Socket AM2 or 939?

XtAsY · 15 Feb 2006 at 22:10

Hey guys,

As you all probably know, Unreal Engine 3 powered games will most likely make an appearance on the PC this year in UT2007. I want a rig to play this game on decent settings. I have a budget of about £1500 to build a new system. Is it best to go socket AM2 and utilise DDR2 memory or would it be more sensible to stay a gen behind in order to get cheaper prices? Bacially.. I want the most performance and value for my money. I am also thinking of waiting to GeForce 8 series arrives.. Can anyone offer me any advice? Thanks

kinggost · 15 Feb 2006 at 22:17

For the first 6 months the new am2 wil have its bugs so you would have to wait longer. I would just stick with 939 and get a opty and overclock

RichUK · 15 Feb 2006 at 22:27

kinggost said:
For the first 6 months the new am2 wil have its bugs so you would have to wait longer. I would just stick with 939 and get a opty and overclock

One big "HELL YES CAPTAIN" there.

AM2 will be worth it once 65nm comes along, and that isn’t going to be until (as reported) Q1 2007. So perfect timing for motherboard/chipset manufacturers to work out all the bugs, and produce good OCing platforms.

I dont see the point in buying a 90nm AM2 re-hash of the current s939 90nm chips. The only further improvement this year on AM2 90nm is going to be a speed bump to 2.8Ghz (the next FX?), and this will be EOL for AMD's SOI 90nm, until 65nm and quadcore. Also what’s the point when Opterons are currently offering amazing bang for the buck with regards to OCing, and hitting around 2.8Ghz already on dual cores. Also not to mention running 90nm AM2’s on DDR2 (poor latencies) over the current s939 (better performance) DDR memory. Its not as if AMD require more bandwidth until quad core is released, until then lower latencies is more favourable.

kinggost · 15 Feb 2006 at 23:20

RichUK said:
One big "HELL YES CAPTAIN" there.

AM2 will be worth it once 65nm comes along, and that isn’t going to be until (as reported) Q1 2007. So perfect timing for motherboard/chipset manufacturers to work out all the bugs, and produce good OCing platforms.

I dont see the point in buying a 90nm AM2 re-hash of the current s939 90nm chips. The only further improvement this year on AM2 90nm is going to be a speed bump to 2.8Ghz (the next FX?), and this will be EOL for AMD's SOI 90nm, until 65nm and quadcore. Also what’s the point when Opterons are currently offering amazing bang for the buck with regards to OCing, and hitting around 2.8Ghz already on dual cores. Also not to mention running 90nm AM2’s on DDR2 (poor latencies) over the current s939 (better performance) DDR memory. Its not as if AMD require more bandwidth until quad core is released, until then lower latencies is more favourable.

I just upgraded while i had the guts to spend 3.2k otherwise i would have been sayin should i wait then i would have never dont itsoon as am2 out sumot new wil be out

gpuerrilla · 16 Feb 2006 at 11:34

Hell yes captain from me also.

I jumped in about a week ago and got my opteron 165 on a s939 mobo. NO point in waiting (otherwise you'l never upgrade) as points made before. The time to go AM2 is late 2006 at a push or beginning 2007. Why wait that many months when you can have a smashing rig right now?

XtAsY · 16 Feb 2006 at 12:39

Well, the thought that is holding me back is that my current rig (3.2GHz P4 Northwood / 6800 GT / 1 GB RAM) seems to play all the current titles absolutely fine for my needs. I don't think theres going to be another game out more taxing than F.E.A.R until UT2007 arrives which is a long time yet so thats why I'm not sure about upgrading yet. I just dont know what to do

Dureth · 16 Feb 2006 at 16:19

Ah now that you state your current rig its a new ball game altogether. Wait for the AM2 and then upgrade. It's not like your bursting for a new system right the minute.

If you had been on a lower spec I'd have said buy a 939 system now.

XtAsY · 16 Feb 2006 at 16:28

Dureth said:
Ah now that you state your current rig its a new ball game altogether. Wait for the AM2 and then upgrade. It's not like your bursting for a new system right the minute.

If you had been on a lower spec I'd have said buy a 939 system now.

