thoughts on sempron 3100+

[sonarniche]

looking to upgrade from an athlon 1700+ and K7s5a mobo on the cheap, and fry's has a sempron 3100+ and ECS 755A-2 mobo for $109. I feel like some benchmarks I look at show the sempron to be within a few % of the A64 2800+ and 3000+ in performance, while others seem to show it as a pretty low performer. I'll be using it mostly for gaming (WoW and BF2) as well as normal office tasks. So Im wondering opinions on the chip. the price is right for me, but i don't want to shell out for a marginal upgrade.

 

[BitByBit]

The last time I checked, the Athlon 64 2800+ was around the same price as a Sempron 3100+, so you'd be better off with that Athlon if it's for gaming.

 

[sonarniche]

Originally posted by: BitByBit
The last time I checked, the Athlon 64 2800+ was around the same price as a Sempron 3100+, so you'd be better off with that Athlon if it's for gaming.

the difference tho is that i'd be getting the mobo and cpu for $109, which makes it tempting. Without that sort of deal i'd probably want to stretch for a socket 939.

 

[AMDgood IntelBAD]

make sure that ecs can change voltage, in the long run youd be better off getting an a64 with a 939 mobo

 

[BitByBit]

Well, it'll certainly be an improvement on your 1700+.
If you're a hard-core gamer, then you should probably head straight to 939, but if you're just looking for a nice, inexpensive boost in performance, then I'd say go Sempron.

 

[imported_whatever]

For that much, if nothing else you could buy it and then sell it here for probably just as much if you don't like it.

 

[Zap]

Based on your current setup, I'd say that you weren't a super hardcore overclocker and you like to get good "value" from your hardware. The Sempron setup would certainly give you a speed boost and is a good value. The next step up would be a socket 754 overclockable motherboard ($70-80) and either a 2800+ Retail/OEM or a 3400+ OEM and make sure you get one marked "AX" for best overclockability. Beyond that is socket 939.

 

[sonarniche]

thanks for the input. yeah, i'm all about price/performance right now. i was considering the idea of upgrading to a board that OCs better though, because Toms Hardware showed a Sempron 3100+ performing pretty well when OCd.

If AMD hadn't sold out of bundles for its tech tour (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear) then i'd just get the desktop package and be happy.

along with this bump in CPU/mobo, i'm gonna need to spring for new RAM and a vid card. I'm also guessing that i'll get more out of getting a nice GPU like a 6800gt or something than a bump to A64 & 939?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: sonarniche
I'm also guessing that i'll get more out of getting a nice GPU like a 6800gt or something than a bump to A64 & 939?

For 3D games, you will absolutely get more out of a new video card than socket 939 instead of socket 754. If going for a new card, you should get a motherboard that has a 16x PCI-E slot. Look for Nforce4 chipset boards. I think MSI makes one for around $75 that is overclockable.

As for which PCI-E video card to get... depends on your budget. Nvidia cards, aim for a 6600GT or better. ATI cards, aim for an x700Pro or better. BTW, what card do you have right now?

You also mentioned getting new RAM. If you go socket 939, get two 512MB sticks. If you go socket 754, get one 1GB stick.