Why a 939 board over a 754?

[MustangSVT]

Originally posted by: Tarrant64
First, dual channel doesn't mean squat on 939. Sure, you pay more for it, but you don't get anything out of it. It's just bragging rights. Any kinda decent ram like valueRAM will perform just as good as any other good pc3200 ram.

Second, pci-e isn't really IMHO proving itself to be 'that' much better than AGP right now. i mean, it's awesome and all, gives capabilites of SLI, but who has cash to do that?

754 performance isn't that much different from 939. if your on a budget, 754 with AGP is the way to go. Can't go wrong with it. if you want the latest stuff, 939, sure. But you won't see a huge performance difference from a similarly configured 754 system.

megatomic's comment is true. if you want upgradability, go 939. budget = 754. good thing about amd64 is budget 754 performs just as good as performance 939. hardly a noticeable real life difference.

Also, 754 is not gonna die. AMD is still releasing new processors for it if i'm correct(the sempron line). so saying 754 is going away isn't true. i thought before 754 was supposed to liek replace socket a eventually or something. either, please don't make it sound like 754 will be phased out and non-existent, because it's far from.

Finally , a post that makes sense.

I guess most of u guys upgrade cpu every 6 months... then again i am still running 2100+ xp .

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: crazyeddie

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot

Originally posted by: petben
That was the deciding factor for me. I needed a new VC anyway, so I figured why go old school?

What vc do you recommend? Under 125bucks. I am not a gamer.

Look at the MSI RS480M2-IR, It's a Socket 939 motherboard with an ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset available at NewEgg for $92. On top of having a PCI-E graphics slot, gigabit Ethernet, onboard sound with a S/PDIF digital out, and SATA RAID 0/1/0+1 support, it also has an integrated DirectX 9 video processor similar to the X300-series PCI-E video card.

You can upgrade cheaply and use the integrated graphics core. If you decide you want more graphics horsepower, you can pop in a PCI-E graphics card any time you want.

It's also one of the only mATX socket 939 boards available. You can install it in an Antec Aria case and build a Small Form Factor PC if you like.

i bought that board. will be installing it soon. a cheap upgrade if you need it also, is there are already refurb x700 pro 128mb pci-e cards on pricewatch for $130 shipped

 

[bay]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: bay

Originally posted by: friedrice O, and all the kids will laugh at you for having a 754

and I'll laugh while my 3400 newcaslte beats the 3500 winnine in every benchmark
Text

I tend to ignore all the inane and immature comments like those. But since you've drawn my attention to it, I have to that if anyone attaches their ego to their PC they have some serious issues. The least of which is that their computer is running with a single channel of DDR.

wait. are you accusing me of being immature or the person who i quoted? I'm just relaying benchmarks that Zebo was kind enough to grace me with to show that there isn't that much difference between 939/754 performance wise.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: bay

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: bay

Originally posted by: friedrice O, and all the kids will laugh at you for having a 754

and I'll laugh while my 3400 newcaslte beats the 3500 winnine in every benchmark
Text

I tend to ignore all the inane and immature comments like those. But since you've drawn my attention to it, I have to that if anyone attaches their ego to their PC they have some serious issues. The least of which is that their computer is running with a single channel of DDR.

wait. are you accusing me of being immature or the person who i quoted? I'm just relaying benchmarks that Zebo was kind enough to grace me with to show that there isn't that much difference between 939/754 performance wise.

Nope, friedrice. Sorry for the confusion bay. :beer:

 

[akugami]

I'd actually argue that if you plan to upgrade roughly two years down the line that you should spend a little more and get a S939 system.

Here's a scenario. You're a gamer but you really don't need the absolute best speed possible. You just want playable framerates and a decent resolution. Let's say that your next upgrade is planned for two years down the line.

You get a S754 based mobo and cpu. Now this is not a bad system, however two years down the line. There will most likely not be significantly higher speed upgrades to S754 and there will most likely be only minimal gains in the AGP graphics card market as it will be relegated to the low end and mid end offerings and not the high end. The alternatives are to get the minimal upgrades and boost your cpu and graphics speeds by a bit or get a whole new mobo, cpu, ram and graphics card upgrade. The graphics card companies (ATI & nVidia) have a vested interest in promoting PCI-Express because if you have a new socket that means you have to buy a new video card instead of recycling your old AGP one. It's all about selling more cards.

If you went S939, you would have faster speed cpu's that are produced and not only that if dual core cpu's take off and many games are written to take advantage of it you will most likely be able to upgrade to that as well. You are ensured that the absolute best video cards being produced will be produced for your system. You don't have to replace your a lot of components to get a very good speed boost. In the long term, it is much more likely to cost you less money than going S754.

Now, if you're a person who's thinking of getting an upgraded computer now but don't plan to upgrade for 4-5 years. Go S754 since it's cheaper and will support your old AGP video card and the performance difference between it and S939 is not great enough to make the S939 a significantly better buy.

