Question about 754 vs 939

[layoutd05]

Hey all,

this is my first time building a rig, or I will be for college and I'm rather new. Could someone explain to me the difference between the 754 Athlon 64 processor chip and the 939. Other than the $20 price difference and compatability is there anything specail about them?
Thanks

 

[KoolDrew]

I don't know if you know this, but a different socket CPU will need a different motherboard. There is nothing wrong with S754, but it really depends on your budget and use of the rig to decide what is best for you.

 

[drpootums]

skt754=pro: cheaper w/ same performance
----------------great mobo selection
---------con: little to no upgradeability
----------------possibly smaller OC
skt939=pro: dual channel mem
----------------good overclock usually with winchester core
---------con: At stock cost is more and performance is less against the skt754 equivilent

now, skt754 and 939 cpu's with the same model name are different in 2 ways. For one, the skt939 3200+ for instance is clocked at 2.0 Ghz with 512kb cache and dual channel memory, while the skt754 3200+ is clocked at 2.2 Ghz with the same cache, but no dual channel memory.

Now, if ur gunna overclock or want the most upgradeability then go skt939, but if u want a better mobo selection, and cheaper but better performance at stock then go 754.

All up to u, and it depends on wat u wanna do

 

[Silversierra]

939 has a faster hypertransport bus and can also use the FX processors (high end gaming). 939 also has a built in memory controller which allows dual channel memory.

 

[justly]

I was going to help you out with an answer but after reading drpootums post there isnt much else to say.

Nice post drpootums.

 

[layoutd05]

Thanks, so I assume if i wanted to use 2 512 sticks of budget ram i would need to use the 939 models... I do understand about the compatability with motherboards and such. I do not plan on overclocking. Thanks for the help.

 

[KoolDrew]

so I assume if i wanted to use 2 512 sticks of budget ram i would need to use the 939 models

No. You can still use two sticks with s754, but you cannot run them in Dual channel mode.

 

[justly]

Socket 754 only uses one memory channel but that does not limit it to only one stick of memory, most have 2 or 3 slots for memory. The 939 socket uses duel channel and can take 4 memory sticks. There is some performance gain with duel channel but only in bandwith hungry apps (encoding and some games will benifit). Its really up to you to determine if the differences are enough to sway your decission.

 

[Insomniak]

Actually, the 939 models cost a bit more but are a bit faster than the 754 models at stock...I dunno where drpootums heard that 754 was quicker, but it's simply not true.

From Anand, in regard to the new S939 Athlon 64s:

"We were impressed with the performance and overclocking that we found with the 90nm 3500+. However, it is very difficult to draw any conclusions based on a single sample, so we also bought a 90nm 3000+ from another vendor. These two processors, at different speeds and from different sources, performed similarly enough to allow us to draw some broad conclusions about the performance of the new 90nm Athlon 64 processors. The new 3500+, 3200+, and 3000+ perform from 1% to 7% faster than comparable 130nm parts. We still don't know if this is the result of the die-shrink or the new DH8-D0 revision."

In other words, the socket 939 processors are about 1-7% faster than their socket 754 equivalents.

Source:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...howdoc.aspx?i=2242&p=8

 

[justly]

Insomniak, before you accuse someone of spreading untruths you need to review your own statement. You imply that there is a 1-7% increase against the "equivalent" socket 754 processor, yet the quote only shows that increase between 130nm and 90 nm parts, not, I repeat NOT between sockets.

Quite simply you did not reference any pertanant information to the topic, you injected a quote about the differences between two socket 939 processors cores and tried to make it apply when it didn't.

layoutd05 asked about the diferences between the 754 and 939 processors, drpootums answered that question well. His answer listed pros and cons of both, the difference in clock speed and memory channels.

Socket 754 processors have a MHz advantage just like socket 939 processors have a bandwidth advantage, that is well known. As long as a processor is not bandwidth starved having a higher MHz processor will result in a faster system so his statment about that is also true (although there are exceptions for bandwidth hungry apps).

 

[ayman]

ownd

 

[BFG10K]

performance is less against the skt754 equivilent

No it isn't. The same clock will faster on dual channel 939.

while the skt754 3200+ is clocked at 2.2 Ghz

Uh no, it's clocked at 2 GHz.

 

[drpootums]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

performance is less against the skt754 equivilent

No it isn't. The same clock will faster on dual channel 939.

Ok, yeah, if a 3200+ is at 2.2 on a skt 754 board and at 2.2 on a skt939 board, the skt939 CPU will be faster...derrr....

while the skt754 3200+ is clocked at 2.2 Ghz

Uh no, it's clocked at 2 GHz.

Uh, yes, it's clocked at 2.2 if u have the newcastle core, otherwise yes, the DTR Clawhammer cored 3200+ is clocked at 2 GHz.


And the source of my info about the stock 754 3200+ compared to stock 939 3200+.
http://www.amdreview.com/reviews.php?rev=3000-3200-90nm