What to choose

Maelstrom 2005-01-09 13:17:30 UTC #1

im about to build my 2nd (dedicated gaming) system and want your opinion on some things.

i know its going to be an AMD64 based system but not sure about the configuration.

processor
at the moment im looking at
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (S939, 2,4GHz, 512KB, Boxed)
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (S939, 2,4 GHz, 1MB, Boxed)

except for the cache there the same (afaik) so is the extra 512Kb cache worth the extra â‚¬100?
and i also looked at the FX serie but those are at least â‚¬100 more expensive as the 4000+. is the performance of a FX that much better that its worth the extra â‚¬100 (on the already pretty pricy 4000+)

motherboard

its between 2 boards;
Asus A8V-E Deluxe (Via chipset)
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (Nforce chipset)

main question, what is the difference between Via and Nforce chipsets which would you choose (please also tell why)

all the other things i already have or know what to use.
so tell me what you would choose and also importand why.

ThNx in advance

Dee-ehn 2005-01-09 16:39:15 UTC #2

As this will be a gaming system, I would advice to go for the 4000+ (as this really is a FX-53 CPU!). Games benefit from the additional cache memory. I think it's worth the 100 euri extra.

About the motherboard: get a board that can handle SLI. The NF4 chipset can do this. For instance, get the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI. In this way you can use two 3D cards at once and get some very nice performance. If that's too expensive for you, you can always choose to go with just one card and add another (identical) card later.

Is your budget limited or can you spend as much as you like?

Maelstrom 2005-01-10 10:59:25 UTC #3

i know the 4000+ is really a FX-53 but was just wondering if the performance gain is worth that extra money.
im not really on a budget (can spend a smuch as i want, its my own hard earned money) but i want to spend it wisely
spending more then â‚¬300 for just 0.6% performance gain is not worth it imho.

Dee-ehn 2005-01-10 13:01:30 UTC #4

The difference isn't that small :). The difference in performance between the 3800+ and the 4000+ is smaller dan the difference between the 3500+ and the 3800+, that's for sure. If I were a hardcore gamer I'd spend that extra 100 euri just to get that performance, but I do realize that's it's a lot of money for the relatively little gain.
Another option would be to get a 3500+ and OC it . That's the cheap solution. Never tried that one myself, but from what I read it's quite an easy thing to do...

If I were in your shoes, I'd either get me a 4000+ and just one video card, or I'd get a 3500+, OC it as much as possible and buy a second video card for SLI. The second system would require some creative engineering, but you'll get the most performance from your money

Maelstrom 2005-01-10 13:09:56 UTC #5

most likely its going to be a 4000+ with a X800XT PL. ED.
i kinda already have the X800XT so cant change to SLI (not really into SLI anyway)

Dee-ehn 2005-01-10 13:47:41 UTC #6

Well it's a nice setup, but too bad about the SLI part. It really boosts the performance.

Do you intend to get a SLI board anyway? I think I would to keep my options open for the future.

drpino 2005-01-10 14:06:04 UTC #7

i'd get a 90nm 939 3500+, OC it to 2.6/7 ghz and spend the extra money on other stuff (i.e. SLI board and vid card if it's for gaming).

Maelstrom 2005-01-10 14:17:31 UTC #8

yea i'll go for a SLI board but for now i will only use the X800XT so no SLI set-up right now. maybe in 6-12 months or so when there is a better supply of PCI-E cards and prices will be a bit lower

drpino 2005-01-10 14:28:12 UTC #9

so your x800xt pe is PCI-E? im not familiar with the MSI board, is it a PCI-E board or AGP? you could wait for the new DFI boards...they're supposed to be really nice.

you can read up over at my other online haunt: http://www.abxzone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=88

LOTS of useful information, especially if you're still making decisions on what to get.

good luck and let us know how it goes.

DjfunkmasterG 2005-01-11 10:08:57 UTC #10

I use the Socket 754 3400+ with the 1mb cache, as seen in my signature. I do Video editing from time to time so i need the 1mb cache. For even intense gaming 512k would be adequate for your needs. Take the extra cash and blow it on some other upgrades.

If you plan on doing video editing, get the 1mb cache 4000+

Maelstrom 2005-01-11 10:51:36 UTC #11

so your x800xt pe is PCI-E? im not familiar with the MSI board, is it a PCI-E board or AGP

yep, X800XT pe PCI-E version, MSI board is a socket 939 Nforce4 chipset based board.

I use the Socket 754 3400+ with the 1mb cache, as seen in my signature. I do Video editing from time to time so i need the 1mb cache. For even intense gaming 512k would be adequate for your needs. Take the extra cash and blow it on some other upgrades.

If you plan on doing video editing, get the 1mb cache 4000+

as i said its going to be a gaming only system.
all the decoding/encoding/video editing im doing on my workstation (dual xeon 3.06Ghz with 2Gb memory and hardware SCSI raid set-up)

DjfunkmasterG 2005-01-11 10:58:04 UTC #12

As far as Motherboards go...

If you are using an ATI video card, do not go with the MSI with the Nvidia chipset. The Mix of ATI video and NVIDIA chipset will not mix well and will cause you some issues.

The MSI is a great board, the ASUS is a great board.

The VIA chipsets can be funky at times, as well as the Nvidia. However over at the AMD official forums even the Hardcore AMD experst recommend the ASUS board when using ATI cards.

If you're using an NVIDIA, which by other posts it looks like you aren't, then go with the MSI.

Maelstrom 2005-01-11 16:56:09 UTC #13

ok thnx for your input
really liked the black PCB of the MSI tho
:rolleyes:

drpino 2005-01-11 17:52:23 UTC #14

i don't think it's necessarily true that it's a bad idea to mix nvidia and ati components (specifically mobo and vid card). if you set everything up correctly, you shouldn't have any problems That being said, the Asus A8N has a black PCB too.

DjfunkmasterG 2005-01-12 06:07:20 UTC #15

It may not be in your face issues! however there are some issues. I love MSI products, I build and sell machines to people on mid budget ranges and I use MSI boards as often as i can for them. However I find the ASUS boards to be the better boards when building A64 machines. Especially when using ATI cards.

Dee-ehn 2005-01-12 08:16:40 UTC #16

Hmm I've already built several A64 systems based on MSI and Asus boards, with both ATi and NVidia videocards. All are still running fine, very fine.