 

[tallman45]

Go with a 939 especially if you also need a GPU. I just compared the following

754 option
Gigabyte K8NS $76
3000+ 754 $146
6600GT (Agp) $209
Total $431

939 option
Gigabyte K8NF-9 $124
3000+ 939 $149
MSI 6600GT (Pcie) $184
Total $459

Not much of a difference. Most likely will save the $20 bucks in the less electricity that the 90nm 3000+ will use in a yr over the 754

 

[Zap]

I think I'm gonna go socket 754 for myself.

A64 3000+ s939 1.8GHz $150
Epox EP-9NDA3J $95
total $245

A64 2800+ s754 1.8GHz $120
Epox EP-8KDA3I $65
total $185

The s939 chip will be .09 micron, but the s754 chip is the AX stepping. Both should clock well. I already have buttloads of AGP cards (up to 6800GT) so I have to stick with AGP for now. $60 is a lot of money for a tiny performance bump. If I upgrade CPUs in the future, gonna upgrade motherboards as well.

 

[ingeborgdot]

So if I go 939 I am looking at these boards.
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra zenith
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9
Asus A8V Deluxe

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: Woody
At this point I don't think it makes any difference to go with NF4 PCIe over NF3 AGP unless you want to really spend the big bucks and go with SLI or plan to use it as an upgrade path down the road.

A fast system with SLI 6800GTs or higher is just so much power that it's ridiculous even for playing HL2 or Doom3. A single high end card does the job very well.

Beg to differ (about the doom3 part). I have a 6800GT with a winne 3500+ and had to take the res down to 1024x768 to minimize stuttering. All the eye candy was maxed though. I bet an SLI rig would run DOOM3 maxed res and eye candy. Sorry about the off topic post, well not really entirely OT.

 

[st3]

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot
So if I go 939 I am looking at these boards.

Asus A8V Deluxe

Edited that for ya

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: ingeborgdot

Originally posted by: petben
That was the deciding factor for me. I needed a new VC anyway, so I figured why go old school?

What vc do you recommend? Under 125bucks. I am not a gamer.

Go with the ATI RS480 based motherboard and don't look back.
If you're not a gamer, the "free" onboard Radeon almost-X300 graphics should be more than enough and it'll still handle the occasional 3D game or application with some competancy. And it's an affordable, good performing board.

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: Zap
I think I'm gonna go socket 754 for myself.

A64 3000+ s939 1.8GHz $150
Epox EP-9NDA3J $95
total $245

A64 2800+ s754 1.8GHz $120
Epox EP-8KDA3I $65
total $185

The s939 chip will be .09 micron, but the s754 chip is the AX stepping. Both should clock well. I already have buttloads of AGP cards (up to 6800GT) so I have to stick with AGP for now. $60 is a lot of money for a tiny performance bump. If I upgrade CPUs in the future, gonna upgrade motherboards as well.

I know what you mean! I'm really tempted to snag the new Sempron-2800+ 754 chip that's just come out for a lousy ~$80US and the ASRock K8Combo-Z which is 754 and 939 on the same board. Cheap, fast performance NOW, but a good upgrade path for later.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I was going to go with the asus a8v deluxe but several on another board said it was buggy. Anyone care to comment???
Are there just no good boards out there. Everyone I ask about someone says it is not a good board and choose this one. Then I ask about that board and someone says it is not a good board choose this one etc......I am just baffled at what is good and what is not.

 

[ingeborgdot]

How much longer do you think the 754 will be in existance? I need to build some for a school (my labor free) to save them money. They don't want something that will be unable to get parts for in the coming couple of years. No overclocking! Needs to be a good board though as it is used all day almost everyday in a tech lab. They have simulators being used and such. The head tech person said they don't want sempron. So, is the 754 still being phased out and how long will it take??????

 

[jose]

Also 939 will have the ability to upgrade to Dual Core CPU's.

Regards,
Jose

 

[Merovingian]

Yeah, but it's not OC able.

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: intogamer
In 3 years you can buy an affordable fx.

In 3 years, there will be new chipset technology, faster RAM support, ... so I wont keep my old 3 years old motherboard if I upgrade to a faster CPU...

 

[grooge]

AMD want to separate his CPU. There will be the Sempron line that will be budget based system based on socket 754 and the Athlon line that will use socket 939.

Right now, I've owned both, 754 AGP and 939 PCIe. Both were 3000+. Dual channel might give 5-7%, but doen not make up for the 10% MHz lost.

It is true that s939 will have more powerfull chip. but socket 754 will still have nice performing chip too. Thay will actually cost lest than the 939 version. Right now, the 754 3700+ is almost performing in par with the 4000+ 939. Both are 2.4 Ghz CPU, dual channel is what differece them. And price.

This system will be bought for budget use. right now, 939 is as cheap as 754. But would it be the same in 2-3 years? In 3 years, updating the CPU might be more affordable with the Sempron line. So, it could make a difference too. But that, we dont know.

Right now, the best performance/price ratio belong to socket 754. in 3 years, we dont know. So, it is your decision. Buy for today or gamble for tomorrow...

Both are great processors. But I would not count the 754 as being dead, slow or underperforming.

Either chice, you wont go wrong