Socket 939 Mobos + Winchester 90nm CPUs

[CrimsonAvenger]

Does anyone know any retailers that will pre-flash bios on the socket 939 boards as typically they will not support the new 90nm winchester A64 Cpus out of the box (well not current stock anyhow)

Thanks in advance.

[Stewart]

I've looked into this a bit, as far as I can tell:

Asus A8V Deluxe rev2 seems a good bet. Out of the box you have two options - firstly, there is a decent chance the board will POST, not recognising the Winchester core, but allowing you to flash the BIOS. Secondly, Asus have a BIOS update thingy, that works from a floppy, so if you have another PC, you can make a floppy, and update the BIOS even if it wont post.

The MSI also seems a good bet, apparently working out of the box.

The Abit AV8 seems the worst bet at the moment, apparently, it doesn't work at all below a certain revsion of the BIOS and has no way to POST to flash it without a fully working CPU.

What I've managed to pull together from various people anyway.

[Stewart]

Also, you can wait for stock of boards with later BIOS's to arrive. The place I get my stuff from has 1007 BIOS Asus A8V boards in next week.

I'll get around it that way.

[CrimsonAvenger]

Waiting for MSI mobo with latest BIOS myself..............

[m0nKeY]

What the performance difference between the Newcastle and Winchester cores in relation to price difference (if any)?

[Rave]

The only performance difference clock-for-clock is that the Winchester has slightly lower L2 cache latency (according to The Tech Report, who I trust). It makes very little difference generally.

Other than that, Winchesters use less power, and may overclock slightly further. Oh, and the 3000+ and 3200+ are only available as Winchesters, making them the only halfway affordable option for S939.

Rich :¬)

[Stewart]

From what I've seen, the Winchesters were faster, but by very small ammounts when gaming. 2% in Doom III and 7% in Quake III acording to a trusted website.

Overclocking is where they shine though, with most Winchester's hitting 2.6ghz, which is FX-55 speeds.

This is not guess work, this is taken from actual reviews. All in all, if you have a choice, always get the Winchester, although they are not avalible in great numbers at the moment.

[m0nKeY]

I was just planning to order a 3800+ but would you say its worth waiting for the new cores? I guess it means flashing the BIOS on the Asus A8V to add support for the new cores?

[Stewart]

Wait, and save money. Get a 3200+, overclock it and you'll get the same performance for much less cost, as well as the other benefits of the 90nm tech.

You will need the latest BIOS though.

[Zak33]

AMD is frankly tearing Intel a new one right now

[myth]

AMD is frankly tearing Intel a new one right now

Did you see how much the 3500+ costs over here? $280! Thats like 140 for yous... I also saw the 4000+

[Rave]

What's your point Myth? The 3.4GHz Prescotts cost about the same, and don't perform as well (in games at least).

Rich :¬)

[myth]

What's your point Myth? The 3.4GHz Prescotts cost about the same, and don't perform as well (in games at least).

Rich :¬)

My point is that they are now afordable! This is a good thing! I have been waiting for this, soon you'll get to see my new rig...

[Geophagus]

Also, you can wait for stock of boards with later BIOS's to arrive. The place I get my stuff from has 1007 BIOS Asus A8V boards in next week.

I'll get around it that way.

Hi am new to the forum and new to AMD and thinking of getting the Asus A8V rev 2 and I to was wondering about the bios, I know that the boards ship with a 1006 bios but you say you are geting one with the 1007 could you tell us from were thanks.

[Ravens Nest]

Sorry

[MuzTee]

msi have 2 boards with both nf3 250 and kt800, what one of these boards should i go for if im OC ing the 3200+ 90nm with it??
and is msi the best board to buy as it works straight out of box and i am a bit of a noob :X