Socket 754 or socket 939. Building Budget Box.

Randomletters

Ok this computer im currently on is painfully slow. I need to get a better one and i need it to be cheap but not something im going to regret buying if i could get somehting better for just a bit more.

Currently looking at 2 barebone rigs from newegg, one uses a socket 754 motherboard and costs $75. Im going to couple it with a Sempron 64 2800+ which costs $75, The other uses a socket 939 motherboard and costs $117 I'd couple that with an Athlon 64 3000+ which goes for $106.

So considering these parts and prices $150 for the Sempron rig and $223 for the athlon rig. All I want it for is basic everyday tasks, light gaming(When i pick up a video card), and maybe minor video encoding. Will the sempron rig be good enough for a year or so or should i go with the athlon rig for $70 bucks more knowing its faster and a bit more future proof, Worth it or not?

PS I pretty much have everything else needed besides ram and ill "suffer" with 512mb for a little while if i have to

temeteus82

S939 has better mem bus so I would say S939 for sure ...

Randomletters

Im going to go 939 even if it does take me a whole nother week to put the rig together i figure with the 3000+ and an x800gto2 ill be happy enough.

Chaos

yes and AMD just announced 939 chips for their new line of CPU's

The_Neon_Cowboy

Randomletters watch the buy sell i'm getting ready to list a socket 939 board

Judas

never... NEVER get a 754.... the small difference in price doesn't make up for the difference in what that machine is capabible of doing.

CDsDontBurn

939 all the way bud

Tril

Take a look at the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 motherboard. It's packed with great features. I bought one recently and it works well.

It's cheap. It has AGP and PCIE. It has a 7.1 onboard sound card. It could be upgraded later to support AM2 by buying an addon card. It has many overclocking options.

CDsDontBurn

i wouldn't get anything by either ECS (elitegroupe) or ASRock. IMO, those are two of the cheapest MoBo makers out there. i would much rather get something cheap by another more reputable manufacturer than either of those two.

MiDri

I have had a hit and miss relationship with ECS, out of 4 machines I have built with their boards (all Athlon XP machines) half have either died outright or have had serious ethernet/sound related problems in the hardware. I paid $60 for the boards though, it is well worth it if you are on a budget and can send it back.

Randomletters

Im not looking to peice a whole rig im going to get the 939 barebones kit with a pci-e mobo and a 400w psu with dual 15a 12v rails from newegg and an Athlon 3000+ Venice. Neon Ill keep an eye on the FS forum but I doubt Ill be able to afford it and peice another comp together around it.

Matth

The future is AM2, one socket to rule them all, from budget Sempron up to X2 - and according to one site, you can build an AM2 system for about the same price as a S939.

Mind you, the move to DDR2 seems to show little advantage in anything other than theoretical memory bandwidth tests, though perhaps an X2 with full multithreaded load would tax the memory bandwidth enough to benefit. Apart from a few things known to be memory bandwidth critical, the AMD on S939 with dual-DDR400 is not usually constrained by memory bandwidth.

A S754 (single DDR400) is more likely to be bandwidth constrained.

S754 is a poor choice, unless budget is absolutely crucial. It is fair to consider it a dead platform, and unlikely to receive any further processor updates.

S939 has X2 processors available, and seems to have decent upgrade potential until the natural takeover of AM2 - only fly in the ointment, is that as AM2 gains popularity, DDR memory loses it.

AM2 - AMD's long awaited DDR2 platform, and thereby the mark of obsolescence for DDR. A few niggles with the RAM dividers means that the RAM will tend to be underclocked unless a CPU clocked at a multiple of 400 MHz is used with DDR2-800, though if the settings are adjustable, it may be possible to convert to a degree of overclocking instead.

Randomletters

Yea I thought about an AM2 system for about 5 seconds then figured new tech = more $, But ill look for a barebones AM2 kit and compare prices.

Randomletters

Well the motherboard and processor prices arent bad at $175 for a motherboard and a 3000+, $30 for a cheapo case and 60 for a capable PSU, we're at $265 without mem which isnt bad at all but really more then i was looking to spend. Tough decision

CDsDontBurn

although it is a tough decision, spending more money now on a bare bones rig, will save you performance woes later on .

Randomletters

AM2 System:

Aspire X-QPACK MicroATX W/420PSU $72
BioStar TForce 6100 AM2 Motherboard $78
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $109
AENEON 1GB DDR2-533 $70
Saphire x800gto2 $112

So $329 W/O the video card for the AM2 system and $293 for the S939 system W/O video card. An AM2 System is definately not as much as I expected, But will take me another week to put it together. Note that a HD was not included in either price I believe I have one around here that will work for the time being.

Randomletters

Post 1,400 wau

CDsDontBurn

ok, if you look at it like this, spend an extra week of saving money, and then you can spend an extra $40 to put together a nice little machine which will be more futureproof than a 939 rig will be . that's how i look at it at least.

Randomletters

Yea I'm going to go with the AM2, I think i'll order the case first then just go down the line buying one or two peices a week.

CDsDontBurn

good show . are you going to take pix and post them up on the "show off your rig" thread once you have it all done?

Randomletters

Heh, sure why not. I dont think theres many shuttle type rigs in that thread.

CDsDontBurn

i don't know....is there? i haven't seen any, but then again, i don't check that thread as often as i used to

The_Neon_Cowboy

I'd advise Buying 800 Mhz DDR2 or 667 other wise it going to be =
to or slower then pc3200 IMO

MiDri

If you go 939 you can get a Venice core Athlon 64, which from what I have been reading is easly overclockable... you can get speeds in excess of 2.5ghz for $100