So is the Athlon 64 3200 the way to go?

[Whitedog]

I'm fixing to build a new system. I've been running Athlons since they first went socketed. (700 was my first I believe)... Though I'm neither an AMD or Intel fan boy. I don't care one way or the other which I get. Just saying that up front.

I almost had made my mind up to get the P4 setup and OC it to 1GHz bus being it overall faster than Barton.

After looking carefully at the A64 benchies, it appears they are the way to go for "Gamers" (raises hand).

I would get the 3200 if I go this route. I can't justify paying an additional $140 for the 3400 which is only "marginally" faster.

If I went P4, I would get something that would Clock to 3.2ish GHz and give me the 1GHz bus speed. (P4 2.6(what core?) @ 3.25GHz??)

My only concern is this. Maturity. The P4 is a mature and proven platform. The A64 is not.

Any thoughs about that? - - Who's bought the A64 and have had "issues" getting it stable?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

No issues here. A64 3000+@2.4ghz 1.65v Shuttle AN50R and I'm very pleased with it. The performance difference in gaming between the 1mb and 512kb cache is very small but the 3200+ isn't much more expensive so no big deal. I really can't see going any way but A64 for gaming but do as you will

 

[Shimmishim]

I agree with Dapunisher...

For the gamer, A64 is the way to go!!!

The 3200+ is great... the 1 meg lf L2 is nice... but the performance difference between these two chips is minimal at best especially at stock speeds...

The only thing the 3200+ is better than the 3000+ is for encoding... the extra L2 cache helps...

I say get a 3000+ but if you really need to have a 3200+, then get that

 

[Shimmishim]

link to a test i did between the 3200+ and 3000+

 

[Whitedog]

Thanks for the tip Shimm... A64 3200+ it is. (yes, I do some encoding as well as gaming, so might as well).

Next tip I need is - What is the best Mobo to get for OCing? (Highest quality mobo possible). I'd like to run it at 2.4ghz! That would roXor. What's stock speed anyway? 2.0?

...and is there a specific core I need to look for? Or are all the A64 3200's the same right now?

Thanks

[Edit]Other than a Shuttle mobo... I "will not" buy a Shuttle mobo. :disgust:[/edit]

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Bummer you won't buy Shuttle as they have come a long way, but I certainly understand about being gun shy after getting burned since I've had such a bad experience with MSI that I'll never buy them again. Another good overclocker is the AOpen AK89 Max link If you want good audio but don't have a good sound card already Chaintech ZNF3-150 Zenith includes the Via Envy 24PT 7.1 hardware sound.

The default speed is indeed 2ghz and there doesn't seem to be much to choose between as far as overclockability is concerned as Shim's testing with the 3200+ and 3000+ demonstrates. The CG stepping is supposed to have an improved memory controller and better power saving features along with other tweaks but I'm not certain if it's on shelves or if you can expect the C0.

 

[Zebo]

I really don't understand people that don't think shuttle just rules? Is it thier cheap prices? Stuck in 1992 with Asus? What?

Well you can rest easy. They are the number one OEM motherboard manufacturer and people making these purchasing decisions are a hell of a lot smarter than any of us and have access to relibility reports and cost/benefit analysis we don't and they choose Shuttle.


Thier low prices are simply a reflection of quantiies of scale. They prolly make more money of each board than ABIT/EPOX does simply because the cost goes down for each board when your making 10 million vs. 250,000.

 

[cowdog]

I have the AK89 Max and although it is a solid board, it is limited for overclocking by a max of 1.55 v cpu and 2.85 vdimm. Additionally, the watchdog bios feature can be a pain as it is oversensitive and requires clearing CMOS to get back in control of the bios. It isn't so much a negative as it is a nuisance. That said, I can run very high FSB ( so far as high as 275 using Clockgen) with around a 2300MHz max overclock all on stock voltages with memory timings at 6-2-2-2. The board itself is very solid and performs quite well.

The AK86-L (Via chipset) has recently gained some nice voltage and fsb options (bios release). If the AK89 Max gets similar treatment in a subsequent bios, it could be a very good overclocking board. I cant' imagine why AOpen wouldn't add those features and expect they will tame the watchdog feature a bit.

Personally, if I were buying an A64 motherboard right now, I would wait until the end of this month (April) and see what nForce3 250 brings to the table for socket 754. I want to see what Asus, Epox, and DFI bring to the table; all have announced nForce3 250 boards for socket 754. If nothing else, those boards will offer some nice feature sets.