Upgrade my 939 system to FX60?

[FAUguy]

I've been using my AMD 939 system for about 5 years and have done a few internal upgrades. The Motherboard is still the ABIT AN8 Fatal1ty (not SLI), changed out the CPU 3 years ago to the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ and the RAM to Mushkin Redline DDR500 (four 1GB sticks). Since then I've had the CPU overclocked to 2400MHz (240FSB x10), RAM at 240MHz (480DDR), and HT at 1200MHz. This is the fastest I can get the system with all four of the 1GB sticks installed. If I drop it down to 2GB, then I can get the CPU up to 2460Mhz.

I like my system, and really don't want to mess with having to buy a new CPU, Motherboard, and RAM, so was thinking about just replacing the CPU with the Opteron 185 or FX60.

From the reading I've done, it seems that the FX60 is the way to go, due to the unlocked multiplier.....and someone said the memory controller is better on it as well.

Since the only place to buy an FX60 is from eBay ($200), I'd like to know which is the best Stepping choice? From what I've read, the CCB2E is better than the LCB9E and LCBIE, since the last two are just rebranded Athlon X2 chips.

Here is what I've been able to find for sale:

CCB2E 0536UPMW
LCB9E 0630(can't make out the rest)
LCBIE 0615MPMW

There are two others that start with the CCB2E, but can't make out what the rest of the date code is from the image.

Thanks for any help.

 

[drizek]

You can get a Phenom II X6 and a motherboard for $200 at microcenter. Obviously, I would spend more on a nicer board(and wait for Bulldozer), but the option is there.

Buying such an old CPU for so much money really doesn't make sense.

 

[shady28]

I have to agree it doesn't make sense.

The other poster noted you can get a phenom x6, but even if out the door limits are $200 you can get phenom ii 965 x4 and mobo combos for 120, and 4GB of ddr3 RAM for $40. That machine will run circles around the x2 4400+ or fx 60.




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[superccs]

Buy new hardware... there's no point in buying a 7 year old cousin.

 

[FAUguy]

When I purchased the ABIT AN8 Fatal1ty board, it was the top of the line that wasn't SLI (which I don't need). So if I were to ever replace the board with an AM3/AM3+, I would want it to be mid-to-high end since ABIT went bust a few years back.

So a quick NewEgg check...
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T $199 (or wait for the new AM3+ FX CPUs)
Motherboard $140-$200 (depending on features)
4GB 2000-2133 (for overclocking room) $100
My current heatsink may not fit, so that's about $50

So I'd be about $500-600 depending. Maybe I'm overkilling it some, but I like it to last for years before needing to upgrade. I'm not one who is buying the newest hardware every few months when it comes out.

 

[skipsneeky2]

When I purchased the ABIT AN8 Fatal1ty board, it was the top of the line that wasn't SLI (which I don't need). So if I were to ever replace the board with an AM3/AM3+, I would want it to be mid-to-high end since ABIT went bust a few years back.

So a quick NewEgg check...
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T $199 (or wait for the new AM3+ FX CPUs)
Motherboard $140-$200 (depending on features)
4GB 2000-2133 (for overclocking room) $100
My current heatsink may not fit, so that's about $50

So I'd be about $500-600 depending. Maybe I'm overkilling it some, but I like it to last for years before needing to upgrade. I'm not one who is buying the newest hardware every few months when it comes out.

Good specs and im betting this will outlast your current build.

Everyone is different but if i want longevity i wouldn't overclock,till the system is feeling long in the tooth and you wanna buy more time out of it.

Even stock that 1100t is gonna blow your current cpu out of the water.

 

[Rebel_L]

The longer you plan on keeping a system the less important it is to buy top end parts. If you upgrade 5 years later and things are 10 times faster the extra 30% speed boost you paid such a huge premium for 5 years ago will just be too insignificant to make a difference in how much longer you can really keep the system.

From a money stand point you will always save the most money by only ever buying a system with the speed and features that you need now and upgrading when that system no longer servers your needs to the next cheapest system that serves your needs when you buy it.

