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Socket 754 - Clawhammer or Venice core?

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Soldato
Joined
20 Apr 2004
Posts
2,743
Hello,

I've got the opportunity of doing one final CPU upgrade to my socket 754 system to make it last another year or so and wondered what would be the best way to go.

3700 Clawhammer CPUs are the top of the range for 754 and are hard to find, but they do come up occasionally and I reckon I could get hold of one sooner or later. Alternatively, the Venice core 3000/3200 for socket 754 is now around and they are sure to be a great overclocking chip and would be quite a bit cheaper than the Clawhammer.

I'd be grateful for opinions on what would be the best way to go.

Thanks :)
 
Get yourself on a certain auction site as there are a few 3700+ Claws on there. They were going for up to £190 recently but there has been quite a few dumped on there at the moment and it is showing in the prices/lack of interest.
1. 7Hrs 21 mins to go £99.99 only 1 bid.
2. 10 hrs 56mins to go £36.01 7 bids.
3. 2d 10h 54m to go £10.75 only 2 bids.
There's also a couple of 3400+ newcastles there with no bids.

Venice's do tend to be better clockers but my 3700+ claw will hit 2.795ghz on air and is prime and memtest stable and hopefully i may get more when my WC rig is complete.
 
The 1MB cache clawhammers generally aren't that great at overclocking. I had a 3400+ 1MB DTR that did ~2.4 GHz but needed a significant voltage bump to do so. Luckily I managed to sell it for a good price. :)

The venice is pretty much an improved newcastle core so there isn't really a good reason to go for anything older than that unless of course you are looking to run with a high multiplier and reasonably low HTT.

Probably the best options would be a CPU with the newark core if you can find one at a decent price. I've read the top end models can hit 3 GHz.

I make do with a Sempron 2800+ for now and I run at 2664 MHz with 1.65v using a Freezer 64 Pro and it's very close to providing the same performance as the 3400+ DTR did at 2.4 GHz.
 
Mobile cpu's are very problematic on desktops and very few motherboards will run them properly. AndyP on here got a Newark 4000+ but his motherboard will not run it. Last i heard was that he was having trouble finding a compatiable motherboard at all.

If you can get one of those cheap 3700+ cpu's from auction then go for it. They are still all the same price and a overclock to almost 2.8ghz is nothing to sniff at. The extra cache helps too.

I had a 3400+ claw before my 3700+ and i could'nt get that past 2.4 ghz and that was'nt particularly stable. My 3700+ will get to 2.795ghz with only 1.55v. Bloody motherboard will not let me give it any more.
 
Yeah I know what you mean about mobile S754 CPUs on desktop motherboards. But there are a few motherboards that do run mobiles perfectly such as the MSI K8N Neo Platinum and the DFI UT NF3 250Gb (with a bios update). The Turion mobiles are often mentioned in CPU compatibility with latest BIOS or specification updates these days so it looks like AMD have slackened off a bit with regards to their disproval of mobiles running on desktop motherboards.

EDIT: I remember about AndyP, I've wondered when he'll post an update on his Biostar TForce problems (RMA due to it blowing up :eek: ) and how he's getting on with that Newark of his.
 
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I think he went back to a laptop actually. Bloody shame really. I think he still has that Newark.

I did'nt know the K8N Neo Platinum liked mobile cpu's. I have one in my pre upgrade pc that i have put back together and am going to sell. Pity it's AGP though. I wonder if it's a NF4 thing as the ones that seem to support them are all NF3 boards.
 
I've even seen a few NF4 and 6100/6150 S754 boards show they support Turions either in the motherboard specification or via a BIOS update so it's looking like more of a shift in AMDs previous disproval of mobiles on desktop boards rather than technical reasoning.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I'm leaning towards a Clawhammer but am still looking closely at the Venice.

I just came across these specifications on a website. Can anyone confirm that this is definitely the Venice 3200 for socket 754?

AMD Athlon™ 64 Details
Processor AMD Athlon™ 64
Model 3200+
Ordering P/N (Tray) ADA3200AI04BX
Ordering P/N (PIB) ADA3200BXBOX
Operating Mode 32/64
Stepping E6
Frequency 2200Mhz
HT Speed 1600
Voltage 1.40V
Max Temp 69°C
Thermal Power 59W
L1 Cache 128KB
L2 Cache 512KB
CMOS Technology 90nm SOI
Socket Socket 754
 
str said:
I've even seen a few NF4 and 6100/6150 S754 boards show they support Turions either in the motherboard specification or via a BIOS update so it's looking like more of a shift in AMDs previous disproval of mobiles on desktop boards rather than technical reasoning.
Click to expand...


tforce 754 tbh
 
Considering the heat produced and the power consumed by the old Clawhammer, I'd definately get the venice - the venice core also has slight performance benefits over the newcastle and clawhammer that potentially reduce some of the difference of 1Mb cache over 512kb cache. Newer tech for the w1n!
 
That's a good price for a 3200+ Venice. Only 512 L2 though but should be a good clocker as most of the Venice's are. Did'nt know the 3200+ Venice was available yet. Only seen 3000+ ones available before.

One of the 3700+ Claws went for £118 on the auction site. Thats way less than the £180-190 they have been going for. The other is sitting at £42.99 with a day and 9hrs to go. Still might be worth watching. They don't run hot at all with a decent cooler. Mine idles at 29 degrees and full load is 40 degrees. Hardly hot.
 
My Clawhammer 3700+ has been running a steady 2.7ghz for nearly 2 years now :eek:. Just upgraded from a MSI K8N-NEO due to a dead GFX card to a NV8/X1900XT and still running strong on the PCI-E platform.

One of the best chips i have ever owned and one of the ones that has lasted the longest and still has the grunt behind it.

They go pretty cheap now. Seen plenty second hand for under 100 notes.
 
adam cool dude said:
They go pretty cheap now. Seen plenty second hand for under 100 notes.
Click to expand...

Well if you could point me in the direction of any cheap Clawhammer 3700 CPUs (without breaking the forum rules of course) I'd be much obliged :)

The ones I've seen recently at auction have all made £120-£130, a couple even higher.

Other than that the Venice core 3200 is looking like a good proposition.
 
There's going to be a Clawhammer 3700 and a mobile 4000 for sale very soon, as well as some other tasty bits and bobs.

Monday if I get chance - they'll be in the members market :)
 
I take it you could'nt get that Newark to work in your mobo then?

Bloody shame that. I would take it off you but i have the same mobo as you know. It seems to me that most of the mobo's that take a mobile are nforce 3 and so are all AGP. :(
 
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