Author Topic: AMD - athlon64, sempron, cores (Read 318 times)

hubsonfire · « **on:** December 22, 2005, 06:42:59 PM »

Looking to build a new box, on a tight budget. At this point, I have an Asus A7N8X-X, with an Athlon xp 2400+. Been a good machine, just about 3 years old now, and I'm going to have a little cash to spare after the holidays.

I'm going to be building another AMD machine, with one of the lower end 64s, most likely a 754 socket. The 2 mobo's I'm looking at are a GigaByte, GA-K8NS, and an Asus, K8N. Cheap, seem to have good reps, no extra stuff to break. Leaning toward the Asus, since this current mobo has been almost no trouble whatsoever.

However, the naming and all the various cores for the newer 64bit processors confuse the hell out of me. Sempron or Athlon64. Venice, Newcastle, Palermo, or Clawhammer. 2800 at 2.0 gig, or 2800 at 1.8 gig. A 3200 leaves San Diego, heading east at 1.08gig, while a 3000 leaves New York etc etc.

So, anyway, what's the basics on the newer Athlon stuff? My budget for CPU and Mobo is about $230, shipping and tax included. I want a good chip to put in this box, but I don't know how important L2 cache is, which processor stepping is better, which ones will run trouble free stock, which ones would need a better than stock HSF, etc. I don't plan on overclocking, unless I can do so simply, and without concerns of instability, heat dissip, or letting the magic smoke out of things.

Thanks,

SkyChimp · « **Reply #1 on:** December 22, 2005, 08:00:12 PM »

Go with asus!

Don't go with Sempron.

Get a newcastle or San Diego if anything.

You can get l2 cache don't think it will make too much of a diff tho

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38ruk · « **Reply #2 on:** December 22, 2005, 08:52:49 PM »

Ive had a k8n-e dlx Asus board in the past and it was rock solid , had decent overclocking numbers with it . Ive also had a 3400+ newcastle , with 512 l2 . I then had a 3700+clawhammer with 1mb L2 and saw no difference at all in performance , so the 1 mb l2 isnt worth any extra . the san diego's are only socket 939 iirc. For 754 64's the only core u can use are clawhammer and newcastle i believe. So that should narrow it down . As far as the heatsink , the retail box one is fine , and you can get a mild overclock without any issues . good luck 38

hubsonfire · « **Reply #3 on:** December 22, 2005, 09:23:25 PM »

As far as the cores, there's also a Venice core (3000), which I guess was an unexpected upgrade (seen remarks to that effect, no idea how accurate that thought is) for the 754.

I'm just trying to get some input regarding the difference in the cores/processor model.

Appreciate the input.

Hajo · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2005, 10:22:09 PM »

Very Happy with ASUS K8V SE Deluxe. Have been running an Athlon64 3400 for about one year. The above board also has the SLI option and the video is AGP. The Athlon64 3400 I have is the NewCastle. Also usually athlon cores run higher then advertised. Overclocking isn't really necessary. ALso running 2gig of PC3200DDR at 800mhz....this is a speed option on Memory in the BIOs on the ASUS board.

I've used all Athlon CPUs in the 10 to 15 I've built in the last 3 years and have nothing to complain about. I've also used ABit, and it's also performed well. Still....I prefer the ASUS for the BIOS and jumper free settings.

38ruk · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2005, 11:32:42 PM »

yep the venice slipped under my radar , it is based on a 90nm proccess compared to a 130nm process of the other s754 cpu's . Meaning it runs cooler. They did some benchmarks over at the bleedingedge site , and the performance is better by an average of 2 fps . it runs alot cooler , avg -4 degrees C . It would be the best choice for S754 in my book . thx for the heads up 38

hubsonfire · « **Reply #6 on:** December 23, 2005, 12:02:34 AM »

Awesome, wondered what the deal was. 139 for the processor, 60 for the mobo, both get good reviews, and it meets my budget almost to the dollar.

Merry Xmas, me.

SkyChimp · « **Reply #7 on:** December 23, 2005, 12:17:34 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by hubsonfire
Awesome, wondered what the deal was. 139 for the processor, 60 for the mobo, both get good reviews, and it meets my budget almost to the dollar.
Merry Xmas, me.

Grats g/l with new computer hub

~~Merry xmas!:aok~~

Slash27 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 23, 2005, 07:33:49 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by hubsonfire
As far as the cores, there's also a Venice core (3000), which I guess was an unexpected upgrade (seen remarks to that effect, no idea how accurate that thought is) for the 754.

I'm just trying to get some input regarding the difference in the cores/processor model.

Appreciate the input.

I read alot of good things about the 3200+ Venice on newegg.

bloom25 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2005, 08:01:08 PM »

The only thing I would add concerns the video card, as it's getting really hard to find good AGP video cards. If you want to go with Socket 754 for the cost savings, you may want to consider the Asus K8N4-E board so you get PCI Express and the nForce 4 chipset. This will allow video card upgrades.