Topic: Need a new CPU

[Xessive]

Hey guys, I thought I'd seek your advice on the matter. Considering I have a steady job and no girlfriend, I have some money to spend. Good God, I have become the "nerd stereotype."

Now my primary limitation is that I have socket 939 board (Asus A8V Deluxe) AGP. I don't really want to get a new mobo just yet, I'm relatively happy with my Radeon X1650.. At least until I get my hands on the Radeon X1950 AGP.. Anyway, I'm pretty much limited to AMD, and I definitely want a Dual Core.

From my searching on AMD's website, the highest available Athlon64 X2 Dual Core for Socket 939 is the 4800+ and everything higher is Socket AM2.. However one store is telling me they have an Athlon64 X2 6000+ (939) and a X2 5200+ (939).. So I just wanna confirm if they're yanking my chain and just go for the 4800+ (from another store).

If the 4800+ is the best Dual Core processor I can get for my mobo then at least I can max it out and get a brand new system next year.

Thanks in advance guys.

[Pugnate]

Nerds don't have money.

Anyway they are definitely yanking your chain. It has happened to me in the middle east as well. When you get to the store, it turns out it will be an AM2 or something. They just don't know their stuff unfortunately. The 939 processors haven't been in production in a while.

Getting an AGP card is a complete waste. The X1950 pro AGP is about $270... the PCIe version is $150-$180.

Listen to the voice that say no. Remember what that voice told you when you went and bought the Voodoo5... two weeks before they dropped complete support.

So you save $100 on the video card and spend it on the mobo, and you were looking for a new processor anyway right? So in the end it is all good, except you get a better processor than you would have initially. RAM is a problem, but DDR2 prices are really low at the moment.

Another thing. Intel feels so good.

Here is the problem with AMD.

You want to use 939, you need a different mobo and RAM... you want to use AM2, different mobo and RAM... for a AMD quad core... again different mobo and RAM.

AMD is about to release their Barcelona chip in six months. To be able to use that, again you need mobo and RAM.

Here is the story with Intel.

The P4, the Core Duo 2 (Conroe) and the Intel Quadcore all use the same RAM and mobo.

Plus the new Intel processors coming in six months? Well I read a few days ago that to use those with DDR3 you will need a new mobo, but the processors will function perfectly with the same mobos that we are using now.

So you know what? Go with the Intel E6300 or E6400. It is cheap in the middle east and blows just about everything AMD has away. Plus it can be overclocked to insane lengths.

Check this out:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802

I bought my E6400 nearly 9 months ago. From day one I overclocked it to perform at the level of a E6800 (Intel's fasted dual core)... and it is still running far cooler than anything from AMD, and I've had zero problems. But even if you don't overclock it, it is much faster than a X2 4800.

If you want a cheap mobo that will allow you to upgrade to quadcore, then the Intel 965 does a sterling job, and it only $100 even in the middle east. The E6420 (same as E6400 but higher L2) will cost $220... and you can get a Radeon X1950 pro PCIe for $150.

[Xessive]

Oh yeah man, when I do get a new mobo I'm getting an Intel system.. Primarily because lately they've been superior and more affordable, but also because in the Middle East it's too difficult to find anything AMD. The fad here is Intel.

But I mean for my current system, I'm just gonna go get the X2 4800+ to make it last a teeny bit longer and it'll be a great backup machine.

When I actually do buy a new system I'm gonna give it the best I can afford. I love ASUS when it comes to mobos so I think I'm gonna stick with them, I'm switching to Intel, buying a new case, new video card (most likely Radeon X1950 PCIe unless ATi release something better by then). I'm also gonna get a new SATA HD.. God I hate IDE chords!

[Pugnate]

New ATi DX10 cards out in a few days.

[Xessive]

New ATi DX10 cards out in a few days.

Sexy.