Difference between Socket 754 and 939, which is better?

Verios · Jan 15, 2005, 11:13 PM

Hi everyone, Iam thinking up upgrading my processor/mobo to something a lot newer and was wondering what the overall difference between those 2 sockets is, which is newer, faster, etc.. Also here are the mobo's/processors at the store which I would be able to purchase them from.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ w/ 512K Cache (Socket 754)
or
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ w/ 512K Cache (Socket 939)

The motherboards I have access to for Socket 754:

Asus K8N-E Deluxe w/ 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, Dual SATA RAID
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro w/ Audio, Gigabit Lan, IDE RAID, SATA, 1394

The motherboards I have access to for Socket 939:

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 w/ DualDDR400, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, Lan, SATA RAID, IEEE1394B

At the time I do not want a MOBO with PCI-Express due to the fact Ill be using my old Radeon 9700 Pro "for the time being" and will eventually get a newer AGP card, etc...

So of these if any of you techies out there could recommend them and explain the difference between the 2 sockets, etc.. I'd be very grateful. Thanks in advanced guys

Drakon · Jan 15, 2005, 11:36 PM

well from what i've read u're better off going with the socket 939. amd's roadmaps shows that it's continuing the 939 for a while, plus the 939 is faster than the 754. if u're going to get a 3000+ (socket 939) then get one based on the Winchester (90nm) core. Allows for some sweet overclocks. btw, is that the only mobo available for the socket 939?

CDsDontBurn · Jan 16, 2005, 12:00 AM

yea, like Drakon said, get the socket 939 90nm core 3000+. Also, a feature that the 939s have over the 754s, is that the 939 chips support dual channel DDR. Two of the best boards out there right now for the 939s are the ASUS AV8-E Delux and the MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum. Both are AGP boards, both are pretty good overclocking boards as well. From what you've said, either of these two boards would do you nicely.

Verios · Jan 16, 2005, 12:15 AM

Is this the one?

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum w/ DualDDR400, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, SATA, 1394

if so I can get it for $209.95 Canadian

CDsDontBurn · Jan 16, 2005, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Verios

Is this the one?

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum w/ DualDDR400, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, SATA, 1394

if so I can get it for $209.95 Canadian

i don't know unless you put up a link or pic or something

Verios · Jan 16, 2005, 12:21 AM

http://mirror.memoryexpress.net/Prod...ProductID=5205

Drakon · Jan 16, 2005, 12:30 AM

yep that's the Neo2 Platinum. I just bought one. nice looking motherboard. need to install it when my cpu gets here next week...

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jan 16, 2005, 12:37 AM

You relise Nforce4 boards are out right?

Drakon · Jan 16, 2005, 01:22 AM

well maybe he doesn't have that kind of cash. the nforce4 is pci-e, right? if so then, won't it also require a pci-e vid card? if so, then pci-e = $$$

i know i didn't have the money to move to pci-e, so i went the best agp has to offer... mobo wise that is...

CDsDontBurn · Jan 16, 2005, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

You relise Nforce4 boards are out right?

he said in his first post that he didn't want to go to pci-e. nForce4 = pci-e.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jan 16, 2005, 03:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drakon

well maybe he doesn't have that kind of cash. the nforce4 is pci-e, right? if so then, won't it also require a pci-e vid card? if so, then pci-e = $$$

i know i didn't have the money to move to pci-e, so i went the best agp has to offer... mobo wise that is...

yea $129 for a nforce4 ultra is a bit steep

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

he said in his first post that he didn't want to go to pci-e. nForce4 = pci-e.

Bah i missed that.... It's nut to go AGP especally since is dieing out AGP offically died dec 31st 2004..... Now all companies will be pimping PCIe supper hard...IE... cards are released in PCIe first then AGP much later (if at all...)
add to that windows 64 is comeing etc... PCIe is the smarter longer term value.. it will be worth more/hold it's value longer when you sell it...

CDsDontBurn · Jan 16, 2005, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

yea $129 for a nforce4 ultra is a bit steep

Bah i missed that.... It's nut to go AGP especally since is dieing out AGP offically died dec 31st 2004..... Now all companies will be pimping PCIe supper hard...IE... cards are released in PCIe first then AGP much later (if at all...)
add to that windows 64 is comeing etc... PCIe is the smarter longer term value.. it will be worth more/hold it's value longer when you sell it...

The ASUS nForce 4 board that supports SLI is $249.99 at my work

.

