754 or 939?

**754 or 939? -** 09-13-2004, 19:03 | posts: n/a

I've been thinking of upgrading to 64-bit. I'm currently sporting an AMD 266 FSB, 2400+, GeForce 6800/128.

Sure I lag a little here or there depending on the game. Nothing too serious.

What's with the two types of 64-bit chips? Should I sit tight for the 939? Will the 754 die off at some point?

MikeMK · 09-13-2004, 19:15 | posts: 10,506 | Location: London

atm there isnt that much difference between the two really. 939 supports dual channel memory, but i think has less cache that 754 chips, so the performance difference isnt that much different. Socket 754 is cheaper right now, but 939 will have a better upgrade path as I doubt they will go above 3700+ on the 754. I doubt 754 will b discontinued for a while, it will just become AMD's budget right now.
tbh, until NF4 chipset comes out and 939 supports PCI-E there isnt that much to seperate them.

G L · *Last edited by G L; 09-13-2004 at 19:44.*

Actually, most 754 chips have 512k cache too. I think AMD is phasing out the clawhammer (1024k) 3200+ and 3400+ chips, so that leaves the 3700+. It also looks like they'll release a 3600+ S939 chip with 1024k cache, which is apparently just a rebadged FX-51. AMD will also supposedly release a 4000+ which is just a FX-53, when they release the FX-55 at 2.6 GHz.

AMD ratings are pretty accurate. So if you're running stock, just figure out how much you want to spend and buy that model, be it 754 or 939. AMD is supposed to be releasing cheaper S939 chips in Q4 (so within the next 3 months), which means you could wait for those, but you really only need to if you like the big memory scores. Performance-wise, dual-channel never made that big a difference to games.

If you're going to overclock, I'd say get a 2800+ or 3000+ S754 chip, or maybe wait for the cheaper S939s.

You can see the performance differences between current models here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/2004...html#directx_8

09-13-2004, 21:09 | posts: n/a

<< Performance-wise, dual-channel never made that big a difference to games. >>

Yep. Not sure where it helps any.

Damnit · 09-15-2004, 23:31 | posts: 2,425 | Location: Uncle Sam's Pocket

If you dont want to spend a lot of money you can pick up and NForce 3 Mobo and AMD64 3000+ for under $300. Just a thought

Woodmasterfox · 09-17-2004, 05:18 | posts: 3,071 | Location: Austin, Texas

Yep I got my mobo and cpu for $230 shipped with farcry. And trust me, you would see a huge difference over your 2400+. What are your PCMark04 scores right now? That would give you something to compare to.