 

[AtenRa]

You should consider a quad core Llano setup

 

[skipsneeky2]

Not sure if your brand loyal but a 2500k and a p67/z68 might do you better then a 1100t.

I'm sure either choice in 5 years is gonna suck for gaming but even a quad core is gonna be able to do the most basics of tasks.

 

[FAUguy]

Not sure if your brand loyal but a 2500k and a p67/z68 might do you better then a 1100t.

I'm sure either choice in 5 years is gonna suck for gaming but even a quad core is gonna be able to do the most basics of tasks.

I had some bad experiences with INTEL many years ago, and changed over to AMD, which I've continued to use. I may consider going to Intel, but aren't their prices usually more? (at least they use to be)
I'm not a heavy gamer, hence no need for multi-graphics cards, but I do some DVD video rendering in Sony Vegas Home (not Vegas Pro), so the faster the system the better.

 

[pantsaregood]

You'd get a pretty big boost in performance with a 2500K. Dual core 939 rigs are, surprisingly, still viable for modest gaming. K10 isn't really much faster than K8 on a per-clock basis. Dual core may not be ideal for games, but it is definitely passable.

I don't know if that makes AMD look good or bad, though. On one hand, you can say Llano is a fairly direct descendant of K7. A CPU architecture lasting for 12 years is ridiculous. On the other hand, AMD have been cranking out minor revisions of a single architecture for 12 years. Bulldozer can't come quickly enough for them.

That said, don't buy an FX-60 unless you find it for $30 or something.

 

[Absolution75]

An intel i3 2100 will run circles around what you have and actually outperforms almost everything AMD has in apps which aren't written for many many threads.

Get a cheap P67 board with the i3 2100 and some really cheap DDR3 ram (you can find 2x2GB easily for $40, or 2x4GB for $50 pretty regularly after rebate).

Shouldn't be more than $250. Or $150 if you live next to a microcenter.

 

[Tuna-Fish]

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T $199 (or wait for the new AM3+ FX CPUs)
Motherboard $140-$200 (depending on features)
4GB 2000-2133 (for overclocking room) $100
My current heatsink may not fit, so that's about $50

So I'd be about $500-600 depending. Maybe I'm overkilling it some, but I like it to last for years before needing to upgrade. I'm not one who is buying the newest hardware every few months when it comes out.

Honestly, that would be a stupid purchase.

The cheapest available Athlon II x2 is better than the fx-60, so you shouldn't compare the (very overpriced for it's performance) 1100T to it. 100$ is the absolute highest anyone even remotely sane would pay for an AMD cpu right now.

The motherboards have gone down a lot in price -- you can probably get a good one with all the features that you need for ~90$.

You don't need ram speed for overclocking room, because most of the cpu's you'd want to overclock either have unlocked multipliers, or if you get a cheap athlon II dual core, you can just drop the ram multiplier to something low enough. You don't need it for anything else either -- dual channel DDR3- 1333 simply has enough bandwidth to feed the processors, you get practically nothing for faster ram.

If you are willing to pay 500$ for an upgrade, right now that would be i5 2500k, 4 gigs of DDR3-1333, and a basic MB.

If your pain limit is the 200$ that fx-60 would cost, instead get the cheap ddr3, and any phenom2/athlon2 with mobo deal.

Option A gets you a vastly better computer than getting a 1100T, and option B gets you a vastly better computer than getting a FX-60.

If you absolutely have to buy high-end and buy AMD, right now, you should just wait and see if BD is worth anything. Because AMD does not have a even marginally competitive high-end offering right now. Under no condition should you pay 200$ for an old high-end processor that loses to the present budget bin, and has probably been ruined by running it for years at a high oc.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Get a cheap P67 board with the i3 2100 and some really cheap DDR3 ram (you can find 2x2GB easily for $40, or 2x4GB for $50 pretty regularly after rebate).

Shouldn't be more than $250. Or $150 if you live next to a microcenter.

Agree with this. Best recommendation

 

[shady28]

Go here:

http://www.microcenter.com/specials/...ndlePROMO.html

Ram for the above combos:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0307440

That was just a quick check. 129 gets you an x4 and mobo, 42 for 4 gigs of ddr3 1333.

