Which Socket 939 CPU to get for Gaming

[BrokenVisage]

I'm looking to upgrade my current configuration/mobo one last time and am trying to pick the right CPU now, preferably an X2 processor. Unfortunately, it looks like the higher X2 CPUs are scarce to say the least and still much more expensive then the AM2 line. I'm looking to spend around $100 if it's possible and so far the divide seems to be at 3800+/4000+ and 4200+.. the dual core 4200+ is very expensive at the places I've seen that actually still have them in stock, while the other 2 hover under $100.

I guess my question is which one of the 3 should I get? Is it worth breaking the bank a little to get a 4200+, or will I be OK with an 8800GT and something like a 4000+/3800+? And a sub-question to that would be should I get the dual-core with slower clocks over the single core with a higher one?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Opteron 165 goes for about $65 shipped on average on the FS forum and it's dual core 1.8ghz with a 9x multi and most 165's will give u at least 2.7ghz under overclocking.

Scratch that, sell your 939 stuff and get over to Newegg.com and grab an AM2 Biostar Tforce 570-Sli for $80 and an AM2 4000x2 Brisbane for $60 and 2gb G.Skill DDR2 800 for $44.

For $65 - $100 you can upgrade an older platform or for $180 minus whatever u sell your 939 stuff for you can have cheaper/faster DDR2 and a better mobo with a brand spanking new CPU.

 

[hennethannun]

a few more specifics on your situation would be helpful OP (what sort of stuff do you do with your pc? what do you have now? etc). wait, i see your gaming system link now...

But my initial reaction is that spending $100 on a s939 system right now probably isn't worth it. That's a fairly significant amount of cash for what will likely be a fairly small improvement in performance. either spend a bit less for a new cpu ($40 or $50 at the most), or save that $100 for complete rebuild when nehalem comes out.

 

[v8envy]

I was in your boat. I quickly came to the conclusion that the performance that a $100 cpu will buy you for socket 939 is not worth considering at all.

My solution? Core 2 E2180+gigabyte DS3L ($171 shipped) and 4G of ram ($12 AR). It's possible to stumble on a good P35 based board for $70-ish AR off and on so today you could get the whole batch for $30 less. Yup, 50-100% over your budget, so either keep hanging out with what you've got, or see if you can sell your current parts. DDR ram goes for a mint these days.

It's too bad AMD abandoned 939 so quickly. Had they waited anther 6-12 months they'd have had a large amount of people in an upgrade cycle ready to pay a premium not to have to swap a platform.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Opteron 165 and overclock. Cheap upgrade that will give your system some more life.

 

[Marty502]

I bought my 939 3800 X2 recently, it does 2.7 Ghz with no voltage increase, and it's made a dramatic difference in gaming over my old 2.4 single core A64. Buying a 4200 X2 would have been a huge waste of money, given how overpriced they are nowadays. Nothing guarantees that it would have gone over 2.7 Ghz.

Don't even think about getting a single core. It's useless for gaming, period. Useless, useless, useless.

If you have the possibility, sell that 939 system and buy a C2D system as suggested, unless you can get that 939 CPU for very cheap.

 

[BrokenVisage]

The 165-175 Opterons were an option for me, but even they seem to be along the same price level as the X2s I'm looking at, meaning $100+ no matter what most likely unless I buy from FS/FT (not a fan). I do hear what you guys are saying though, I was just hoping I could squeeze a little more juice out of this setup but with AMD abandoning S939 so soon it looks like I'm in decision limbo on what technology to go with. Is my nForce4 mobo that far gone? Would it be more cost efficient to go with a S939 CPU now and hold on to that for a year or two, or just scrap AMD all together and go Intel right here and now? I'm not a fan of selling parts I upgrading from unless I know I won't need them/can't use them for future builds, so supplementing funds from selling what I have right now is not a big priority. I would really like to keep what I got if it can get me another year or two of quality performance, not to mention I hate bulk upgrades and prefer to upgrade incrementally as I look out for deals that tickle my fancy, so I would pay that fairly significant amount of cash for just upgrading the CPU if I could be sure it would give my system/games a quality boost.

 

[Marty502]

If it serves you as an example, my CPU tackles Crysis at high CPU straining settings without any problems. My GPU is another story, but paired with a 8800GT it would walk Crysis, I'm sure. A well overclocked 939 CPU will be enough for a year, maybe a bit more, for me. If you can find a cheap chip, it will be good bang for your buck.

 

[nerp]

Get a dual core Opty. It's a brilliant chip. It's a quick shot in the arm.

I did it and it made a huge difference over my Opty 148.

It didn't stop me from starting to build a new Intel box, though. :/

See: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2157726&enterthread=y

 

[BrokenVisage]

Damn, it's as hard to find a good Opteron as it is an S939 X2.

These place seems to have them in stock @ ~$105 shipped for me

Place looks shady though, is it worth giving it a shot?

My next choice would be the 175 from Newegg for $150 shipped

 

[hennethannun]

$150 is too much to spend on a s939 system. the 175 is a fine processor, but the marginal improvement over your current system is not worth that kind of money. If you can't get a new processor for less than $50-$75 I think you are just better off waiting until you can afford to replace your mainboard and memory as well. Nehalem is just around the corner, and that 175 is going to look pretty slow very soon.

something like This is probably as much as high as i would go.

 

[Twsmit]

I agree. Try and pick up a used X2 or Opteron for ~$50 and be happy. Otherwise you should seriously consider a C2D system.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I'm not a fan of going the "used" route, but I see what you guys are saying and may end up just doing that, it's not something I desperately need so I can sit back and just wait for a deal that looks decent to come out. Would you say the X2 3800+ and Opty 165 are the lowest CPUs I should be looking at if that's the case?

 

[Twsmit]

Well the 3800 and 165 were/are the entry level 939 dual cores. There is a 3600+ with less cache but otherwise the 3800 and 165 were the cheapest and most popular back in their day. You wont find anything lower than these, and since they were the most popular you are going to run across these more often than the faster chips.

 

[Martimus]

Try to get a Toledo stepping, since the Manchester chips get pretty hot. I bought my X2 4200+ for $65 on NewEgg in November, but the price has skyrocketed since then. It seems that the 3800+ overclocks well, especially if you get a Toledo chip. Mine runs pretty hot at 2.7GHz (60C at load), but I don't want to back it down because then my memory would be running too far below its rated speed for my comfort. Also, the X2's run much hotter than the A64's, or at least mine did. My X2 4200+ ran about 20C hotter than my 3500+, and they have the same multiplier and cache.

 

[Arkaign]

Best Socket 939 cpu for gaming? Well, get a 21*0 + cheap P35 mobo + DDR2, and put a Socket 939 sticker on the side of your case

All kidding aside, the comments above are accurate. Any dual-core 939 chip that you can get running in the mid 2ghz range will be more than adequate for gaming, provided you pair it with a decent video card. For gaming, a Sempron w/1GB DDR1-400/8800GT >> QX9650 w/8GB DDR2/7600GS for example.