As of right now, it really doesn't matter if one chooses to go AGP or PCI-E because the performance difference is negligable if at all. True that video card manufacturers will make the PCI-E cards first, but that's only because they're trying to push the new standard and have everybody move away from AGP. For those looking to upgrade and have the cash, yea, go PCI-E, but for people who don't have pockets that deep and still want to upgrade, stick to AGP and go PCI-E later on when it becomes worth it.

how can any computer component hold it's true value for very long? Whenever the latest and greatest is released, about 6 months later a newer revision of the latest and greatest is released making the original drop in price and/or value. We all know this to be true in the computer industry.

Back when the x800s were released, since nobody had them people were willing to spend as much as $700 for an x800pro on eBay

! But now that everybody (well, most everybody) has their x800 series card or 6800 series card, people aren't paying that ridiculous amount of money anymore.

Sandok · Jan 16, 2005, 11:53 AM

^^ totally agree with the post above

Vampyromaniac · Jan 16, 2005, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Verios

So of these if any of you techies out there could recommend them and explain the difference between the 2 sockets, etc.. I'd be very grateful. Thanks in advanced guys

To put it simply, the ONLY situation I'd say go with 754 is if you are NEVER going to overclock, AND you won't have another cpu/mobo upgrade for a LONG time. If BOTH of those apply to you, I'd give a slight edge to 754.
But for the vast majority of people, 939 is the way to go.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jan 17, 2005, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

The ASUS nForce 4 board that supports SLI is $249.99 at my work

.

As of right now, it really doesn't matter if one chooses to go AGP or PCI-E because the performance difference is negligable if at all. True that video card manufacturers will make the PCI-E cards first, but that's only because they're trying to push the new standard and have everybody move away from AGP. For those looking to upgrade and have the cash, yea, go PCI-E, but for people who don't have pockets that deep and still want to upgrade, stick to AGP and go PCI-E later on when it becomes worth it.

how can any computer component hold it's true value for very long? Whenever the latest and greatest is released, about 6 months later a newer revision of the latest and greatest is released making the original drop in price and/or value. We all know this to be true in the computer industry.

Back when the x800s were released, since nobody had them people w ati setupere willing to spend as much as $700 for an x800pro on eBay

! But now that everybody (well, most everybody) has their x800 series card or 6800 series card, people aren't paying that ridiculous amount of money anymore.

Who need SLI unless you've got a "boat load" of money to burn any ways then no it doesn't matter... SLI and it performance gain a negligable in my eyes and and many games has trouble keeping up with a $800 less ati setup...
SLI is for people with way to much maney anyways i could build 3 dececnt of 2 gameing machines for the price of 1 sli machine....

New that companies like gigabyte are useing thier brains and putting two gpu's on thier cards (WOOT) like ati and others have done for years... they've come up with a soultion with all the bark and none of the bite on your wallet... and doesnt require no steanking like 600W psu and specail mobo...

Nforce4 boads? lets look on a popular site i'll try and se what newegg.com has

$149.00 GIGABYTE "GA-K8NF-9" NVIDIA nForce4 4X Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...128-268&depa=1

$129.00 CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...152-049&depa=0

my point being there are cheap = priced nforce 4 boards out allready...
nforce4 sli is slower then nforce 3 ultra but nforce 4 brings important new features like improved onboard sound and serial ata2 etc....

----

who x800's wer released you could oder a x800 pro in stock of ati for $449 came with a buch of stuff like t shirt etc... but they wer sold out in a day....
ATI can't help the price godgeing people are doing becouse of ...

people are still paying out ragous prices 700-1200 for X800XT's and Pe's
still way over MSRP and yes we are talking AGP mostly....ATI won't have a reverse brige chip ready till fall....that mens thay have to make two diffrent cores for AGP and PCIe... thats very expensive

NV can avoid that with thier becouse thier is a AGP gpu bridge to PCIe thus the big stink about them useing a bridge chip...

But PCIe will hold thier value longer... i know my values / whats worth what, I upgrade primarly funded by selling my old parts to put twords new ones. I often get close of more then NEW for 4-6 mo old parts. I also get good deals...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyromaniac

To put it simply, the ONLY situation I'd say go with 754 is if you are NEVER going to overclock, AND you won't have another cpu/mobo upgrade for a LONG time. If BOTH of those apply to you, I'd give a slight edge to 754.
But for the vast majority of people, 939 is the way to go.

also 939 brings duel channel and doesnt require the more expensive registerd memory...

