Which AMD 64 CPU and Motherboard should I buy?

[bhanson]

Hello,

My current machine just died, so I'm once again looking for some new computer parts. I was looking to upgrade anyway.

From the looks of things, Athlon 64 is the way to go for gaming. Now I've been reading around on the differences, and I can't come to any conclusive decision on what is best for me.

Mhz vs Cache (Newcastle vs Clawhammer): Most said that you should take the extra Mhz over the larger Cache because in most cases your application will benefit more. Great, so I thought I would get a Newcastle. But then someone in another thread said that most applications would not benefit from the extra cache, except for UT2004. Figures, that's what I am planning on using this for. So now I have no idea on the battle between these two.

754 vs 939: I have no idea what to think about this, the 754s seem to have higher clockspeeds, but yet the main appeal for the 939 is for future upgradability. Typically when I upgrade I replace my motherboard and CPU, so I don't think this is an issue for me. I don't know which to choose.

For this upgrade I am looking for pure performance in UT2004, my last setup was not satisfactory. I would really appreciate some advice on this, I need to order these parts soon so I can get them and get back online.

For reference here is my old system:

AMD Athlon XP "Barton" 2500+
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe Rev. 2
2x512MB OCZ PC3200 Basic
BBA ATI Radeon 9800 NP
Maxtor 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB

I'm looking to spend something around $200 for a CPU and around $100 for a motherboard, or a combination of the two. More if justified but less is nice.

I'm thinking it may be better for me to get a better CPU and a cheap motherboard, so that way I can get the guaranteed performance I want without needing to overclock. That is, against the decision of getting a slightly less CPU and a good motherboard.

Any input is highly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bytor33]

Get an msi k8n neo2 and a 3000 winchester. Both of them together will be about $300. You should be able to hit 2400 mhz pretty easily on air and if you're lucky 2500 to 2600. I personally like my motherboard to last through 2 processors to get the most bang for the buck. Socket 939 is perfect to get now as a year or two down the road you'll be able to put an fx-55 or maybe even something better in it for really cheap that will be a nice upgrade over the 3000 winchester. If you really want pci express or an sli setup wait for the new socket 939 boards to come out but personally I'm not concerned over pci express and don't think it will make a difference over agp until it's time for me to get a new motherboard 2 or 3 years down the road.

 

[thegimp03]

I'm looking to spend something around $200 for a CPU and around $100 for a motherboard, or a combination of the two. More if justified but less is nice.

That price range is perfect for what bytor suggested - a great combo. Good luck. 🙂

 

[bhanson]

Okay I'm coming up with a total of $285.50, that's not too bad. Figures, NewEgg has a better price on the motherboard, and ZipZoomFly has a better price on the CPU.

The CPU is only 1.8Ghz stock, that's the same as my Barton. What if I can't get the overclock? Would performance still be drastically greater? Do you think I can get at least a 2.2Ghz overclock with the stock fan?

For a case I have an Aspire X-Dreamer II with 4 additional case fans installed.

 

[gururu]

a friend of mine just got a 3200+ 745 newcastle with MSI Neo-FSR board at Fry's for 300 (99+195). I helped him put it together, was a piece of cake no hitches. 939 is good because of the dual channel memory. the clawhammer cache is far outweighed by the newcastle overclockability. we hit an 2.4 with everything default and stock.

 

[bytor33]

2.2 ghz should be really easy, most people can get 2.4 with stock voltage or a little above. Don't be deceived by it's 1.8 ghz speed rating, it's much faster than a barton at the same speed. I don't know what your ram is capable of but you can set a ram divider to run your ram at lower speeds if it can't handle the high fsb speeds you'll be using to overclock. As far as the stock heatsink/fan it should be fine getting to 2.4 ghz but if you want to try 2.6 or above I would recommend a better one as you'll probably be upping the voltage a bit to get to those speeds and your processor will run hotter.

 

[bhanson]

Do I still overclock in the same principal manner with an Athlon 64? What is the multiplier for the 939 pin 3000+/3200+?

Curious for this as to know if my RAM will be able to handle it.

Also is there anything wrong with going with the Neo 1 instead of 2?