What would you do, which system config?

[essential]

My options, and my views, am I missing anything? What would you do?

Option 1 (754):
mobo: Asus K8N-E Deluxe
cpu: AMD Athlon 64 3400+
cost: $425

Pros:
1) nvidia nForce3 250Gb chipset with On-Chip LAN and nvidia firewall (I have read a lot of this chipset, and have heard very good things).

Cons:
1) Loss of Dual-Channel RAM, but I have read that with AMD the single vs. dual channel RAM is almost the same performance, so maybe this isn't a large con.

Option 2 (939):
mobo: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
cpu: AMD Athlon 64 3500+
cost: $480

Pros:
1) It's a 939 chip. It supports Dual-Channel RAM.

Cons:
1) Loss of nvidia nForce3 250Gb chipset with On-Chip LAN and nvidia Firewall , but it has a nForce 3 Ultra chipset, and I'll be honest, I don't really know how much of a difference their is between the nForce 3 Ultra and the nvidia nForce3 250Gb.
2) Moving away from ASUS. I have never used a non-ASUS mobo, so I am not as comfortable with this switch. I could get the Asus A8V Deluxe, but I wanted a nForce3 chipset, and the A8V comes with the VIA K8T800Pro. I have read good things about the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, so I'm hoping it is worth it.

I am getting a gig of Corsair Twinx XL Pro no matter what configuration I get, for the latencies, even if it doesn't operate in dual-channel mode in the 754 board.

Basically, what would you do. The price difference between the 754 and the 939 is only $55, so it's not a price issue, it's a chipset, performance, and stability issue. I do not overclock at all, so any opinions would be welcome.

Thank you very much.

 

[nick1985]

before you blow hundreds on that RAM, you do know that low latencies mean chit on the athlon 64 right?

 

[Demonicon]

I'd personally stick with the S754. Right now the selection of boards for S939 is lackluster to put it mildly. Plus, the miniscule performance gains are not worth the extra dough.

 

[Corporate Thug]

option 2, more future proof

 

[laurenlex]

Option 1. It's cheaper, and dual channel isn't gaining much at all. Future proof? Maybe not, as socket 939 does not have pci express right now. Depending on how often you upgrade, your next upgrade will likely require a new motherboard and graphics card anyway. If the MSI motherboard gets buggy, you will regret your decision.

But then again, I could be wrong, and it's just a $55 difference.

What about waiting for NForce 4?

 

[bigal40]

go with option 2. if you want to upgrade it in the future amd will be using the 939. You will also have a small performance gain over the 3400.

 

[Subhuman25]

Option #2 is the only that makes sense at this point,since the price difference is negligable and AMD is going socket 939.In a year or so when there are numerous socket 939 boards out with more options than the current 939 boards i.e. SATA 2,PCI-E etc. all you'll need is to buy one of those to upgrade since your CPU and memory will simply plug right in.Future boards are all going to support dual channel RAM also,another reason option #2 makes more sense.Not to mention THERE IS a performace increase over option #1,however small it may be.
It's definitely worth a mere $55 price difference.
But the real reason you should go for option #1 is because it's also my next choice set-up <grin>

 

[essential]

Thanks for the input so far. I def cannot wait for a nForce4 though, the machine I am on now is very unstable. I crash at least once a day, heh. I am buying whatever I buy within the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[Subhuman25]

Supposedly DFI should be releasing their DFI NF3 LanParty Ultra-D MB by the end of the month or so.It was deuted at IDF and featured on Tom's Hardware Guide back on 2 June.I'm not sure what the big delay is,but I'm hoping maybe they are adding some features to it.Should be a great board considering the current LanParty offerings for socket 754 and Intel P-4.Both those offerings seem to be very praised overall.Seems DFI is becoming a major contender in high quality - high performance motherboards.Abit &amp; Asus better watch out.
With that said,I have my eyes on the MSI K8N Neo2 as well right now,but that may change in a couple weeks when the DFI board get's released.Maybe you should hold out for 2-3 weeks and see if it's released then.Remember also that 939 offerings currently are pretty meager and there should be many more boards released in the very near future.