Greetings,

Perhaps a local hardware guru could give me some advice about upgrading...

I just purchased a 7900GTO since it was such a good deal. However, I now need to upgrade my motherboard since I don't have a PCI-E slot....

Currently I have a Athlon 64 3000+ S939 and 1GB PC3200....

I read today that AMD is discontinuing S939 (!) pronto, which throws a wrench into my plans to merely get a S939 board with PCI-E and continue on my way. I don't want to be stuck with a board that I could never upgrade, since I also planned on moving to an X2 CPU early next year

Is it worth it to get the S939 board and get the last of the fastest S939 CPUS as they phase out (and plummet in price) in the next 2 months; or must I move to an AM2, in which case I am forced to purchase a lower/mid range CPU to match it right now.

If I get an AM2 board am I forced to ALSO upgrade to DDR2 ram or can I temporarily use regular DDR ram on those boards?

Thank you

yeap - read about the 939 thingy, but i know that there will still be Opty's on eBay so i can still get a quick cpu! However i also think that it isn't true, or at least, not entirely...

You'll be able to get S939 chips for a while yet, even if they're not coming out with new models you can get impressively fast ones which can only drop in price as AM2 gains popularity. Abit do some good S939 PCI-E boards at a reasonable price. I recently upgraded to an S939 based 3400+ system and I'm not worried about availabilty of faster chips when I next need to upgrade.

AM2 is exclusively DDR2 as far as I know.

remember, new CPU's (the 4x4 and the new FX-70's) may need new Sockets (ie the 1,207 (!) pin Socket F), rendering anything you do now worthless

My bet? Get an A8N-SLi (what i have - woo!), then flash it to the premium Bios (lets you adjust voltages for overclocking) and your set with a 939 Mobo that VERY good, you can pick one up for ~£50, so cost isn't great. Then if you want a CPU either go for a 3800 X2 (good overclockers if you want to, if not then you might like a 4400X2,a lthough it could be overkill), or if you are fine with overclocking go for an Opty (Opty - Opteron, server processors really, but the 1xx's are 939 and overclock to immense speeds, ie 3 GHz (works out as a "5000" by AMD's naming system) on air cooling (although you'd need a new fan to do it), while being very cheap (ie the 144, which reaches 2.9-3,1 GHz depending on the stepping when overclocked, retails for £90!)

Quote from Jakg :

3800 X2

I wouldn't buy one of them. My current proc bitch slaps them (3000+ Winnie, slightly overclocked). Though production of S939 has stopped, the ammount of chips AMD throw out each year, you wont have any problem finding one. Though upgradeability would be limited to the current top end chip for S939.

Though this is just personal biasism, I wouldn't got for ASUS. But that is just because I'm biased to DFI. If you went AM2, you'd be forced to go DDR2. So you'd need bigger pockets then you'd like for the upgrade. Stick to S939, it might have had production ended, but it still has many years left in it. Unless you're one of these people who likes to brag about having the latest and greatest hardware, there is no need to grab AM2 as of yet.

I upgraded to this motherboard this week and its running great.
runs 939 and AM2 940 CPUs

Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 (Socket 939 & Upgradable to AM2) AGP & PCI-Express


CPU - Socket 939 for AMD Athlon™ 64FX / 64X2 / 64 processors
- FSB 1000 MHz (2.0GT/s)
- Supports HyperTransport Technology
- Supports AMD Cool'n'Quiet Technology
Chipset - Northbridge: ULi M1695
- Southbridge: ULI M1567
Hybrid Booster - CPU Frequency Stepless control
- CPU Multiplier
- ASRock U-COP
- Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G)
Memory
- DIMM slots: 4 supported
- Supports DDR400
- Max. capacity: 4GB*

*Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® XP and Windows® Vista™. For Windows® XP 64-bit and Windows® Vista™ 64-bit with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.
Expansion Slot
- 1 x Future CPU Port (Supports CPU upgrade from AMD K8 939-Pin CPU to AM2 940-Pin CPU through AM2 CPU Board)
- 1 x AGP8X/4X slot , 1.5V only
- PCI Express x16 slot
- PCI Express x1 slot
- 3 x PCI slots
* Compatible ATiX300 and X300SE series cards list
Graphics - n/a
Audio - Realtek 850 7.1channel AC'97 audio codec
LAN - Realtek RTL8201CL 10/100 Ethernet LAN PHY
- 802.3u, WOL supported
Connector - 2 x SerialATA connectors support RAID,0,1,JBOD
- 1 x SATA2 connector (based on PCI E SATA2 controller JMB360)
- 2 x ATA 133/100/66 IDE connectors (supports 4 x IDE devices)
- 1 x Floppy connector
- CPU/Chassis FAN connectors
- 20 pin ATX power connector
- 4 pin ATX 12V power connector
- Power LED connector
- CD audio in header
- Front panel audio connector
- 2 x USB 2.0 port pin headers (to support extra 4 USB2.0 ports)
Rear Panel I/O ASRock 8CH I/O
- 4 x USB2.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN port
- 1 x Serial port (COM1)
- 1 x PS2 Keyboard connector
- 1 x PS2 Mouse connectors
- 1 x Parallel port (LPT1)
- 2 x Audio ports to support 8 Ch audio ( Line In/Out, Mic In)
BIOS Feature - 2Mb AMI BIOS with ACPI, SM BIOS 3.0, PnP
Support CD - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software
- SATA driver and utility
Hardware Monitor - CPU Temperature Sensing
- Motherboard Temperature Sensing
- CPU Fan Tachometer
- Chassis Fan Tachometer
- Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore
Accessories - Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O shield
- Floppy/ATA 133 cables
- 1 x SerialATA data cable
- 1 x SerialATA 1-to-1 power cable
Form Factor - ATX, 305mm x 244mm
OS - Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/XP 64-bit compliant
Certifications - FCC, CE, MS WHQL

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

Though this is just personal biasism, I wouldn't got for ASUS. But that is just because I'm biased to DFI

DFI>Asus HOWEVER if people like Kustom PC mag have difficulty setting one up, then it might be a big problem for others, plus they really are only for t3h 1337 overclockers, and they ain't cheap!

EDIT - ASRock are Asus' "Budget Brand" - so how come it can do 939 and AM2? How does it do it?

Thanks for the replies so far; I'm leaning towards the S939 for now.

Opterons are still expensive over here... I had heard that they didn't overclock all that well (over at madshrimps) but that was when they first came out. Apparantly the price is set to drop on them, so that might be an option though.

Having to shell out for DDR2 ram is doesn't make me happy right now. I also prefer the NForce chipsets, although that ASROCK board looks kind of cool too. My current choice is the A8N-E (NF4 Ultra; should be handy for overclocking)

Upgrading to 2Gb ram is on my list, but now with DDR2 running rampant it's another semi-redundant thing to do. At least in my head it is.

This "great deal" on my vid card is costing me a lot more all of a sudden LOL.

I didn't even realize I needed a better PSU, so the emergency this weekend will be MB & PSU

Then I will wait for the S939s to drop a little more in price (maybe even go for the Opteron) and grap a CPU & extra GB ram in a month or two. Then I will wail and complain next summer when AM2 6000+s are cheap (ya right)

Thanks for the help guys, more feedback is always welcome.

EDIT:
Although I hear what you guys are saying, I still have apprehensions since when I purchased my current MB, I was errantly informed (at the shop) that "AGP will still be around for years, no need to worry about PCI-E right now" so I got the AGP board like a retard. If I didn't, I wouldn't be in this position. It seems like technology that should stick around in theory seems to vanish off the face of the Earth because people are lemmings. Since I plain can't afford not to though I must stick with the S939 platform for now....

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Opterons are still expensive over here... I had heard that they didn't overclock all that well (over at madshrimps) but that was when they first came out. Apparantly the price is set to drop on them, so that might be an option though.

Opterons are expensive, however their are cheap ones, look on eBay for the "Opteron 144", as the 200's are proper server peices of kit, and have a price to match

From looking at places like DFi street, Overclock.net etc it seems certain Opty's really overclock, some don't, but to quote Kustom PC, they got the "worst stepping" 144 (overclocking wise), and they still took it to 2.61 GHz with a stock cooler

(Oh - and i have a 4000 San Deigo, 90 Nm version, currently runs at 2.7 Stable, but will go to 2.8 until it crashes (probably due to my VERY cheap ram!), this is with an aftermarket cooler (Hyper 48 with the fan at the lowest speed as my Mobo won't give it enough power - ghetto molex mod or a new case fan added to the top will fix that!), although to get any faster i also need to tweak the mobo to give me more vCore)

EDIT (at your edit) - AGP was old when you got it, 939 isn't old, and the decision to drop it seems VERY stupid on their part, however PCI-e is here, and will be here for quite some time

If you're interested in the ultimate transitional board, check out ASRock's Conroe board with both AGP and PCI-E, and DDR and DDR2. It's also extremely cheap.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2810

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2813

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2814

You'll still have to buy a new CPU and motherboard but for now you can keep your video card and memory. With higher performance components, however, you may see some performance hit compared to more traditional boards.

Quote from Jakg :

DFI>Asus HOWEVER if people like Kustom PC mag have difficulty setting one up, then it might be a big problem for others, plus they really are only for t3h 1337 overclockers, and they ain't cheap!

