These sockets are making me thirsty

[Mr-Fusion]

So i'm looking at buying a new rig. I've pretty much sorted everything out except for the motherboard and CPU. I want an Athlon 64 3200+ because it's the best i can afford.

Now what is going on with all these sockets? 754, 940, 939?

Looking on newegg i see the 3200+ is socket 754, so i'm guessing i need a socket 754 motherboard (please someone say i'm right i'm confused and scared).

I was sort of looking at getting an Asus because my current A7v266-e has lasted a good 3 years. Great motherboard.

So i have 2 choices with Asus
1. ASUS "K8V" K8T800
2. ASUS "K8N-E Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce3

Is one chipset better than the other? Is there any major problems or advantages one holds over the other? Does anyone have any other motherboard reccomendations or are they good enough choices!?

What's the deal with registered ram? These socket 940 boards all say they need registered ram. Socket 754's don't need it i assume.

Thankyou for reading this as i know how annoying reading can be :cheers:

 

[Azrael.]

go with a 3500+ socket 939. they are the new sockets from amd. then you could go with an abit k8t800 pro for like $130. It would be a dirty setup. the processor would be like ~$500, and that might be out of your range... But the socket 939 has hyper transport and everything... I think it would be a worthy investment. I just build a brand new comp, with a 3800+ Socket 939, Abit "AV8" K8T800, 1G Corsair running in DC, and have a X800 XT on the way. Also, with the 939 i think you can just go with the regular ram and not have to fool with the extra registered and whatnot.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Thanks, i'd love to get a socket 939 chip but i probably can't afford it. Any chance of a price drop on them soon?

 

[CptStern]

I have nothing really to add to this thread ...except "these sockets are making me thirsty" ...heheh

 

[nofx]

Well the K8N-E also has hyper transport, I dont know the K8N-E just got released and I'm planning to buy it for myself but I'm waiting on some user reviews at hardocp, So you could probably search reviews on thw web for the first mobo you selected, and wait for reviews on the K8N-E but last week the K8N-E went from 189.99 to 153.99 to 143.00 so.

 

[ShinRa]

say...what happened to the 3300+ for amd? is there such a thing? y'd they skip it?

 

[blackeye]

There probably wasnt enough of a difference in performance if they only went up in 100mhz increments between each chip they released

 

[ShinRa]

Hm that would make sense, thanks blackeye.

 

[blahblahblah]

Socket 754 was the first socket that supported Athlon 64's. However, AMD switched their Athlon 64's to Socket 939. Socket 754 CPU's have a larger L2 Cache (1 MB) but only has a 64bit memory controller. Socket 754 will not be receiving anymore Athlon 64 speed upgrages. However, AMD has determined that Socket 754 will be used for their value CPU's known as Sempron. Going with Socket 754 does not completly eliminate upgrade possibilities.

Socket 940 was used for the FX series of Athlon 64 chips. This is because the Athlon FX-51/53 were really operton server chips and socket 940 is their native socket. If I had a lot of money 6 months ago, I would have bought a 940 chipset and bought me a operton. Great performance and it is upgradable. And this socket can handle and support registered and ECC RAM.

Socket 939 is the newest socket. Basically, it has a 128 bit memory controller but cuts the L2 caches in the Athlon 64's in half to 512KB. This socket will be the new home for Athlon 64 and the Athlon FX series for a long while. However, this socket will be the most expensive to move into right now because it is the newest.

(I'll let Asus correct my mistakes )

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Twas an awesome summary blahblah. I appreciate it :cheers:

The chance of me slotting a more powerful CPU in the mobo at a later date is very slim. So having that upgradeable option isn't a huge concern to me. I just want something that'll play Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 well , won't blow up and will generally be a solid and reliable product.