Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 16 of 24

Thread: Athlon 64 system - best 'bang for the buck'

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    435
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    5 times in 3 posts

    Athlon 64 system - best 'bang for the buck'

    In the days when Athlon XP's ruled, the best price/performance ratio for a cpu & motherboard seemed to be an XP2500+ (Barton) coupled with an nforce2 motherboard, because the XP2500+ could easily be overclocked to 3200+ speed or greater, providing excellent performance at a reasonable price.

    Is there a similar clear winner among all the various flavours of Athlon 64 and chipsets?
    *
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz), stock cooler, Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L iP43 Socket 775, OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Gold Memory, PowerColor HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card, Seagate 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache, Arctic Power 500W PSU, Hann-G 19" widescreen
    Kitchen Table Browser: Dell XPS M1330 laptop
    On the Road: Alienware M14X laptop

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Probably Poole
    Posts
    386
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    5 times in 5 posts
    • Hottentot's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5Q Pro
      • CPU:
      • Q9550 at 3.8 GHz
      • Memory:
      • 8 GB
      • Storage:
      • SSD + HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • ATI 7950
      • PSU:
      • Corsair 650TX
      • Case:
      • CM HAF 932 (watercooled)
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 (x64)
      • Monitor(s):
      • NEC 2690WUXi
      • Internet:
      • Virgin 10Mb
    The best option is a A64 3000 or 3200 Venice and an Nforce 4 mobo. But you have to pay a lot more than for the Barton/nForce 2 and its not that much faster at equivalent clock speeds. Plus you need a PCI express graphics car which adds a lot of cost.

  3. #3
    21st century digital boy noah's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    cardiff
    Posts
    1,491
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    have a look at this ,it might answer some questions for you. was provided by scarlet infidel in this thread:

    http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=46216

    and if you compare the same clock speeds in a barton and a winchester you'll see there is a fair bit of difference - roughly 40 fps in far cry for 2000 mhz chips

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    1,117
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked
    10 times in 9 posts
    Not to mention that the Venice cores will be faster than the winchester at stock, also they should overclock further than a 2500+ barton should. Plus when 64-bit finally comes around youll get another boost of performance. (odd how i keep praising athlon 64s yet i own a prescott)

  5. #5
    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sunny Glasgow
    Posts
    8,067
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    181 times in 171 posts
    Best bang for the buck would be a s/h 754 system from someone going PCI-E - particularly if you want to keep using that 9800 Pro.
    There is very little difference between 754 & 939 speeds (in fact 754 3000+ & 3200+ outperform the 939 3000+ & 3200+ at stock).

    MSI P55-GD80, i5 750
    abit A-S78H, Phenom 9750,

    My HEXUS.trust abit forums

  6. #6
    Banned Smokey21's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Stafford, Midlands
    Posts
    1,752
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Defo with Buff.

    If you really want bang for buck, a DFI 754 Board with a Newcastle 3200+ or a Clawhammer on the cheap, would be nice. Easily clockable to 2.4Ghz should be and you'll get nice performance.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Probably Poole
    Posts
    386
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    5 times in 5 posts
    • Hottentot's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5Q Pro
      • CPU:
      • Q9550 at 3.8 GHz
      • Memory:
      • 8 GB
      • Storage:
      • SSD + HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • ATI 7950
      • PSU:
      • Corsair 650TX
      • Case:
      • CM HAF 932 (watercooled)
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 (x64)
      • Monitor(s):
      • NEC 2690WUXi
      • Internet:
      • Virgin 10Mb
    Looks like you might get a 25-30% improvement if you upgrade to an equivalent speed A64 over the Athlon XP. ie comparing the 2.2 Ghz processors. If you can obtain a cheap 754 mobo and processor it could be worthwhile but your upgrade options from there are very limited. Saying that everyones upgrade options are looking limited if you play games as the dual core processors are a poor option at the moment.
    Personally I am going for one last upgrade (San Diego and NF3) and then I expect to have to buy a completely new system in a year or so.

  8. #8
    Registered+
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    USA, Hickory, NC
    Posts
    22
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    I too will be upgrading. I am thinking A64 Venice 3200+ DFI NF4 LP SLI-DR Mushkin DDR466 1GB D-C (<--My next upgrade) and A 6800GT PCI-E of course.

