Which Dual Core CPU upgrade for my Sk 939 board?

[biggy7]

Hi guys

my spec:
A64 3200+ Winnie @ 2.3Ghz
Asus A8V Deluxe
Kingston 1gb ram (2x512mb)
X800 Pro

above rig running fine but now i want a dual core cpu

which dual core 939 cpu do i get?

i want a relatively cheap upgrade, so thought id just get a 939 cpu for an upgrade.

my mobo isnt the best for overclocking, it does it mildly at best, so a cpu that is already fast would be better

eventually i want to get a C2D machine, but at the moment funds dont permit.

any help much appreciated!

[Grimley]

This is about as quick as you'll get new these days. AMD stopped making 939 dual core chips sometime ago.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=505239

[biggy7]

thanks mate

i was just looking at that same cpu at scan lol

would it be wise for me to go second hand and get a 4400+? or maybe a dual core opteron? maybe i can get one for about the same price as the 4200+ new?

or you reckon the 4200+ is fast enough ?

are the 4200+ at scan toledo's or manchester cores?

thanks!

[notsobig]

If you can find 4400+ at reasonable price then I think that's the best choice for you. Opty overclocks better in my opinion but that is only when you have a good overclocking board that can do high fsb. Still 4200+ is very good buy at 71quid though. I got mine from Scan about 2days ago and it's now running at 2.6G. And it's toledo core, just for your info.

[Fabula]

Any dual core 939 will be good. As they are hard to come by, just go for what you can find.

A 4200+ is fast enough for anything, really. With your graphics card and GPU you won't bump into any limits.
Bumping your ram to 2 gig would be fairly cheap, and make quite a bit of difference.

[biggy7]

thanks guys

when bumping my ram

do i go for 2x1Gb Sticks?

or just add 2 more 512mb sticks to the empty slots?

[moogle]

thanks guys

when bumping my ram

do i go for 2x1Gb Sticks?

or just add 2 more 512mb sticks to the empty slots?

2 x 1gb will allow you to have 2 more slots free, if you decide to get another 2 x 1gb, although if 2gb is your max you'll have for this system then get the 2 x 512mb.

[Reapsy]

thanks guys

when bumping my ram

do i go for 2x1Gb Sticks?

or just add 2 more 512mb sticks to the empty slots?

Well I just added a 1GB DIMM to my 2x512 one's that I already had but now they will only boot at 266Mhz instead of 333Mhz which is kind of annoying. No idea if it will be the same for 4x512 though or indeed if it it just a "feature" of my asrock motherboard

[notsobig]

I think most 939 motherboards suggest you to use same memory size modules to be used at the same time if you are to fill up all 4 slots. So your safer choice would be 2x512. If you add 2x1G I think it would still work though. For example both my systems are on 1.5G (2x512,2x256)but never ran into memory related problems in the past and those modules have been working flawlessly in dual channel mode for ages. If it's really worth installing another 2x1G modules on old 939 system is another story tho. Maybe get 2x512 for now and save the rest of your budget for a new system or new card? It's upto you mate.

[frazered]

get the 4200 from scan, second hand ones are hard to find atm and people are still chided from the poor second hand values and hold out for more than they should

[moogle]

get the 4200 from scan, second hand ones are hard to find atm and people are still chided from the poor second hand values and hold out for more than they should

ebuyer has toledo cores which are much better than the manchester cores which scan have at the moment. even though scan may have it cheaper ebuyer has the £10 off with google checkout.

[Mithrandir]

1) From what I remember you can manually change the RAM speeds to higher speed. I had 4 x 512mb sticks and had to bump up the speed to 200mhz (DDR400 effective) in my Asrock.
EDIT: Just reread that you added a 1gb dimm. Is that one stick or 2x512mb? If it's 1 stick then it'll be running single channel (It'll show up on bootup)


2) When do you plan on doing an overhaul to C2D?
It might be worth holding onto your cash until then or to buy a cheap 3700+ (what I got now after upgrading from 3200), that is unless of course you really do need dual core features.

[frazered]

ebuyer has toledo cores which are much better than the manchester cores which scan have at the moment. even though scan may have it cheaper ebuyer has the £10 off with google checkout.

seems the scan stock are toledo's t present, mine was and I think I have seen another 2 people with the same - can't say of mine is a good clocker as I am still setting it up

[moogle]

seems the scan stock are toledo's t present, mine was and I think I have seen another 2 people with the same - can't say of mine is a good clocker as I am still setting it up

ah didnt realize that, very lucky to have a toledo. dont worry im sure it will clock well.

[kalniel]

Toledo aren't really better - they have higher power and heat draw than manchester.

With the Asrock, just manually set the memory speed to 200 (DDR400).

Both toledo and manchester chips cope fine with 4 banks of dimms at DDR400 (it's the CPU that determines this, not the motherboard.) Though you'll only be able to run at 2T timings (which you probably were anyway).

[biggy7]

thanks for the advise guys

i ended up buying a second user 4400+ X2 (toledo) for £80 delivered

it should last me a while before i go to C2D.

im sticking with my RAM at the moment, wil see if i can pick up a cheap 2gb kit