Socket 939 or 754

[MaiYeuEm21st]

I'm new to builing my own computer and i been reading around this place for a while now. now that i have the money, i want to build my own computer with an amd 64 cpu.
my question is what you think is better the 939 and 754. i know the 939 support dua channal and the 754 don't. how much of a gain would dual channal be? what else is different between them?
also i'm not planning to builing another computer until 2 or 3 year from now.
thank you

[Punked Out Comp]

If your not going to upgrade your processor anytime soon thean you can stick with 754 I guess...

[kram 2.0]

Welcome to PC Mech forums

The gain by dual channeling would be "neggligible" - not very substantial, but good enough to say that if you can get two sticks of memory, it's a fair deal. Both the Socket 754 and Socket 939 are going to survive the next few years - the 754 will go budget line as soon as the Athlon XPs and Sempron Socket A are phased out. I'd say if you can, go for the Socket 939.

kram

[Cricket]

Build the computer that fits your budget best and use it for 2 or 3 years. Don't worry about which processor is faster or slower, anything over 2.0GHz faster than what most software requires anyway. If you can afford a 989 pin Athlon 64 system, go for it. But if your budget only allows a 754 pin Athlon 64 system, so what? You'll still have a computer that is plenty fast and will handle most software for years to come.

Cricket

[MaiYeuEm21st]

thank you for the warn welcome and the fast reply.
I'm going to get the AMD 64 754 socket 3200+ or the 3400+.

[jimmyrules712]

i agree with your decision, 754s are cheaper right and and perform the same, the only thing you'll really lose is upgradeability, they arent going to make any more A64's in 754. But in 3 years you may want to upgrade yuour cpu and mobo anyway

[mb26]

if your going to get a new system, all being the same 939 is better but it is a very small difference. if 754 works out cheaper, or there is a better (or as good and cheaper) motherboard available, then going for that would be fine. but if theres nothing else between them for u, then get 939.
and if your going to get a new CPU, i'm willing to bet you'll need a new motherboard anyway (higher HTT, PCI-E, etc etc etc)

cricket, u've just invented 50 pins from somewhere lol.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by jimmyrules712 i agree with your decision, 754s are cheaper right and and perform the same, the only thing you'll really lose is upgradeability, they arent going to make any more A64's in 754. But in 3 years you may want to upgrade yuour cpu and mobo anyway

I thought AMD announced that their product line was going to be transformed into the Socket 939 AND Socket 754...754 being a budget solution...

kram

[mb26]

kram.. a64.. not a budget solution lol .. budget solution = semprons (they aren't just gonna have one on 754 forever, surely) so no new a64s.
and those may not be faster than a 3700+ A64 (depending on how long s754 semp lasts), the current fastest. (but, A64-m's i bet are gonna go faster than that..=s754!)
anyway, with high-end CPUs now-a-days, it will take a decent upgrade to make it *worth* changing cpu (atleast 1 'virtual ghz'), *Which will require new motherboard technology*.. u aint gonna get a new CPU w/o a new mobo! in 2-3 years the motherboards will not be fully-compatible with new CPUs, even if they are in the same socket. at best they might run but not well (like XP-Ms running on an AN7 lol) u will definately *want* a new motherboard- ur gonna want NCQ, PCI-E, wireless USB, faster HTT and RAM support *and* whatever else they invent new.
there 939 may hold a *small* advantage as u could for example get a new motherboard with ur old cpu, before getting a new cpu also. or when 2nd hand a64s get *dirt* cheap, like low-end AXPs/durons now, it may be worth 'maxing out the board' with the highest cpu; which would be faster with 939 (u could even counter-argue that somewhat, as 939 mobos would therefore be dirt cheap too!).

i didn't think 939s were much more expensive than 754 now anyway.. with the 3000+ and 3200+ released..

andd i have just thought of a good reason to go 939.. the winchester core [90nm].. only on 939 (afaik).. cooler (and more OCable). but still, its not a big issue!

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by mb26 kram.. a64.. not a budget solution lol .. budget solution = semprons (they aren't just gonna have one on 754 forever, surely) so no new a64s.

Never said that - you gotta read carefully.

Originally Posted by mb26 andd i have just thought of a good reason to go 939.. the winchester core [90nm].. only on 939 (afaik).. cooler (and more OCable). but still, its not a big issue!

What was interesting to me was that AMD confused half the computer industry a few months ago when it released the 754 A64 as the mainstream and made the 939 extremely expensive...in which case, upgradability came with a huge price tag. Now, the dual-channel ready (with select chipsets) and future AMD Athlon 64 line should be a decent choice.

kram

[Vigo]

Why future?

AMD 64 Newcastle (754) 3200 = 191
AMD 64 Winchester (939) 3200 = 235

Prices are already close. So is performance though. Dual Channel Ram doesn't do much for AMD 64's with the on-die memory controller. The Winchester 939 cpus are 90nm... for whatever thats worth. I don't believe you'll see better OC's with 90nm cpus. Lot of feed back on forums show the Winchesters aren't overclocking any farther than newcastles for a lot of people.

I do believe though, only the newer 90 nm 939 cpus will start using SSOI. I heard (rumored.. only saw a few people post it) that winchesters made after week 45 use SSOI. Its also rumored that Winchesters are supposed to eventually enable SSE3.

If it doesn't happen with winchester it'll happen with the next 939 cpu. Since 754 has never been mentioned for these future upgrades, who knows when/if 754 cpus will use SSOI and have SSE3.

[mrmister1]

If you have the money I'd go with the 3400+. Otherwise stick with the 3200+, as there won't be a huge difference.

[HyperTF]

Just read this today... very interesting... I will be building a new system in the next few weeks possibly based on Socket 939 (MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum with AMD 3500+ cant wait!!! )

Sourced from - Australian PC User Magazine - Jan 2005 (Yes Jan! ) Socket 939 * Socket 939 is good for keeping old technology going. * You should note that clock speeds are going to have even less of an effect as we head into the future. * AMD processors have been stuck at 2.4GHz or lower for the last 18 months and Intel recently removed the 4GHz processor off its current road map. * Future performance gains aren't likely to come from raw clock speed improvements any more, as both vendors look very close to have hit their respective brick walls. * Multiple processing engines, higher FSB speeds and increased cache memory will provide the most significant increases in new CPU's

[VERCETTI]

I went from a 2.0GHZ scoring a 10,200 on 3dmark2001 to a 3400+ 1MB cache AMD and score a 20,000 now, thats on 256MB ram, I am getting my corsair tomorrow and will hopefully get up around 22,000 and 25,000 when I figure my OC'ing out

[mb26]

Originally Posted by Vigo he Winchester 939 cpus are 90nm... for whatever thats worth. I don't believe you'll see better OC's with 90nm cpus. Lot of feed back on forums show the Winchesters aren't overclocking any farther than newcastles for a lot of people. I do believe though, only the newer 90 nm 939 cpus will start using SSOI. I heard (rumored.. only saw a few people post it) that winchesters made after week 45 use SSOI. Its also rumored that Winchesters are supposed to eventually enable SSE3.

sorry your (somewhat) right.. i keep lumping the 90nm cpus all together.. it is the case that those which use strained silicon technologies are those which overclock better. and they are all made with that after some week..
current winchesters will not 'later enable' SSE3 afaik, but it is suspected that it will be added to the 90nm cpus soon.

also is it not the case that the prices for 3000+ are very similar between 939 and 754?

kram, i wasn't implying that u were 'dissing' the A64.. jimmyrules712 said "they arent going to make any more A64's in 754" which you countered with "I thought AMD announced that their product line was going to be transformed into the Socket 939 AND Socket 754...754 being a budget solution..." which implied that u expected more A64s on the 754 'budget solution'.

"What was interesting to me was that AMD confused half the computer industry a few months ago when" yes it was a weird move, but perhaps they were struggling with supply at the time and didn't *want* too many A64s available, and to keep the AXP prices up for a while, which they were able to produce zillions of.. whilst still perhaps being enough to put some people of buying a P4. only kicking ideas about thou.