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Overpriced AMD 939 socket CPUs

dylan_t_jones

dylan_t_jones

dylan_t_jones

Associate
Joined
2 Mar 2007
Posts
14
Location
Twyford, Berkshire
Today I was searching the web for AMD chips with 939 sockets. Mine is AMD3500 Socket939 and instead of buying a new rig I was looking at upgrading my processor to 4400-4800 x2. I couldn't believe how overpriced the AMD 939 socket chips are compared with AM2 socket. If you look at OcUK web page

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.20GHz (Socket AM2) £74.91
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ (Socket 939) £169.99

Even e-bay AMD 939 sockets chips are being overbid to high prices, and its difficult to find a 4800x2 chip. This suggests to me that AMD are ignoring a lot of people that still have motherboards with 939sockets, and that they should at least make more chips for people like me who don't want buy a totally new rig.

Let me know what you think and where I could get cheap chips. :)
 
dylan_t_jones said:
Today I was searching the web for AMD chips with 939 sockets. Mine is AMD3500 Socket939 and instead of buying a new rig I was looking at upgrading my processor to 4400-4800 x2. I couldn't believe how overpriced the AMD 939 socket chips are compared with AM2 socket. If you look at OcUK web page

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.20GHz (Socket AM2) £74.91
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ (Socket 939) £169.99

Even e-bay AMD 939 sockets chips are being overbid to high prices, and its difficult to find a 4800x2 chip. This suggests to me that AMD are ignoring a lot of people that still have motherboards with 939sockets, and that they should at least make more chips for people like me who don't want buy a totally new rig.

Let me know what you think and where I could get cheap chips. :)
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If you'd read the forum rules, you'd know you're not allowed to ask for competitors, so only someone with a suicidal desire to get thwacked with the ban-hammer is going to help you out on that front.

As to what I think, what you are looking at is supply and demand in action. You want a S939 CPU - that's the demand. They don't make them anymore. That limits the availability and drives up the price.

Based on your argument AMD should make Durons and Athlon XP3200 for people who don't want to buy a S939 chip. It's a dead socket - 5 months ago you could buy those processors for peanuts when there was oversupply. You missed out.

If you have AGP graphics then get yourself an ASRock 775i65 and an E4300, that'll use all your existing bits. If you have PCIe graphics - get the ASRock Quad-775VSTA and an E4300. You don't need a complete rig - just a new mainboard and CPU. You'll easily be able to sell your 3500 and that'll get some of the upgrade cost back.
 
Its a pity that AMD stopped producing the 939 chips if you consider that a lot of people are still interested in the chips.

To my 2nd reply the AMD3800x2 doesn't improve on my 3500 significantly when it comes to games, so I'm not going to waste £105. I've already upgraded by graphics card to 1950 pro AGP 512Mb so I was hoping to get more fps by going for AMD4400-4800, plus I like to occasionally dabble in video encoding and thats why I would like a X2 CPU.
 
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Go for an Opty 170 or something, they will easily clock to 4400+ speeds and higher if you are lucky. Can get those for £120 new off there.
 
i must admit i agree that AMD were stupid to kill of socket 939, and the world is daft to kill of DDR ram, there was absolutely nothing wrong with DDR until the annoying intel corporation came along and everyone seems to have to follow intels suit or else, DDR has died early :( so has socket 939, and for what, slightly worse performance/clock of AM2, thanks a 'BEEP'ing lot :mad:
 
The AM2 switch does seem to have been a mistake by AMD. Keeping 939 (and DDR) would have led to increased sales of their product. The switch to DDR2 is probably the biggest boo-boo.
 
"Socket 939 has been the most successful socket"..... discusss

That would be a good thread actually...surely the enthusiasts much loved socket.
 
I just recently made the move from an athlon 3700+ to a duos core. To think you can now pick up a duos core mobbo for £70 (certain ones will still use ddr i think so you won't need new ddr2 ram?) and then pick up a E4300 for £100 ish and clocking it (or even not clocking it). Its surely a better way to go than just buying a new 939 x2 cpu? Thats what i eventually decided anyway last week!
 
dylan_t_jones said:
Its a pity that AMD stopped producing the 939 chips if you consider that a lot of people are still interested in the chips.

To my 2nd reply the AMD3800x2 doesn't improve on my 3500 significantly when it comes to games, so I'm not going to waste £105. I've already upgraded by graphics card to 1950 pro AGP 512Mb so I was hoping to get more fps by going for AMD4400-4800, plus I like to occasionally dabble in video encoding and thats why I would like a X2 CPU.
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OK - if you have a decent AGP graphics card then get the ASRock 775i65 and an E4300. It will utilise all your other existing parts and best of all - only £130 incl. delivery for that lot. Even at stocl it'll eat an X2 for video encoding - that's what Intel's do best. Even P4's used to beat Athlon 64's for video encoding ;)

It's also an easy overclock to 2.7GHz (up from 1.86GHz) just by setting the RAM to 133MHz and then ramping up the FSB on the processor to 300. No voltage adjustment is required, just decent RAM so you can end up running it at 230MHz or so. Even if your RAM stops at 200MHz FSB (266MHz CPU FSB) it'll still be overclocked to 2.4GHz.

Sorry, but the budget enthusiast's socket of choice is now LGA775 and this a great board/CPU combination for AMD upgraders. 18 second SuperPi for £130 upgrade anyone?
 
Have people succeeded at getting 1200mhz (300) FSB out of 800FSB Core 2's on the ASrock 865 and Via boards?

In my personal opinion, it still makes sense for people with respectable 939/PCI-e setups to go get a second hand X2. I grabbed an Opteron 165 for £90 and dropped it straight into my pc, although I did consider an E4300 + ASrock Dual VSTA board. The way I see it, the Core 2 upgrade would've costed me more, the board could've potentially been a pants clocker and even if it could get me to 300FSB, I can't really say it'd be astonishingly quicker than my Opteron at the same speed, for what I do.

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So in short my opinion is, for a new build on a budget upwards of £400. Core 2 for sure. You'd be an idiot to do otherwise. But a cpu upgrade for a later 939 setup, just get a used X2.

Mul
 
intel and amd volume sales go to computer builders not stores for selling individually, its a tiny portion of the public. very very very few home users build/upgrade there computers, they just buy a prebuilt when old one feels a little slow. for them 939/am2 makes no difference, for amd it does.

there revenue went up 91% this year, intels went down 11%, boo-hoo, they are crying.

plenty of forum people just here went am2, the ones that did, and the ones that didn't are an insignificant portion of the market.
 
Mul said:
Have people succeeded at getting 1200mhz (300) FSB out of 800FSB Core 2's on the ASrock 865 and Via boards?

In my personal opinion, it still makes sense for people with respectable 939/PCI-e setups to go get a second hand X2. I grabbed an Opteron 165 for £90 and dropped it straight into my pc, although I did consider an E4300 + ASrock Dual VSTA board. The way I see it, the Core 2 upgrade would've costed me more, the board could've potentially been a pants clocker and even if it could get me to 300FSB, I can't really say it'd be astonishingly quicker than my Opteron at the same speed, for what I do.

---------

So in short my opinion is, for a new build on a budget upwards of £400. Core 2 for sure. You'd be an idiot to do otherwise. But a cpu upgrade for a later 939 setup, just get a used X2.

Mul
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I agree and hence bought a second hand 165 myself recently and upgraded to 2 gig of ram by getting 2 additional 512mb dimms. Still got legs imo.
 
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