Best bang for the buck on an AMD 64 rig?

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:09 am

think i'll probably be putting one of these together soon - probably will stick with IDE drives - what's the best combo and is anyone aware of any decent combo deals like the ones newegg was running a while back? what kind of PS is needed for these?

base specs will be

amd 64+mobo
1 gig ram - i hear some of these are finick about memory but have lots of different flavors in stock
crucial, kingtston, etc.
9800 pro
120 GB WD

will use onboard sound nic etc

TIA

sethpa · Post by **sethpa** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 10:32 am

John, been doing a little research myself, looks like a 939 pin cpu is the long term setup, AMD is releasing a 939 pin +3500 with 512 cache, but it does have dual channel memory control and makes up for the less cache, up against an older 754 pin cpu with 1 Meg.... which only has single channel memory control. Dual channel only works, with 2 mem sticks on board the 939 mobo. This cpu will be well under $300 when it gets released shortly. Newegg doesn't have them yet.

I still haven't decided which chipset..........

sethpa · Post by **sethpa** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:14 am

oops... correction.. the 3500+ will be $354 and newegg should have them on the 9th... Probably be down to $300 in a couple months... Be more mobos to choose from by then too...

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 4:26 pm

THe thing with the A64 cpu's though is that the dual chanel does not make that much of a differance. because of the intergrated mem controler on the CPU memory isnt starved like in a P4 system.

Best bang for the buck is a moble 3000 or 3200 atleast I think so

Greg

sethpa · Post by **sethpa** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 9:54 am

dual channel doesn't make much difference? Take a look at this..

http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q3/at ... dex.x?pg=3

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:14 am

check out actual ingame/program benchmarks. it does almost nothing. I have ocasionally see the 754 (single chanel ddr) 3700+ slightly faster then then 939 (Dual chanel ddr) in gaming.

Actually, if you keep looking at those benchamrks, you see the 3400+ over the 3500+ often. and when not they are usually Damn close. Sure some things just proform better with more bandwith, bit it is nothing like single and dual memory like a P4 does.

"Despite its 512KB L2 cache, the Athlon 64 3500+'s performance rating is well-deserved. The chip's dual-channel memory controller more than makes up for the smaller cache, but it's not a clean sweep. In seven of our tests, mostly games, 1MB of L2 cache helps the Athlon 64 3400+ overcome its single-channel memory controller and come out ahead of the 3500+. If you're primarily a gamer, that's a pretty compelling selling point for the 3400+, which can be had for $60 cheaper than the 3500+."

Greg

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 11:10 am

thx for the responses - bascially I don't want to spend and arm and a leg here - not gonna spend $300 for a cpu - I may just wait 'till the next gen stuff comes out or just buy another dell 400sc when they are on sale again for $325 - I find the 2.8C P4 HT significantly faster that my 2.2 amd rig

sethpa · Post by **sethpa** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 12:43 pm

Good points Greg, but I still think 754 pin is gonna be a limited product. Lots more future for the 939 and the performance between the two is probably so close it would be hard to notice in actual use, ie; 3400 or 3500.

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 12:48 pm

yea, amd said the highest cpu for the 754 will be the 3700+ but for bang for the buck, 939 isnt the way to go.

You will feel a 3200+ feel quite a bit faster then a p4 3.2g...it jsut feels snappier. thats the advantages of the intergrated mem controler.

Greg

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 1:22 pm

I just put together a a64 3000+ with a msi K8T Neo FSR board and 1 gig of crucial for a buddy of mine. along with a 9700 Pro and a Samsung SATA 160 gig drive... new case and some other goodies and it was around 800 bucks from newegg for all of the parts. didn't build this rig to be overclocked so i have no idea what kind of potential it has that way but this sucker is so much faster than my 2500+ barton that i'm running. looks like in the next couple weeks i'll be buying some parts to upgrade mine with

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 4:59 pm

been looking at the specs on some of the chips - what's the difference between the 1 mb cache and the 512 mb cache performance wise? at newegg the oem 1 mb 3200 was about the same as a retail 512

also how hot are these puppies? what kind of cooling are you all using?

i understand that b/c of the onboard fsb it is harder to oc these things, which is really not that much of an issue, but anyone put the squeeze on say a 3200?

VidmanII · Post by **VidmanII** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:42 pm

I have an A64 3200 1MB L2 running 217 HTT ( up from 200 ). 29C idle 43C load using retail fan/hs that came with it.

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 9:24 pm

have mine at 220, never tried higher. O have the untra quiet zalman 92mm copper fan thingy. maxes around 42....usually less

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 9:25 pm

Originally posted by nexus_7
have mine at 220, never tried higher. O have the untra quiet zalman 92mm copper fan thingy. maxes around 42....usually less

What's the multi?

eGo

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 9:29 pm

well at defult it is a 2.2g

Greg