Total is 171 + s/ h.

For about $30 more you can get an phenom 1055 6 core.



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[Sureshot324]

An FX-60 honestly wouldn't be much faster than what you have now. Definitely not worth $200 to upgrade.

 

[BTA]

A couple years back I sold the FX60 from my wife's pc on ebay. With the money from the cpu alone I got enough to buy all new cpu/mb/ram to upgrade her rig with, and it was way way faster than that FX60 could ever dream of.

 

[bleucharm28]

The FX60 was definitely a badass back in 04-05. I thought I was the shit when I had the Athlon 64 939 4000+ processor with A8N-SLi Deluxe, with 2 6600GT or was it 2 6800GT? hmmm, can't remember.

 

[FAUguy]

Ok, so from reading the posts, it does seem a bit foolish to spend $200 for the FX60.

If I did want to replace the CPU, Motherboard and RAM, I'd like to stay close to $400....with max of $500.

My graphics card is only a year or two old, it's the BFG Nvidia GTX275 OC. Like I said earlier, I'm not a heavy gamer so really don't see a need to upgrade this card (just yet anyways).

All four of my HDDs are SATA-3. I know the new boards have SATA-6, but most of them only have two SATA-6 ports with the rest being SATA-3. I would like the most SATA-6 ports for future drivers. I also have a Plextor PX-716 DVD burner that is P-ATA133 that I use a lot, and a 3.5" FDD (that I almost never use, but still have boot disks just in case).

So If I want to replace the CPU/Motherboard/RAM, it appears that the LGA 1366 or 1155 is the way to go. It just comes down to which processor core/nm is best for me and the right motherboard to go along with it.

If I went with LGA 1366, my option would be the i7-960 CPU (3.06Ghz or 3.2Ghz) that runs $260-$280, Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R $199 -or- ASRock X58 Extreme6 for $218 as the motherboard, and $50-$120 for RAM depending on the amount and speed). So that's about $510 or more, which is at my max amount.

 

[drizek]

1366 is dead. Either wait for 2011 or go 1155(or cross your fingers and go with AMD).

Microcenter had a deal for an i7 2600K and Asus P67 Deluxe board for $450. It's dead now, but that should be your target.

Of course, you could go quite a bit cheaper.

 

[bart1975]

I5 2500k $220
ASUS P8P67-M LGA 1155 $130
G.Skill Ripjaw 8GB 2x4GB DDR3 1333 $72
Even if you need a new power supply you could get a decent one and still be under your budget.

 

[FAUguy]

I agree that the i5-2500K for $220 is the best deal for the price in the 1155 category.
Then go with an ASUS or ASRock board in the $130-200 range.
RAM in the $70-$150
So what would still be in the area of $500.

My power supply is an Enermax Noisetaker 600W, so I guess that would be OK.

 

[nanaki333]

your heatsink should fit on an am3 board just fine. they haven't changed the clip layout. even the s754 are the same. get the microcenter deal. i get them all the time for cheap work pc's. get a quad core + free mobo + ram for under $200.

 

[shady28]

1366 is dead. Either wait for 2011 or go 1155(or cross your fingers and go with AMD).

Microcenter had a deal for an i7 2600K and Asus P67 Deluxe board for $450. It's dead now, but that should be your target.

Of course, you could go quite a bit cheaper.

Ditto, i7 2600 is your best bet. The 2600k only if you want to over clock. That and 8+ gig of RAM should set you for a few years. Also, p67 chipset if you can fit it in the budget. It's the newest chipset from Intel, same one used in the new iMac. Make sure you have USB 3.0 if you want longevity.



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[sm625]

I dont get how you can go from wanting a minor upgrade (an X2 to a FX-60 is a minor upgrade) to wanting to spend $400 on a total system upgrade. lol. You let these guys sell you overpriced intel garbage. If all you want is FX-60 level performance then I find it humorous that all these intel fanbois pop out of the woodwork to sell you on a 2600k. An i3 would seem to make more sense. Waiting for BD makes even more sense.