Hi,
I posted a while back that I want to build a new system. People suggested that I use an AMD-64 processor. After lurking for a bit it shoulds like the 3200 (is that Winchester) would be a good way to go. Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced MB CPU combo. I am in the Bay Area, so Fry's is just down the road, if that is the place to go.
Thanks,
jerry
Reasonably priced 3200 AMD-64 MB + CPU?
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waterstar
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Re: Reasonably priced 3200 AMD-64 MB + CPU
Jerry,
Couldn't tell you much about Fry's as we don't have any around here. I just stop by our local OEM reseller. It didn't take much to setup an account. Otherwise it's pricegrabber all the way.
As for which combo to go with... that all depends on what goals you want to achieve.
Regards,
Waterstar [Ray]
Couldn't tell you much about Fry's as we don't have any around here. I just stop by our local OEM reseller. It didn't take much to setup an account. Otherwise it's pricegrabber all the way.
As for which combo to go with... that all depends on what goals you want to achieve.
Regards,
Waterstar [Ray]
First thing you need to consider is whether you want to go for socket 754 or 939. This is the older versus the newer standard; the new socket does not offer much over the old one yet but is more futureproof and allows for 90nm cpu's which apparently put out less heat. Next thing to think about is whether you want PCI express or an AGP based board... which comes down to nForce4 or not at all currently.
And Pricewatch.Otherwise it's pricegrabber all the way.
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fanerman91
- Posts: 135
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- Location: Yonder
3200 comes in both Winchester (S939, 90nm) and Newcastle (S754, 130nm) varieties. I have a Newcastle I got from Fry's. It's bundled with an ECS 755-A2. It's a solid performer, don't let the Fry's guys fool you. It doesn't have the best overclocking features, but it's rock solid and performs well at stock speeds compared to other mobos.
Check http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/ for deals. Also check your local newspaper. I got a 3200 + ECS mobo for $200, which is the best deal on an A64 I've seen.
Check http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/ for deals. Also check your local newspaper. I got a 3200 + ECS mobo for $200, which is the best deal on an A64 I've seen.
Monarch computers has the best prices on Winchester core 90nm 939 processors. Check there for your CPU. As for the board, Some good ones are the Asus A8V, MSI Neo2 Platinum for 939 and It's hard to beat DFI's socket 754 Lanparty UT 250GB even if you don't plan to OC.
Of course that's just my opinion
Of course that's just my opinion
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meglamaniac
- Posts: 380
- Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:44 pm
- Location: UK
PCI-express (PCI-e) is a replacement for AGP and legacy PCI.
The best example I can think of is to put it in terms of networking. In this comparison, bear in mind that AGP is essentially a "bolt on" to legacy PCI, a bit of a bodge-job fix, and as such is covered by the legacy PCI part.
Imagine legacy PCI as a network hub. It's not capable of very high speeds, and bandwidth is shared between every connection - the more active connections you have, the less bandwidth is available to each one.
If more than one device uses it heavily at the same time, performance drops off like a stone.
The single advantage to this setup is that the controller does not have to be very powerful in terms of Mhz, nor is it a very complex chip to produce and as such is cheap.
Imagine PCI-e as a network switch. It's capable of some decent speeds, and the stated bandwidth is available to all connections all of the time regardless of how many are active or transfering data.
The disadvantage to this setup is that the controller needs to be fast, as in reality only one connection is ever open at once - the controller makes and breaks connections very quickly to give the impression of a permenant high speed link on every port. Because of this, it is a more expensive solution but has rapidly become required as the limitations of network hubs become too great.
That's pretty much the architecture explained.
There are some additions to PCI-e however. A PCI-e controller has a set number of 'lanes' it controlls (think of these as the sockets on a network switch). Each lane can transfer up to 2.5Gb/s in both directions. This is plenty for expansion cards such as sound cards and so on, and so you will see single lane PCI-e slots on motherboards (often described as PCI-e 1x or PCI-e x1) are very small, about 1/4 of the length of a legacy PCI slot.
