S939 vs AM2

[BlindMelon7]

This is just for curiosity purposes really, but what is the difference between Socket 939 and AM2 other than DDR2?

[awm]

1 pin and pin layout. Also the cooling mount is slightly different.

[BlindMelon7]

Is there any difference in performance? Does DDR2 give a great performance boost for mater? The reason I ask is that I was thinking of getting a load of bits for my computer, including proccesor and motherboard but preferably not ram. Would it be worth going all the way and going AM2 (meaning more ram)?

[awm]

I doubt it, there are some really good deals on 939 products, it depends on your upgrade plans, if you will want to upgrade again a year from now you may as well invest in a DDR2 platform, otherwise there is little preformnce difference between DDR and DDR2 on AMD platforms.

[BlindMelon7]

Thanks guys, my head is a bit clearer now

[awm]

No problem. Let us know what you got.

[dodgybob]

I think the am2 platforms also support amd's hardware virtualisation technology too. Not sure what support there is for this at the moment though.

[BlindMelon7]

I was thinking of getting the following (its mainly for music recording and video editing):

2x 250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ £101.21 (for storage and backup)

80 Gb Samsung HD080HJ SpinPoint P80, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ £29.79 (for windows and programs)

256MB Gainward 7900GS Bliss Golden Sample, PCI-E, Mem 1400MHz+, GPU 500MHz+, 20 Pipes, 2xDVI/HDTV £124.96 (I dabble in a few games and cant stand low fps, stupid excuse I know )

Coolermaster LLC-U01 Musketeer (Black) - (Volume level Controller Left/Right, Hard drive Meter) £9.34 (they look cool )

AKASA AK-FC-06-SL Silver 3.5" Fan Controller £8.40 (to make everything quiet)

530W HiperPower Type-R Modular Black PSU Quiet Dbl Fan aPFC ATXv2.2 20/24 Pin £53.86 (not sure how good these are but they have removable plugs so I can tidy my case up a bit)

And for the mobo and cpu:

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, NF4 SLI, S939, PCI-E (x16), DDR 400/266/333, SATA I / II, SATA/IDE RAID, ATX £80.53 (I might use the sli at some point)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Socket 939, ManchesterCore, 2x 2.2GHz, 1MB Cache, Retail £132.41 (I feel its time to change to dual core)


What do we think?

[awm]

Why are you getting a new motherboard? Wasn't that part of the reason to stick with 939?

[BlindMelon7]

No the reason I was sticking with 939 was the ram. I'm gonna need (well... want) a new motherboard as mine is pathetic and it wont like having so many hard drives. I also tried putting my brothers 7900 in it and it completely messed up the IRQs making my soundcard scew up (its a bit picky).
TBH I will probably just stick with my current proccesor in the end. This is all merely speculation

[gOdman]

buy core 2 duo then if you need a new motherboad and a dual core cpu, theyre about the same price as their amd counterparts.... eg get a e6300 or if you can afford it get a e6400.

as for the ram dont worry geta cheapy (though perhaps not that good a quality ) asrock thatsupports ddr and ddr2. It will help the transition so when the time comes buy ddr2 (or a better motherboard + ddr2 when its cheaper), but the asrock WILL NOT OVERCLOCK ALL THAT WELL....

I lean towards core 2 duo if youre looing to get a new system bar the ram.

[BlindMelon7]

Wouldn't a C2D be overkill for sound production?

Edit: Maybe you're right. With a C2D (6300) and a Gigabyte GA 965P-DS4 its a tenner cheaper and I'd be getting a better mobo AND cpu. Hmmm...tempting.

[gOdman]

go on you know you wanna....

LOL

..do what you think's best, thoguh core 2 duo + a DS4 (I have one as well yeye but i think i broke it oops)would be better .

AND IF ITS CHEAPER THEN ITS JUST AS WORTHWHILE though you would have to get new ram if you buy a ds4

lol you spend more on the ram now but you get a better motherboard....Or you buy a cheaper motherboard (ddr+ddr2) and save on the ram BUT you have a cheaper motherboard.... undecided

[BlindMelon7]

No, I has to have a good motherboard. Considering I cant afford any of this in the first place I might as well go overboard and buy everything. 2gb XMS2? Is that stuff actually any different compared to value select, bearing in mind I wont be overclocking it much?

[BlindMelon7]

I just added it up...£754.99...heavy.

[awm]

With those sorts of prices I'd just do a full upgrade.