EDIT - ASRock are Asus' "Budget Brand" - so how come it can do 939 and AM2? How does it do it?

Yes the ASRock is a budget brand i ordered it because my old board went tits up, or so i thought it turned out it was my power supply. so i left this board in just to try it. no problem yet.

if you look at the board you will see one yellow socket. it will be a cartridge type thing that will fit in there, and CPU will go into the cartridge.

right - so basically the 939 is jut an "adaptor" that fits in a special slot on the mobo, and the CPU fits in the adaptor? if so - nice!

The cheapest option would be to return your 7900GTO to the shop and exchange it for an AGP card, or if thats not possible sell it for minimal loss and buy an AGP card.
If u dont want to do that , buy a Nforce4 based motherboard and plug in an opteron 165 later.(cheapest dualcore opteron, about 150€ now and clocks up to 3ghz on air) Only the Athlon 939 chips have been discontinued, opty's will be produced well into 2007. So u should be able to find one easy enough later on.
Also newer games do take advantage of 2gb of ram, so u might consider spending 60$ on an extra gigabyte when u buy a game that really needs it.


Jakg : check this review of that Asrock ,has some pics that show how the AM2 conversion works (basically works like a risercard)
http://www.ocinside.de/html/re ... rock_939sli32_esata2.html

the 939 CPU fits into the motherboard the normal way. the yellow port is for the AM2 940 CPUs. you just set the jumpers, and its AGP and PCI Express so its the best of both worlds.

not bad for £46
saying my last board was Abit AV8-3rd Eye. and i see no deference in speed. but at least i can make another pc now out of the Abit board.

ah - does it THAT way - i see....

Quote from Jakg :

DFI>Asus HOWEVER if people like Kustom PC mag have difficulty setting one up, then it might be a big problem for others, plus they really are only for t3h 1337 overclockers, and they ain't cheap!

EDIT - ASRock are Asus' "Budget Brand" - so how come it can do 939 and AM2? How does it do it?

Pish, DFI boards are easy to setup. The stock settings work fine for "normal" people, they only get confusing when you start tweaking settings.

I'd never use a board like those two ASRock ones. They are great for people on an uber shoestring, and can't afford to upgrade the whole system at once, but your motherboard can hold back your whole system. One of my mates skimped out on his mobo and it crippled his system.

A high quality mobo can give you not only better features for OC'ing and what have you, but also better preformance, you should never buy budget.

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Thanks for the replies so far; I'm leaning towards the S939 for now.

Good idea, coz with AM2 you need DDR2, and to get ne performance increase over S939 you need to get the high quality stuff (6400 800mhz), And i dont know about over there but here in aus prices have sky rocketed (My 2GB corsair kit cost me $450 and is now $570) So ur best staying with 939 and not needing to spend heaps on RAM

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

...

Well, a DFi is on my "wishlist", but so is some more fans and some decent ram!

Anyway, has anyone tried http://wiki.extremeoverclockin ... igy2_to_Audigy2ZS_Softmod ?

Quote from Jakg :

Well, a DFi is on my "wishlist", but so is some more fans and some decent ram!

Anyway, has anyone tried http://wiki.extremeoverclockin ... igy2_to_Audigy2ZS_Softmod ?

Try not to forget that too many fans can have a reverse effect on your cooling.
But you could buy a DFI none lanparty (I forget it's name) which is about half the price, and has less fancyness. Or you could buy the Ultra-D and mod it into an SLi-D board.

Both can be had for under £100.

Well, i have a Hyper 48 from coolermaster, which is basically a VERY high quality fan with an ok 92 mm fan on top, 2 case fans at the front (80 mm), 2 at the back (one 80 mm mounted, one 92 mm ghetto fan slung under the graphics card, which will be removed when i get the sound card). I am planning on getting (...at some point) a Vantec 92 Mm Tornado case fan, and sticking that on top of my Hyper 48, it moves 120-odd cfm of air, double what my hyper does, and should keep it very cool, and for a tenner it ain't a bad price, either!

That, some decent ram and a bios volt mod shall see my 4000 running at FX-57 speeds (which just means going to 2.8 GHz) stably!

TBH im happy with my Asus A8N-SLi Premium right now - it does the job, overclocks well (...well, the vmod is needed to really overclock well), although not as good as the DFI for overclocking, it works!

Meh, I ended up getting the Asus A8N-E, and also upgrading to an X2 4200+ CPU, and another gig of ram..... Also threw a 300GB SATAII drive in there for good measure heheh Should hold me over for a bit with this config.

Thanks for all the replies BTW