PizzatheHut06
Daemon Poster
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I will be upgrading my current computer very soon (see sig) and I was planning on this upgrade.
CPU- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice (S939)
Motherboard- Abit AV8
RAM- 512 MB Corsair XMS (for a total of 1GB)
Total Cost: $368.90
However, I'm now leaning towards the following option, and I was curious as to y'alls opinions.
CPU- AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Newcastle (S754, 2.4 GHz)
Motherboard- DFI Lanparty UT NF3 250Gb
RAM- 512 MB Corsair XMS (for a total of 1GB)
Total Cost: $393.94
Difference in cost: $25.04
Before I started getting flamed and called a n00b for considering a S754 CPU, allow me to explain. The difference in cost is just $25.04, which isn't very much. Also, the motherboard in option 2 is far superior to the motheboard in option 1, and is nearly the same price. Most importantly, in the benchmarks I've seen, the 3400+ Newcastle comes out on top, often by quite a bit, say 10-15 frames per second more. Granted, I haven't seen any benchmarks with the 3200+ Venice, I'm using the 3200+ Winchester for comparison and assuming they will perform very similarly. Furthermore, the dual channel option of RAM offered by S939 motherboards only increases performance by 3-5% at a maximum, so that is a negligible difference. Many of you are probably thinking "But the S754 isn't upgradable...you're nuts!". The way I see it, this CPU is plenty fast to last quite a long time, and in my opinion will last longer than the video card. Therefore, I would have to upgrade the video card first, at which time PCI-E will be more widespread, which will then cause me to get a new motherboard, CPU, etc. So basically this boils down to the fact that I think this setup will last a very long time. Note of course, that I WILL NOT be overclocking this at all. I realize the Venice runs cooler and is far and away better in terms of overclocking abilities, but I have no interest in that and am looking for the most cost effective CPU at stock speeds.
What do you guys think?
CPU- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice (S939)
Motherboard- Abit AV8
RAM- 512 MB Corsair XMS (for a total of 1GB)
Total Cost: $368.90
However, I'm now leaning towards the following option, and I was curious as to y'alls opinions.
CPU- AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Newcastle (S754, 2.4 GHz)
Motherboard- DFI Lanparty UT NF3 250Gb
RAM- 512 MB Corsair XMS (for a total of 1GB)
Total Cost: $393.94
Difference in cost: $25.04
Before I started getting flamed and called a n00b for considering a S754 CPU, allow me to explain. The difference in cost is just $25.04, which isn't very much. Also, the motherboard in option 2 is far superior to the motheboard in option 1, and is nearly the same price. Most importantly, in the benchmarks I've seen, the 3400+ Newcastle comes out on top, often by quite a bit, say 10-15 frames per second more. Granted, I haven't seen any benchmarks with the 3200+ Venice, I'm using the 3200+ Winchester for comparison and assuming they will perform very similarly. Furthermore, the dual channel option of RAM offered by S939 motherboards only increases performance by 3-5% at a maximum, so that is a negligible difference. Many of you are probably thinking "But the S754 isn't upgradable...you're nuts!". The way I see it, this CPU is plenty fast to last quite a long time, and in my opinion will last longer than the video card. Therefore, I would have to upgrade the video card first, at which time PCI-E will be more widespread, which will then cause me to get a new motherboard, CPU, etc. So basically this boils down to the fact that I think this setup will last a very long time. Note of course, that I WILL NOT be overclocking this at all. I realize the Venice runs cooler and is far and away better in terms of overclocking abilities, but I have no interest in that and am looking for the most cost effective CPU at stock speeds.
What do you guys think?