socket 754 waste of money?

magick

a friend of mine bogh one of these a few month back, never used it (had probs with his new pc) but anyway for people with cash and want to built a new system, is their any point in getting it , or would socket 939 be a better choise?

ChipZilla

I wouldn't bother with the 754 unless it was going cheap, or you're planning on upgrading it in a year's time anyway...

Azza

Socket 754 is better value now but less of a feature. But look at it this way socket 939 boards are slightly dearer but the cpu's are alot dearer for it.

Socket 754 has been relegated to buget status. It will run the new AMD 32bit Semperon's as well as the AMD 64 2800, 3000, 3200, 3400, and the last in the line 3700. Its still an excellent board and performance is only 1-2% poorer than a 939 that takes full advantage of dual channel memory.

Also the entry level socket 939 chip the 3500 is more expensive (at least €100) than its 754 stable mate the 3400 and performs poorer (less l2 cache). Both the socket 754 3700 and the socket 939 3800 are very expensive as are the socket 939 fx chips.

People will say socket 939 will last longer but look at this way it won't support pci-x till probably around christmas so if you buy now many will find an upgrade to a pci-x graphics card in even a years time will require a new motherboard. Its best to hold of 939 till the price comes down in my view. But then again I'm on socket 754 since feburary and getting more life out of it. Maybe an upgrade in a years time won't be too bad for me as I have got a good run out of it.

astrofool

most people upgrade their motherboard before they upgrade their chip. Get the best price/performance now, when you do want to upgrade, it'll all be new tech anyway (btx, pci-e, ddr2, etc. etc.)

BKtje

Performance between 754 and 939 is miniscule in gaming (all ive looked into to).
Infact a 754 out performed the equivalent 939 in one test i saw (doom3).

Its a lot of extra money for little or no gain. The on chip memory controller is more than enough it seems.

Col_Loki

Theres so much new tech comming out all the time its never a good time to buy an upgradable PC.

With the increasing DDR speeds, increasing FSB, different GFX cards etc etc theres so many reasons why even the most top of the range newest motherboard will have to be upgraded along with the CPU.

Sure Socket939 will be slightly more future proof but look at it this way, the money you save getting a 754 instead of a 939 will most lightly buy you a new motherboard when you want to upgrade next time ...........

Thats a fact that im only comming round to now, unless there is something that will be a majour benifit to you i dont see much of a point holding out and holding out for newer tech with upgrading in mind. Hell in a couple of months 939 motherboards will be cheap anyway and there chips more reasonable .