Any ideas when the scheduled release date is for AM2? If its after UT2007 (which will probably be summer) then I'll go for a 939. Itf its before summer then I'll wait. Thing is.. if its gonna be buggy for the first couple of months which is what people are saying.. then it might cause me problems whilst im trying to enjoy playing my games and busy doing my work on it.

epoxy5 · 16 Feb 2006 at 16:28

Hehe I have the exact same specs as you, sold it cheap to my girlfriend, as I don't think it runs all present games with decent settings, but I guess it comes down to what games and at what res. you're playing.

But if you feel it runs smooth as butter, it is of course not wise to update - I mean why (besides the nice smell of new hard ware

)

ACESHIGH · 16 Feb 2006 at 16:32

XtAsY said:
Well, the thought that is holding me back is that my current rig (3.2GHz P4 Northwood / 6800 GT / 1 GB RAM) seems to play all the current titles absolutely fine for my needs. I don't think theres going to be another game out more taxing than F.E.A.R until UT2007 arrives which is a long time yet so thats why I'm not sure about upgrading yet. I just dont know what to do

If thats an AGP rig, the biggest setback youll have to playing more demanding games is getting any improvement in graphics cards, so a jump to PCIE will be required. Id say go for socket 939 with A64 3700+ & X1800XT (then youll be set).

div0 · 16 Feb 2006 at 16:40

XtAsY said:
Any ideas when the scheduled release date is for AM2? If its after UT2007 (which will probably be summer) then I'll go for a 939. Itf its before summer then I'll wait. Thing is.. if its gonna be buggy for the first couple of months which is what people are saying.. then it might cause me problems whilst im trying to enjoy playing my games and busy doing my work on it.

June 6th is the "expected" release date......

It shouldnt be too "buggy" because its not a major change really.

Its going to be hard to say until nearer the time - but at the moment I'm in the same boat as you.

P4 2.8GHz Northwood
1Gb RAM
Nvidia 6800GX

But as you can see - I'm slightly worse off just now

I think I'm going to wait - my comp still does what I need it to do, though FEAR was pushing the limits!!

I'd hate to do a full system upgrade (mobo, ram, cpu) and within a few months have a whole new technology available. If AM2 doesn't look good when its released then I might go 939, but I'm going to try and hold off and find out.

Dureth · 16 Feb 2006 at 17:39

Wait until UT2007 is out. If AM2 has been released and there are no horror stories on the boards buy one. Otherwise buy a 939 system (which will be cheap as its old tech and being sold off by most on this board).

Scottie2004 · 10 Jun 2006 at 08:52

Im currently building a new rig and wondered whether to go AM2 or S939 at this point? Is the AM2 path essential for any new AMD CPU lines due out or will a new mobo be required anyway?

If I wait for the Intel Conroe will there be a decent cpu for the £100 mark?

pcoltrane · 10 Jun 2006 at 09:00

The AM2 chipsets are esentially the same as the 939 so i can't really see why AM2 will need a "bedding in" period. AM2 makes some sense to me since you can build a very decent rig right now, but also have a nice upgrade path with the 65nm chips out at the end of the year.

Qwert_y · 10 Jun 2006 at 12:03

Go AM2. Prices have been reduced recently to be competitive with 939

Booner! · 10 Jun 2006 at 13:40

XtAsY said:
Well, the thought that is holding me back is that my current rig (3.2GHz P4 Northwood / 6800 GT / 1 GB RAM) seems to play all the current titles absolutely fine for my needs. I don't think theres going to be another game out more taxing than F.E.A.R until UT2007 arrives which is a long time yet so thats why I'm not sure about upgrading yet. I just dont know what to do

i have that Exact same rig (2GB ram though) and really tempted by the 939 boards and chips as they have had time to mature! in 2 months time im gonna assess the situation and see if its worth upgrading or not (pricewise)

crashuk · 10 Jun 2006 at 16:30

but you have amd eight-core in 6 months time from what ive been hearing.

Booner! · 10 Jun 2006 at 17:19

crashuk said:
but you have amd eight-core in 6 months time from what ive been hearing.

can they even thread a dual core yet? so how usefull would 8 be to a gamer?

Tommy B · 10 Jun 2006 at 18:37

If you're poor, AM2.

If you're rich and have too much money, 939 as you can change at any time you wish.

jonathanm · 10 Jun 2006 at 18:56

Qwert_y said:
Go AM2. Prices have been reduced recently to be competitive with 939

i agree, ive just gone am2 from a p3 and its great, really cheap as well