AMD CPU hunt

[Slam]

I have a Shuttle XPC SN21G5 with a single core 3800+ that really struggles with modern browsers and anti-virus software running simultaneously.

Fastest cpu supported is a socket 939 Athlon 64 X2 4800+, obviously a dual core would help immensely but for some reason Overclockers UK seem to be out of any 939 processors!

Any ideas where to get this cpu? Alternatively, what shall I do with this PC? I'm running XP, perhaps Ubuntu would help?

 

[Duke]

You're too new on here to access the members market, so would suggest looking at auction sites. It maybe worth upgrading something like the hard disk, as they have improved a fair amount recently so can make a system quite snappy.

This Samsung F4 is a quick disk (assuming you don't need bigger) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-101-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=768

Also how much ram do you have?

 

[Uriel]

939 CPUs were eol a long time ago. The faster ones have a big mark up 2nd hand so I would look at lower end stuff like the 939 X2 3800.

Does your BIOS support dual core 939 Opterons?

With 939 prices as they ate though, I would consider selling the shuttle and RAM etc then replace with a more up-to-date net-top or mini-pc.

 

[Hagar]

1. Upgrade to 3-4Gb of ram if poss but XP will only see 3-3.5GB depending on your graphics card memory
2. OC using FSB, 225MHz from 200MHz should be acheivable and give a small boost. I found that the single core processors were much easier to OC than the X2 variety and I was getting 250MHz FSB quite readily.
3. Fine tune XP, get rid of bloat, check your start up menu and services for unwanted programs running in the background. See if you can get AV software that uses less resource.

andy.

 

[Slam]

Thanks for the replies.
- The PC has 2 gigs of ram.
- I'm not familiar with Opterons but if I understand the wiki entry correctly then no, not dual core. The Opterons supported are 144, 146, 154 and 165.
- I think an OS tune-up/re-install and a quicker HDD makes sense. Selling it would be smart too, but selling stuff always seems like a hassle and I just never get around to it.