754 came first thus it will be FASED OUT FIRST... 939 will live longer....

Drakon · Jan 17, 2005, 01:19 PM

seeing all this talk about nforce4 boards and such, nobody has mentioned that switching to pci-e also requires a new vid card(a good performing card preferably) which in addition to the 'cheap' mobo might be expensive...

CDsDontBurn · Jan 17, 2005, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

Who need SLI unless you've got a "boat load" of money to burn any ways then no it doesn't matter... SLI and it performance gain a negligable in my eyes and and many games has trouble keeping up with a $800 less ati setup...
SLI is for people with way to much maney anyways i could build 3 dececnt of 2 gameing machines for the price of 1 sli machine....

New that companies like gigabyte are useing thier brains and putting two gpu's on thier cards (WOOT) like ati and others have done for years... they've come up with a soultion with all the bark and none of the bite on your wallet... and doesnt require no steanking like 600W psu and specail mobo...

Nforce4 boads? lets look on a popular site i'll try and se what newegg.com has

$149.00 GIGABYTE "GA-K8NF-9" NVIDIA nForce4 4X Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...128-268&depa=1

$129.00 CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...152-049&depa=0

my point being there are cheap = priced nforce 4 boards out allready...
nforce4 sli is slower then nforce 3 ultra but nforce 4 brings important new features like improved onboard sound and serial ata2 etc....

Check out -jAk- at our very own "Roadee's Fastest Rig Competition Entry Thread." He has an SLI system. Check out his numbers. Don't tell me that the nForce4 SLI is "slower". If you want the best, you're going to get the best no matter what the costs. If you want more specs on his system, check out his specs here.

I'm also aware that some nForce 4 boards are less than $250, but those are boards just with the nForce 4 chipset and 1 PCI-E 16x bus but does not support SLI.

Verios · Jan 17, 2005, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyromaniac

To put it simply, the ONLY situation I'd say go with 754 is if you are NEVER going to overclock, AND you won't have another cpu/mobo upgrade for a LONG time. If BOTH of those apply to you, I'd give a slight edge to 754.
But for the vast majority of people, 939 is the way to go.

It would be "atleast" another 6months to a year before I'd upgrade again..possibly more depending on the situation. These are the first 2 pieces Iam going to buy..then a new video card, hard drive, case, etc, etc, etc heh. However I'd like to use them ASAP because of EQ2, WOW heh.

riles9262 · Jan 17, 2005, 07:09 PM

939 mainly for the hardware choices and the future. There's no future in socket 754.

Vampyromaniac · Jan 17, 2005, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Verios

It would be "atleast" another 6months to a year before I'd upgrade again..possibly more depending on the situation. These are the first 2 pieces Iam going to buy..then a new video card, hard drive, case, etc, etc, etc heh. However I'd like to use them ASAP because of EQ2, WOW heh.

Do you plan on overclocking your CPU?

Verios · Jan 17, 2005, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampyromaniac

Do you plan on overclocking your CPU?

"Possibly" but unlikely..always afraid I may break it so I tend to leave it alone lol

Vampyromaniac · Jan 18, 2005, 12:01 AM

OK well if you're not going to overclock, then the only issue is that no more new Athlon64's are going to come out for socket 754 (the 3700+ is the fastest one there will ever be, and they may not be around anymore eventually.) What this means is that for the next CPU you buy, if you want something faster than that, it will use a different socket and you will HAVE to buy a new motherboard (for the corresponding socket.)
The advantage of socket 939 is that new CPU's will still continue to come out for it for some time. So, if you want a new CPU in a short-to-medium length of time, you could stay with the same motherboard if you get a 939 now. How long until the next socket comes out?, who knows. Could be 2 years, maybe more. If you were to hold on to the one you buy now for longer than that, it wouldn't matter if you get a 754 or 939 right now, you'd have to buy a new mobo anyway for that next upgrade.

The advantage of the 754 setup is that it's slightly faster (at stock speeds), and slightly cheaper. Nothing to write home about, though (on both counts.)

Since you said "at least 6-12 months", I think that would still put you in the 939 category. If you had said "at least 2 years", then it would be more likely that you'd want to buy a new mobo for you next upgrade anyway. Unless you are one of those people who always want a new motheroard when they get a new CPU, for the updated features, etc. In that case again, 754 or 939 wouldn't matter for this upgrade.