New system build. Socket 939 - AGP graphics card?

[Andre Willey]

I'm in the process of planning either a fairly drastic upgrade, or more
likely a new-build and migration of current Windows XP Home system. UK
based, in case that makes any difference.

I've got an oldish Athlon 1GHz machine which I've upgraded about as far
as I'm happy doing, and really want to get something a lot faster for
realtime video, MPEG/DivX compression runs, potentially some PVR use,
etc. Not much use for games really.

I'm thinking of sticking with AMD processors and maybe an Asus mobo as my
current one has served me well. Although X2 is currently out of my price
range, I would intend to get a Socket 939 board & processor so I've got
that upgarde option when the prices come down. Not decided whether to
keep the case or just build from scratch and move the drives over. What
fans will I need for this modern heat-producing stuff?

My current graphics card is an ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 dual-head, but it's
AGP and most new boards seem to use PCI-Express - which I'm not really
all that familiar with, other than knowing I can't stick an AGP card into
it! The video-in facilities I bought it for will most likely be made
obsolete when I get a digital TV card (which will include video-in
anyway) so I may just get a new graphics card if sticking with my current
one (which is only 9 months old, sob!) will compromise the rest of the
system.

I guess I'm looking for some tips on what mobo/processor options I've got
open to me for a well-specified, fairly fast but not too expensive setup.
I think all mobos seem to include lots of USB 2 ports, Firewire, 7.1 on-
board audio & optical in/out, network, etc. ports. On-board RAID would be
nice for data security of big video files, but those drives will come
later.

I also want something that's going to be fairly simple to set up for
someone with some PC knowledge but by *no* means an expert DIYer! In
short, any advice you folks here can offer would be much appreciated...

Kind Regards,

Andre
--
Andre Willey

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[Bob Knowlden]

Andre,

While Newegg (www.newegg.com) may not do business in the UK, their web page
includes a selector that may show you more than you care to know.

Select AMD mainboards, Socket 939, and AGP 4X/8X.

Most of the boards will use either the nVidia nForce 3 Ultra, or the Via
K8T800 Pro chipsets. (There's a new chipset from ULI, the M1695, that will
permit boards to be made with both PCI-E and AGP slots with full performance
in both. It would permit a future upgrade to a PCI-E graphics card.
Unfortunately, cards with this chipset are not readily available, and may
not be for a few weeks.)

The nForce3 boards are supposed to have the best performance, but I have
been happy for nearly a year with my Asus A8V Deluxe (Via chipset). With the
newest BIOS, it is supposed to support all Socket 939 A64 chips, including
the X2. The board does not seem to be temperamental.

I have a 3500+ "Newcastle" (130 nm) CPU. The single-core ones to get these
days are the Venice (90 nm, 512 kB L2 cache) or San Diego (90 nm, 1 MB L2
cache) chips.

Also, the new 3800+ X2 is coming to the US market at or less than $400. If
you could bear the additional expense, it might give you the best
performance for your stated applications. (See
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2484.)

It may not make sense to worry too much about upgradeability. I don't recall
the details of what I've read of AMD's roadmap, but I believe that the
desktop CPUs are supposed to be moving to a new socket and DDR2 next year.

HTH.

Bob Knowlden


Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Ruel Smith]

The nForce3 boards are supposed to have the best performance, but I have

been happy for nearly a year with my Asus A8V Deluxe (Via chipset).

Supposedly, but Tom's Hardware's CPU guide has the chips running faster on
the KT800 chipset than the nForce 3. Benchmarks can be skewed, but they've
pretty much covered every major benchmark, so it's pretty accurate. I've had
great experiences with Via, but nVidia isn't known for writing the best
drivers. Howeve, I believe the newest chipsets from both have nVidia out
front in benchmarks.

It may not make sense to worry too much about upgradeability. I don't
recall the details of what I've read of AMD's roadmap, but I believe that
the desktop CPUs are supposed to be moving to a new socket and DDR2 next
year.

Socket M2. Supposedly, the new socket only brings DDR2 compatibility. I
guess it also provides for future sustainability for the X2 processor, as it
might eventually max out the socket 939.