Graphics cards, however, require more bandwidth. Thus they are assigned to PCI-e 16x (or PCI-e x16) slots which have, you guessed it, 16 lanes available (40Gb/s). These slots are roughly the same size as an AGP slot, although there are safeguards to make sure you can't make an AGP card fit in them.
Now, because there are next to no PCI-e cards available at the moment, apart from graphics cards, motherboard manufacturers are building boards with both PCI-e slots (3 or 4 x1 slots and 1 or 2 x16 slots) and some legacy PCI slots. The legacy PCI slots are controlled by a legacy PCI controller which is actually then connected to the PCI-e controller.
So to sum up, PCI-e has huge speed advantages over legacy PCI with no real disadvantages. The problem at the moment is trying to find anything to use it with.
The best example I can think of is to put it in terms of networking. In this comparison, bear in mind that AGP is essentially a "bolt on" to legacy PCI, a bit of a bodge-job fix, and as such is covered by the legacy PCI part.
Imagine legacy PCI as a network hub. It's not capable of very high speeds, and bandwidth is shared between every connection - the more active connections you have, the less bandwidth is available to each one.
If more than one device uses it heavily at the same time, performance drops off like a stone.
The single advantage to this setup is that the controller does not have to be very powerful in terms of Mhz, nor is it a very complex chip to produce and as such is cheap.
Imagine PCI-e as a network switch. It's capable of some decent speeds, and the stated bandwidth is available to all connections all of the time regardless of how many are active or transfering data.
The disadvantage to this setup is that the controller needs to be fast, as in reality only one connection is ever open at once - the controller makes and breaks connections very quickly to give the impression of a permenant high speed link on every port. Because of this, it is a more expensive solution but has rapidly become required as the limitations of network hubs become too great.
That's pretty much the architecture explained.
There are some additions to PCI-e however. A PCI-e controller has a set number of 'lanes' it controlls (think of these as the sockets on a network switch). Each lane can transfer up to 2.5Gb/s in both directions. This is plenty for expansion cards such as sound cards and so on, and so you will see single lane PCI-e slots on motherboards (often described as PCI-e 1x or PCI-e x1) are very small, about 1/4 of the length of a legacy PCI slot.
Graphics cards, however, require more bandwidth. Thus they are assigned to PCI-e 16x (or PCI-e x16) slots which have, you guessed it, 16 lanes available (40Gb/s). These slots are roughly the same size as an AGP slot, although there are safeguards to make sure you can't make an AGP card fit in them.
Now, because there are next to no PCI-e cards available at the moment, apart from graphics cards, motherboard manufacturers are building boards with both PCI-e slots (3 or 4 x1 slots and 1 or 2 x16 slots) and some legacy PCI slots. The legacy PCI slots are controlled by a legacy PCI controller which is actually then connected to the PCI-e controller.
So to sum up, PCI-e has huge speed advantages over legacy PCI with no real disadvantages. The problem at the moment is trying to find anything to use it with.
Another one of those posts that will be referred to many times in the near future... good one, meglamaniac!
The only thing I can think of to add is that a PCI-e board will be much more future-proof than an AGP one, but that it will also necessitate a video card upgrade because a mobo has either AGP or PCI-e as an interface for your videocard - not both. At the moment I don't think there is any real performance advantage in PCI-e for videocards, so if you just bought a AGP X800PE or 6800ultra for many $$$ you might want to get an AGP mobo... but if you intend to upgrade your video anyway, why not get PCI-e? AGP cards will probably be on the markets for quite some time, but eventually they will be replaced by PCI-e.
The only thing I can think of to add is that a PCI-e board will be much more future-proof than an AGP one, but that it will also necessitate a video card upgrade because a mobo has either AGP or PCI-e as an interface for your videocard - not both. At the moment I don't think there is any real performance advantage in PCI-e for videocards, so if you just bought a AGP X800PE or 6800ultra for many $$$ you might want to get an AGP mobo... but if you intend to upgrade your video anyway, why not get PCI-e? AGP cards will probably be on the markets for quite some time, but eventually they will be replaced by PCI-e.