    Asus A7N8X-D Rev. 2.0 / BFG FX5900U 256MB / Mushkin DDR400 BH5 2x512 / AMD XP2500+ @ 3400+

  9. #9
    Senior Member sawyen's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Sheffield University
    Posts
    3,658
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    22 times in 21 posts
    • sawyen's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Laptop motherboard
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core i7 740QM
      • Memory:
      • 8192MB DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 256GB SSD, 1TB WD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AMD Mobility HD 5870
      • PSU:
      • MSI stuff
      • Case:
      • N/A
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 64bit
      • Internet:
      • Virgin ADSL rubbish
    Actually i am having the same config u guys were toking abt previously wif XP... 2500+ barton wif NForce2 mobo. I was thinking of moving to a A64 3200+ but I'm using a 6800GT AGP.. Are there any good mobo u guys cud recommend on a socket 939 that still uses AGP? And is it worth upgrading? or should I just wait?
    Me want Ultrabook


  10. #10
    Banned StormPC's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Posts
    1,194
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Actually, I believe the 3700+ San Diego and NF4 are the best bang for the buck. Winchester and Venice are great as well, but that 1MB of cache really helps on a lot of things. The San Diegos are overclocking at 2700MHz+ with stock cooling making them more powerful than a stock FX-55 with a lot less heat.

  11. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    435
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    5 times in 3 posts
    Hmm, £200 for a San Diego and £100 for an NF4 939 mobo.....bit more than I was thinking of spending actually. Are any of the Semprons uber-clockers?
    *
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz), stock cooler, Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L iP43 Socket 775, OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Gold Memory, PowerColor HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card, Seagate 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache, Arctic Power 500W PSU, Hann-G 19" widescreen
    Kitchen Table Browser: Dell XPS M1330 laptop
    On the Road: Alienware M14X laptop

  12. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Probably Poole
    Posts
    386
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    5 times in 5 posts
    • Hottentot's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5Q Pro
      • CPU:
      • Q9550 at 3.8 GHz
      • Memory:
      • 8 GB
      • Storage:
      • SSD + HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • ATI 7950
      • PSU:
      • Corsair 650TX
      • Case:
      • CM HAF 932 (watercooled)
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 (x64)
      • Monitor(s):
      • NEC 2690WUXi
      • Internet:
      • Virgin 10Mb
    A socket 939 that uses AGP ? , Either VIA KT800 Pro or nForce 3. I have gone for the Epox 9NDA3, an NF3 mobo. Slot in my 6800GT and buy a new processor probably the San Diego 3700. With a water cooled over-clock I should get a 20 to 25% speed bump for about £300 (minus the price of selling my 754 CPU/mobo)

  13. #13
    Banned Smokey21's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Stafford, Midlands
    Posts
    1,752
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by StormPC
    Actually, I believe the 3700+ San Diego and NF4 are the best bang for the buck. Winchester and Venice are great as well, but that 1MB of cache really helps on a lot of things. The San Diegos are overclocking at 2700MHz+ with stock cooling making them more powerful than a stock FX-55 with a lot less heat.
    Granted it's a good setup for the money storm, it' still pretty expensive, to be called bang for buck.

    And you still on about 1Mb L2 being the be all and end all.

  14. #14
    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sunny Glasgow
    Posts
    8,067
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    181 times in 171 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Ceefer
    Hmm, £200 for a San Diego and £100 for an NF4 939 mobo.....bit more than I was thinking of spending actually. Are any of the Semprons uber-clockers?
    nF4 boards start at around £60 iirc.
    A decent s/h 754 board & ~3000+ cpu (overclock to 2.4GHz hopefully) should be ~£110ish I would think.

    MSI P55-GD80, i5 750
    abit A-S78H, Phenom 9750,

    My HEXUS.trust abit forums

  15. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    435
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    5 times in 3 posts
    Buff, thats more like it! £110 is what I spent on my XP-M 2500+ and Abit NF7. Going to ebay to look for a 754 mobo.
    *
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz), stock cooler, Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L iP43 Socket 775, OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Gold Memory, PowerColor HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card, Seagate 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache, Arctic Power 500W PSU, Hann-G 19" widescreen
    Kitchen Table Browser: Dell XPS M1330 laptop
    On the Road: Alienware M14X laptop

  16. #16
    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sunny Glasgow
    Posts
    8,067
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    181 times in 171 posts
    There's a for sale & wanted forum here ...

    MSI P55-GD80, i5 750
    abit A-S78H, Phenom 9750,

    My HEXUS.trust abit forums

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Will This Be Safe System Or Bang
    By bigjonnyauk in forum Help! Quick Relief From Tech Headaches
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 29-12-2004, 06:43 PM
  2. 6600GT Vs 6800nu, best bang for buck?
    By Marcos in forum Graphics Cards
    Replies: 34
    Last Post: 29-11-2004, 12:50 PM
  3. Abit NF7-S revision 2 information
    By Lee H in forum SCAN.care@HEXUS
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 30-10-2004, 07:13 PM
  4. Keeping your system healthy and secure
    By Paul Adams in forum Software
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 12-10-2004, 09:35 PM
  5. Bang per buck challenge!
    By daveham in forum Graphics Cards
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 17-03-2004, 01:26 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •