Should I bother waiting for AM2?

[Stu L Tissimus]

A while back, one of the transistors on my EpoX 8RDA+ motherboard blew, and it's left my already aging desktop unusable. So I've been using my laptop exclusively for the last month or two. (That said, it's not that bad, since it has a PM 1.5, a gig of RAM, and a Mobility Radeon 9700.) But still, yeah, I'm considering not waiting to upgrade to AM2. For my last desktop, I built it at the end of Socket 754's lifetime, as well as AGP's lifetime, so now if I want to upgrade to an S939 Opteron or Athlon64, I'll have to upgrade my mobo and video card too. (I don't want to buy a mobo with an AGP slot since that'll last even shorter than my current one.)

So, I'm wondering, should I just buy an S939 mobo (probably an RD580), or just wait for AM2? Are there any real noticable differences between the two besides support for DDR2 and the different HSF mounting? I've already got 1.5GB PC3200 that I don't feel like getting rid of, and I also recently bought a Zalman 7000Cu HSF. At this rate, should I consider waiting for AM2?

 

[SynthDude2001]

If you've already got a lot of PC3200 (though with 1.5GB you might not be able to run dual channel), it might be best to stick with Socket 939. I don't think many people around here are under the impression that AM2 will bring huge performance increases worth waiting for upon release, at least not until the 65nm chips come out. Socket 939 platforms aren't too expensive, and can be very fast...If you want (or need) to upgrade now, IMO you wouldn't gain much by waiting a few more months for AM2.

 

[acole1]

I am in a similar situation except I haven't upgraded since socket A (which I am still very impressed with). I also have all the baggage that comes with socket A, including AGP and DDR, so I personally decided that AM2 wasn't worth the upgrade, mostly because of the DDR. Here is why....

My reasoning was - why spend another $200 on ram (in addition to a new video card) in a market that hasn't reached is performance potential? (They are just now coming out with DDR2-1000 and its freaking expensive). So I opted to go with a nice 939 setup until AM2 gets a year or so along and gets even better.

I do have a tendency to buy late in a socket's life instead of right when it comes out, (bugs and the like), and in the end it?s your decision.

I have 1.5 GB of pc3200 ram also, and I am running DC... it just puts 2 sticks on DC and 1 on SC.

 

[Stu L Tissimus]

Ah! Yes, that's what I was forgetting. I was wondering for a bit there why AMD was going to AM2 instead of just staying with 939, and the 65nm switch is probably the answer. I seem to remember AMD saying that they'll start producing 65nm chips by Q3 2006... Does that sound about right? And also, I just realized something else: will AM2 still keep support for DDR1?

I'm not really in need of an upgrade *right now*, but I'd like to do it sometime soon. (The reason being Oblivion.) That said, my MR9700 runs FEAR at an acceptable framerate, so I guess it'll do for now. It's just that every two months, I promise myself that I'm going to finally upgrade/fix my computer, and then two days later nVidia or ATi announces a new video card, etc.

Oh, and as for dual-channel, I actually just have two 256 sticks of relatively high-end PC3200 (GeiL Golden Dragon, I think it's discontinued now), and one cheapo 1GB stick that I got from CompUSA.

 

[cirrhosis]

I, too, am in the same boat as the OP and acole. I built my Socket 754 AGP-based system in July of 04; for the most part it has served me faithfully but its time for an improvement. First and foremost, I'm a gamer; last year my system did quite well. This year I fear it will show its age in terms of performance.

I'd like to upgrade but am feeling indecisive in the midst of AM2. On one hand I'd rather not repeat my same mistake as I did in 04 - buying at the end of a socket's lifespan. However I do realize that the first six months of AM2 will be shaky, with bugs and such being ironed out and features added where necessary. I figure it would be best to do an upgrade now to a high-end 939 build and sometime next year splurge again for an AM2 build. GL OP!

EDIT after ready above post.

No, AM2 will not support DDR1.

 

[RussianSensation]

In your case I'd probably get socket 939 since it sounds like you've been waiting for a while. AM2 wont come out until June. You'll have to spend $150 extra on DDR2. If you are willing to wait, wait. Initially there shouldnt be much performance difference between the 2 platforms. If you are the type of user that rarely upgrades the cpu on the same motherboard, there is no point in waiting at all.