Pay extra for a 939 or just stick with a 754 Athlon 64?

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fanerman91
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Pay extra for a 939 or just stick with a 754 Athlon 64?

Post by fanerman91 » Tue Nov 23, 2004 10:56 pm

Normally I'd just get the 939 because it seems like a better deal, but the thing is I'm stuck with an AGP vid card for now. I got a 6800 because my 9600 died suddenly. I was planning on getting a new processor anyway.

The two sides are...
The 939 probably isn't much more expensive but has great overclocking potential so I could potentially extend it's life later.

If I have an AGP vid card, it'll probably become obsolete faster than any A64 (I would think). So might as well just get a cheaper A64 deal, like the one in the Fry's deals. When the vid card becomes old, I can upgrade CPU, vid card, and mobo together.

So what are your thoughts?

dshreter
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Post by dshreter » Wed Nov 24, 2004 12:47 am

Your post confuses me. Doesn't S939 support AGP? Do you have S754 right now? You need to clear up your circumstances.

meglamaniac
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Post by meglamaniac » Wed Nov 24, 2004 3:03 am

Hmm tricky.
In your situation I'd go down the S939 + AGP route. AGP is going to be supported for a good while yet (at least 2 years I would have thought) so you'll still be able to get another graphics card upgrade out of it.
By the time AGP is obsolete your processor and board will be too, so then you can upgrade to PCI-E and whatever processor socket happens to be around at the time.

fanerman91
Posts: 135
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Location: Yonder

Post by fanerman91 » Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:39 pm

Sorry I haven't had a chance to respond. I should mention that I'm not much of an OCer and I'd rather not OC if I don't have to.

dshreter,

The goal is just for the CPU and vid card to become obsolete at the same time. I already have the vid card so I have to choose a CPU/mobo that will have a similar lifespan (either the same as the lifespan of 2 vid cards with an S939 or 1 with an S754 it looks like).

Yeah there are AGP slots for S939s, but mobos for S939s tend to be more expensive. If I went with S939, I'd probably get more quality components that would let me overclock better and thus have a longer life (but also be more expensive).

Going with S939 would mean keeping the proc for my current 6800 and most likely another vid card (assuming mid-high-end AGP is still being produced in 2 years).

Estimated price:
$150 A64 3000+ 90nm
$100-120 motherboard
$200? 1 gig PC3200 RAM (I would need better than the non-value to OC right?)

$550ish


If I went with S754, I'd probably just get a Fry's deal (out of cheapness and me not really planning on OCing).

Then I would upgrade cpu/mobo when it's time to replace my 6800 (not getting another vid card).

Estimated price:
$230 A64 3200+ with ECS mobo (or $170 for a 2800+ with mobo)
$150 1 gig PC3200 RAM (corsair value select seems to go for $75 for 512)

$380ish (or $320ish)



I don't really expect an S939 to last twice as long as an S754, so I don't think one is much more expensive than the other.

Artagra
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Post by Artagra » Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:13 pm

I would go for the S939 - you get similar performance at a lower clock speed (due to the dual channel memory), and overall the architecture will have a longer lifespan. I think AGP gfx cards will be here for at least the next two product cycles, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Artag

fanerman91
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 12:41 pm
Location: Yonder

Post by fanerman91 » Mon Nov 29, 2004 11:30 am

Okay. If I went ahead and got "value" ram, thus most likely limiting my overclock, would the S939 still be better?

A 3000+ S939 + decent mobo will probably be $270-280

A 3200+ S754 + ECS mobo will probably be $220-230

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