Up the creek with my Socket 939...

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Shecky

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So when I do go to upgrade my CPU, you're suggesting Opteron, but it's been said by others that dual-core would be a waste since my primary application isn't designed for it. However, I was under the impression that even for single-thread stuff, the dual core DID help quite a bit.

I guess my main question is on performance. With my current 2.2 GHz (3700+) single-core, how much improvement would I see with a dual-core 2.0 or 2.4 GHz?

(referring to
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001028+40000343+1051707439+1302820275&name=Dual-Core
 
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MooseMuffin

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I wouldn't bother. The fastest chip on that page is 2.4ghz, which is hardly enough of an upgrade over what you have to justify its price, even if it is dual core. If you have nice ram/mobo, and really want some more cpu horsepower, I'd just OC what you've got.

Or just don't worry about it. 2gb ram, your current cpu and a new card is a pretty decent system.
 
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Rip181

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all a dual core would do for single threaded apps, would be off load your background tasks to the unused core so that would be a little improvement.

I dont know about AMD chips but I know with INTEL it does make a difference going from the single core P4's to the new Core2Duo's only because the architecture of the c2d is THAT much better than the P4.

Laymans terms, Basically the C2D is more efficent and it doesnt have to do anything with an extra core. they are just that much better than a P4.
 
caamsa

caamsa

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You have a gateway or dell right? So then over clocking is probably out of the question. Don't worry about the PCI express slot and yes get the best card you can then when you upgrade you can still use that same card in your new system. If you can go to 120 bucks you can get a 9600GT or a 3850 256mb card. After rebate of course.

I was running a single core system for a LAN machine a 3800+ with an X800GTO and it played most games at moderate settings. Of course it depends on the game ;-P.................
 
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Shecky

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It's an HP Pavilion a1330e. Yeah, I know, a dinosaur ;) . With my current processor (AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2GHz) and GPU (ATi Radeon X1300Pro 256MB), I'm running DDO at mostly High video settings, with some downtweaked for performance. Visually, it's about optimal, but the framerate does suffer in "busy" areas - I get a little skipping, stuttering and the like, which isn't that terrible usually, but sometimes it puts my character in a pool of lava or swinging at empty air LOL!

It runs... okay. Minimally adequately. I just want to get rid of as much of that skipping/stuttering as I can (I know you can never get rid of ALL of it on a machine that doesn't cost as much as a car ;) ). You guys have been a great help steering me in the right direction to find the most crucial update; if things go better than I'm expecting, I'll even be able to grab a decent processor before they completely drop off the market. And given that the only purposes of my machine are to 1) surf the net and 2) play this game and this game ONLY (I have zero interest in other games until/unless a DDO2 comes out), I just need to get my machine up to speed on the two-year-old requirements of that particular game.

Looks like I'll be able to do that pretty well, thanks to you guys. :)
 
EXT64

EXT64

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It's getting very hard to find 939s. It was hard a year ago, but then prices were much better (I got the FX-60 in my sig for around $100-$150). Now they are just rare and expensive. I gamed on a (X1) 3800+ for years and it was great, so 200MHz less is still good. As to the PCI-E debate, I have a 2900XT (which equals the 3870) on PCI-E 1.0. It runs fine and is not bottlenecked by it. Since all of the cards you are considering are below that, don't worry at all about the PCI-E 2.0/1.0 stuff. I would concentrate most on the GPU upgrade. With how few 939s are left (and the questionable compatibility of Opty's in your mobo and the probably lack of OCing) you are probably better off with a new system if you want more CPU power.
 
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Shecky

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Understood. New system is out of the question financially for quite a while; plus, given the fact that I'm not going to be getting into anything that requires that much more oomph for the foreseeable future, the only issue was the GPU... and I think that's resolved nicely here.
 
B-Unit

B-Unit

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Those Optys would be sweet processors if you had the right motherboard, but since you have an OEM system, OCing is a no no.

I'm tempted to pick one of those up and see if I can get it to 3ghz, lol.
 
caamsa

caamsa

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Wow what a deal...................I want one. ;)

Wait a sec.......look at the specs says 128bit memory interface. Might be the reason why.........

Hmm thought it was too good to be true......... :pfff:
 
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Shecky

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What's wrong with 128-bit? That's what shows on the majority of video cards I've seen listed (and god only knows how many I've seen since this thread began LOL).
 
4745454b

4745454b

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The 3650 is a fine midrange card. Its basically a 2600XT, or a x1950pro performance wise. There are cheaper models though, some are $60 after rebate.

If you can swing the price, the 9600GT deal is best. I'm slightly worried about that one seeing as its the ONLY 9600GT that close to $100. (last I looked, most were still around $140.) Seeing as the op wants to get good enough, I get the feeling he'll go with a $60 card.
 
caamsa

caamsa

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Memory bandwidth cut in half... I think that would hurt a bit... vs a 256 bit that is. But it looks like when you compare a 128bit newer card to an older 256bit in some cases they are quite equal. So it depends.

If you can get a 9600GT for 100 bucks then get it.
 
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Shecky

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He is right here; you can address him without fear. :kaola:

And if you'll scroll up and see what he's posted, you'll see he's not looking at a $60 card.

Still sticking with the ATi chipset, folks. nVidia's apparently good stuff, won't argue with that; nevertheless, for simplicity's sake (and for the fact that HP and ATi are supposed to work better together - look it up), I'm going ATi. It's decided.

And to be honest, $140-150 is out of my range - when I say I'm working on a budget, it's no figure of speech. A thirty- or forty-buck rebate is extra cool, to be sure, but right now, those thirty or forty bucks can spell the difference between getting one month closer to digging out and getting behind yet another month or more from the fees associated with a bounced check or an unpaid bill. There's a glimmer of unexpected possible hope, but I can't bet on it.
 
cisco

cisco

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Don't know if anyone answered your question about Opterons but they are AMD workstation processors. They are the highest quality processors, they also have more cache than most of the standard lines. Basically the best processors that come of the line get the Opteron or FX stamp. If I were you, get the fastest 939 processor you can find, which will likely be an Opteron. 170,175,180,185 They overclock better than the standard line too. Even the stock heatsink is better.
 
EXT64

EXT64

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That is a very nice card. It will require a little more power (I don't remember what PSU you have) and it will dump the heat out into the case, but it is the real deal. Good luck deciding.
 
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Shecky

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If I may be honest, I think I'm going with my original choice - check out the reviews on the one you suggested. Too many people saying the same thing (crapped out within the first two months) for my comfort. Then again, my original choice has only had five reviews.

But I have one question before final decision: the original choice is 512MB at 128-bit, and your suggestion is 256MB at 256-bit. How does that balance out practically?

FYI - PS is an OCZ 500W "Stealth X Stream".
 
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