Sempron/754 or move up to 939...

[Graytalon]

Greetings all,
I don't post normally but find these forums a great source of information. I ran into a quaq, so to speak, looking for a new system board and cpu for my wife's system. Normally I would build myself a new one and "hand-me-down" my current system to her. Unfortunately I introduced her to a rather addictive 3D game and I was informed that her system won't cut it and "SHE" wants a new one.

Her system isn't a bad system, really, but the board is starting to crap out and it's just outlived it's usefulness. I will have to replace cpu/mobo/ram this time as it's all about as trailing edge as you can get. Might even have to get a new psu.

Anyway, I was reading on these boards that the Athlon 64A will no longer be made after June or July of this year. I was thinking of going Sempron to start and then move up to the 64. So, to make a long boring post more to the point, should I press on with the Sempron 754 with little or no chance of upgrade in next year or so, or bite the bullet and get the cheapest 939 processor I can?

Thanks,
GT,
aka, Robert

 

[dmroeder]

Personally I would get the 939. It supports newer technology and it will be supported longer than 754. There is absolutely nothing wrong with 754, and you can save some money on a board and chip, but if your worried about upgrading down the road, I would go with 939. AMD also says that they will make dual core chips for 939. Of course this is my opinion and it all depends how much you are willing to spend, but I say bite hard my friend.

 

[TheRod]

You can buy a quite cheap S939/A64 system. Don't forget that Sempron rating can't be compared to A64 rating. Sempron 3100+ performance are roughly equal to Athlon 64 2800+ in most situation.

And check my signature... I strongly recommends you going for a S939/PCI-EXPRESS setup. This is the best long-term AMD platform you can buy.

Suggestion :
MOBO : MSI K8N NEO4-F (88$US)
CPU : A64 3000+ (145$US)
GPU : PCI-EXPRESS based Video Card (60$US and up)
The rest of the system is up to you (and your budget)...

For gaming, I consider my GeForce 6600GT (starts at 170$US) very good for today's games. I can run run FarCry in HQ/1280x1024 with very good FPS and I play World Of Warcraft in HQ/1600x1200.


-
GA-K8NF-9 / <b><font color=green>Athlon 64 3200+</font color=green> @ 3800+</b>
Infineon DDR400 (CL2.5) 2x512Megs
<font color=green>GeForce 6600GT 128Megs</font color=green>
<A HREF="http://www.getfirefox.com" target="_new">Firefox</A>

 

[endyen]

There wont be any more A64s, except of course mobile, which are the same, without the heat spreader, or the turions, which may be even better. Get her an A64 3200, on an nforce3 mobo, and you wont need to upgrade for a few years.

 

[Graytalon]

Thanks for the information, y'all. I will go the upgradeable path. :O)