexisitent in the states right now. But I'd rather spend the money there (or a VIA board), get PCI Express, rather than the CPU.

 

[filterxg]

bump

 

[Dahak]

Personally, it would not matter to much on the cpu choice, but for motherboard, I would got with the S939 as they will have the most upgradeable path.

 

[gobucks]

if you get a 939 mobo, you can keep it for dual core. The first dual core mobos will be 939, with socket M2 taking over in 2006. They will both coexist for a while. The M2 versions will have DDR2-667 support and Pacifica virtualization (letting you run multiple OSs concurrently), but my guess is that socket 939 dual cores will have higher clockspeeds or lower prices to compensate for this, much like how socket 754 works today, so you'll definitely be able to find some bargains on 939. As such, I recommend going socket 939 rather than 754 with sempron. Also, I wouldn't really bother waiting for venice. If you're gonna upgrade to dual core in a year, then the dual core will have all the new venice goodies, like improved memory controller and SSE3. The SSE3 doesn't make a huge difference, as is evidenced by reviews of the new Opteron 252, and the memory controller won't likely come into play until a year later, anyways, because that's when you'll likely be wanting to add 2 more DIMMS to your setup. So just grab a $150 3000+ to play around with till next year - then you don't waste a few months waiting for venice.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: filterxg
I just recently upgraded my office computer to a 3500+ with 256MB 6800 vanilla card, and wow the thing screams. I really can?t stand going home to this computer anymore.

Are you saying its too loud for you? If so, why waste the money on a new mobo/CPU combo? It'd be far cheaper to purchase some quieter fans and the like to decrease the dBa, wouldn't it?

 

[imported_bum]

No, he is saying that he upgraded his work computer with those parts and it is very fast. Now, when he comes home from work, he has a slower computer. He wants to upgrade his slow home computer.

 

[krcat1]

I looked on the Monarch website, and a Sempron 3000 + MB was about 210, a 64 754 3000+MB was about 230, and a 939 3000+MB was about 260.
Now money is money, and if you can get exceptional performance out of a Sempron, then that is you chip, but it seems to me that your cheating your out of some performance with the Sempron 3000.

The one thing you don't want to do is wait around, get impatient, and then buy something on impulse. Both the Venice and the dual-core could have teething problems that could delay them; or could be very good, get expense, and push them out of your price range.

I think you sate your upgrade with a 754 or better a 939

 

[Avalon]

Get the s754 sempron 2800+ 90nm and couple it with a DFI lanparty. You now have an instant 2.4ghz+ chip that performs within 5-10% of a winchester @ similar clock speeds in just about everything for just a smidget under $200. That winchester and nice s939 board are going to cost you about $250. 5-10% more performance for 25% more money? Wait for venice? It won't bring any noticeable benefits to most users. It may be able to overclock higher and have SSE3, but like Gobucks said, that doesn't make much of a difference in hardly anything for the A64 platform. Sure, it MAY be able to overclock higher, but it will be had for a price premium for a little while, which is going to keep you waiting further. Dual core also will not be something for most users when it hits. It will NOT bring performance benefits over a single core processor, unless you plan on doing heavy mutlitasking or run programs that are multi threaded.

 

[filterxg]

I've pretty much decided on the Sempron. I'm not fond of waiting for the Venice, and the current crop of Winchesters aren't overclocking well at all.


(Now if only there would be PCIe capable 754s, or if the premium for a current generation AGP card wasn't so high. sigh)