What CPU to get???

[brab]

My computer just died today...

Video won't boot, the HDD LED is constantly on and diagnostic LEDs go to FF right away....
I think it's prolly the motherboard...
So I decided to get the whole new computer....

I had XP2500+ for last 1.5 years or so...

I do a lot of internet, gaming and some office applications....

Which CPU should I get??? I wanna go 64-bit so I do not have to upgrade later....
And for past 4-5 years I went AMD route, and I am pretty much sure I wanna stick with it...

$265 - Athlon 64 3500 939pin
$265 - Athlon 64 3500 90nm 939pin

I was thinking of going with this...what's the difference between 90nm and normal one???
This is a true 64-bit processor right???

Any other suggestions????

I have not been paying attention to hardware for past 6 months, so please excuse my ignorance....

Also what video card to get??? I had NVIDIA so far but I wouldn't mind going ATI...

I appreciate your comments greatly!!! Thanks...

 

[biostud]

$265 - Athlon 64 3500 90nm 939pin, runs cooler than the 130nm core, and it's a very good choice

 

[stevty2889]

The 90nm runs a little cooler and uses less power, performance wise they are equal. The a64's are 32bit and 64bit hybrids, in other words it works both ways. The 64bit version of windows XP isn't out yet, and the Intel P4's with 64bit extensions aren't out yet either, so A64 is definatly the way to go(even if the 64bit p4's were out, AMD would be the way to go).

 

[brab]

Awesome...thanks guys!!!!

So that CPU will run in 64-bit mode once 64-bit windows come out???

I just added a part about the video card....
Which one should I get...I wouldn't go higher than $200 or so....

 

[brab]

Oh yeah...I normally get Thermaltake coolers....

Any ideas on something other than Thermaltake for this CPU????

Sorry I know it's a lot of questions but I wanna get the right thing....

 

[Regs]

If you're not going to overclock, spending money on a after market HSF unit is pointless.

I would stick with Nvidia this round, since ATi has nothing this generation to persuade me over to their product.

How much are you willing to spend? 250 for a 6600GT, 300 for a 6800, 400 for a 6800GT?

 

[brab]

Originally posted by: Regs
How much are you willing to spend? 250 for a 6600GT, 300 for a 6800, 400 for a 6800GT?

I guess 6600GT could do...that should be enough money....
So Geforce 6*** is better than Geforce FX series???


Oh yeah...I can use this PC3200 that I got right??? I don't need to go DDR2 route????

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: brab

Originally posted by: Regs
How much are you willing to spend? 250 for a 6600GT, 300 for a 6800, 400 for a 6800GT?

I guess 6600GT could do...that should be enough money....
So Geforce 6*** is better than Geforce FX series???


Oh yeah...I can use this PC3200 that I got right??? I don't need to go DDR2 route????

I wouldn't touch the FX's with a 38 and a half foot poll.

And yes, PC3200 is the rated ram for the A64.

Any plans for a A64 3500 939 socket Motherboard?

 

[brab]

Originally posted by: Regs
I wouldn't touch the FX's with a 38 and a half foot poll.

And yes, PC3200 is the rated ram for the A64.

Any plans for a A64 3500 939 socket Motherboard?

AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAH
38 and a half....that's funny....

6600GTs are around $200...most of them sub $200....
Any particular company in mind, like Leadtek or Gigabyte???

For the MB I was thinking something along the lines of Epox 9NDA3 or 9NDA3+..or maybe EP-8KDA3+...
I had Epox also for about 4 years and I've been very satisfied with them....

Btw..does it sound to you like the MB died....video won't boot at all, hdd led won't shut off and the diagnostic led on the MB doesn't go through numbers during the boot like it usually does...as soon as I turn it on it just goes to FF???!?!!??

 

[Regs]

Maybe a CPU failure or even a dead CMOS battery.

Epox's are excellent right now for the 939's. There is also plenty of 939's reviews on this site for more information. For the 6600GT, I have no preferences which vendor to choose from. If they pack in a free game or have a better warranty, I would choose them. eVGA and BFG should not be forgotten about.

 

[brab]

I thought battery was there just for the clock????

CPU failure would not be good...I need to find out what it really is though because I wanna get rid of the old stuff for some money....

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: brab

I thought battery was there just for the clock????

CPU failure would not be good...I need to find out what it really is though because I wanna get rid of the old stuff for some money....

Hm, maybe if you had to change some settings to get your PC to boot correctly they would of been lost if the battery died.

But if you wanted to know for sure you could start replacing parts. Maybe borrow a cheap video card from some other computer or switch hard drives with another computer; things of this nature.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: brab

Oh yeah...I normally get Thermaltake coolers....

Any ideas on something other than Thermaltake for this CPU????

Sorry I know it's a lot of questions but I wanna get the right thing....

I would recommend one of the zalman 7000cu coolers, they're very silent and cools very good.

 

[brab]

I will reset the CMOS when I come home from work, see if that helps....

At least this gives me excuse to get a new comp though!!!!

If the CMOS thing doesn't work I will start testing out the current parts when I buy new parts....
At least I will know 100% whether it's the video card or the ram right away....

 

[brab]

Originally posted by: biostud
I would recommend one of the zalman 7000cu coolers, they're very silent and cools very good.

WOW...they look sick!!!!

Thanks for the advice....I'll read up on them....

 

[Jeff7]

Check your capacitors. If they are bulging at the top like these are, or oozing any liquid, they're the cause of the problem. There are a bunch of them all over the board. Check the ones that are 1000uF or higher (that's 1,000 micro farads). They are labeled. There's usually one by the soutbridge, a few by the DIMM slots, one by the AGP slot, some by the CPU, and maybe a few others around the board.

Epox might let you RMA it even if it's out of warranty, but it seems to depend on the mood of the customer service rep. I got the caps replaced on a board that was 2 years out of warranty, and it only cost $7 + the cost of shipping it in. However, another user here had an even newer board, but they refused to take it back.

 

[brab]

Thanks Jeff,

I'll look at that...

 

[brab]

Btw...these nForce3 boards have PCI Express right???

 

[brab]

btw..what's the board's favourite store besides newegg these days????

last time I ordered some stuff from DIYMicro but I saw that they are gone!...

 

[brab]

Which board to get better...Epox or that MSI Neo2 Platinum???

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: brab

btw..what's the board's favourite store besides newegg these days????

last time I ordered some stuff from DIYMicro but I saw that they are gone!...

pretty much newegg but also zipzoomfly,mwave,monarch,etc

Originally posted by: brab

Which board to get better...Epox or that MSI Neo2 Platinum???

either one

 

[JBDan]

Originally posted by: brab

Oh yeah...I normally get Thermaltake coolers....

Any ideas on something other than Thermaltake for this CPU????

Sorry I know it's a lot of questions but I wanna get the right thing....

I have the Swiftech 6400. Its a beast but if you like silence then this or TT 120 is the way to go. TT 120 is much lighter and reviews for this cooler are quite impressive. With my Swiftech 6400 I have attached a SilenX 80mm 14 dba fan and it is inaudible. My cpu temps idle @ 32-33c and under load are @ 42-44c. These temps are very low considering the fan only pushes about 28cfm. So if you like silence then either HS will please you

 

[JBDan]

EDIT: sorry I mean the ThermalRight xp120 not TT.

 

[thecrecarc]

and nforce3 is not pcie wait till nforce 4 if u want pcie

 

[brab]

Appreciate all of your's sugguestions....

By being hasty I got stuck with PCI-E graphics card that I have to return....

Why in the world would they have mostly PCI-E cards to sell when there are no MOBOs to support them yet....