Need help from a PC hardware weenie… I use to keep up with it, but it changes so much that eventually I’ve given up. Last December I did the best research I could and built a screaming new machine with an Athlon 4800 (socket 939), only to find out that apparently there’s a new AM2 socket coming out, rendering the 939 line essentially dead.
So basically this means that basically since my 4800 is nearly the top of the socket 939 line, my highest performance CPU upgrade option is the FX62 unless I get a new motherboard? That would suck.
That’s what it means. The 4800+ will still be high-end for a while though. When you’re ready for more speed a Core 2 Duo, motherboard and DDR2 will still cost you less than an FX-62.
December is almost a year ago. That’s like history, dude.
Isn’t the FX-62 an AM2 (940 pin) product? FX-60 is 939…
AM3 is on the horizon, too, if you want to stay AMD-centric. The AM3 will support DDR3, and there will be versions of chips that will run in a AM2 socket.
I went the opposite way and bought the cheapest Socket 939 system I could (I think it was $350 after rebate). Now, when they get cheaper, I can get a dual-core processor and keep the rest of my sub-system the same. But then again, I’m not looking for super-high performance.
AMD is better about it than Intel, but it’s still generally the case that by the time you want to upgrade a CPU, that something will have changed in memory spec, bus speed, PCI slot type, or some other component. I’ve always bought with intent to upgrade the CPU later…and I never have. I’m in the same boat - 939 and 4800+ dual-core.
For what it’s worth motherboards run $80 - $250 or so for good quality ones, and since you’re looking at high-end (probably $400-600) CPUs, a new motherboard tossed in there isn’t going to break your bank much.
Sure, it’s a hassle having to rebuild the thing, but you can keep the case, hard drives, cables, power supply, and maybe the memory, so you’re still recouping some of your investment. And it gives you the option of hopping to Intel if you want, although I think there are significant advantages to AMD even when the Intel chip set is slightly faster.
I think it sucks hard, you get yourself a dual graphics card mobo, put just one card in until you can upgrade, and before you know where you are, the cpu, memory and mobo ahave all changed, in less than 6 months
It does suck, particularly because I was waiting for 939 to come out because it had DDR2 support, and it was supposed to be the stable thing for years to come. But the reality is that most consumers don’t try to constantly keep up with performance and they don’t upgrade CPU’s. Bleeding-edge performance freaks are the only ones who do. The early adopters always suffer.
So how long can I figure before socket 939 is completely unbuyable? I built a socket 939 computer last August (which is like, ancient history, dude) and I had hoped to upgrade at some point.
I don’t know…I’m not much of a technophile, but I did buy my motherboard for about $80, and I bought my processor for $288 (maybe it was $298, I have to check my receipts). When I was looking, socked – oh great, now I forgot – x74? was running at $250 on the high end. What do you plan on doing with your cpu? I run games and gamble on-line. My friend who put it together said that my graphics card was doing most of the work. With the current games out now, I honestly don’t think I see a visual difference. Benchmarks, on the otherhand, are another thing… I guess it comes down to what you can appreciate, at least for me.