Do today's 939 mainboards work with dual core processors?

[Sebastian Krause]

I'm planning to buy a new computer the next month and have chosen to
buy a socket 939 mainboard with an Athlon 64 with Winchester
core. But I'm also thinking of upgrading to a dual core CPU in two
or three years, so the question is if current socket 939 chipsets
already support the dual core CPUs AMD is going to release?

Sebastian

 

[Derek Baker]

I'm planning to buy a new computer the next month and have chosen to
buy a socket 939 mainboard with an Athlon 64 with Winchester
core. But I'm also thinking of upgrading to a dual core CPU in two
or three years, so the question is if current socket 939 chipsets
already support the dual core CPUs AMD is going to release?

Sebastian

Apparently; the question is will you be able to buy a dual core socket 939
CPU in two or three years time? By then they'll have been on socket M2 -
1207 - for some time.

 

[General Schvantzkoph]

I'm planning to buy a new computer the next month and have chosen to
buy a socket 939 mainboard with an Athlon 64 with Winchester
core. But I'm also thinking of upgrading to a dual core CPU in two
or three years, so the question is if current socket 939 chipsets
already support the dual core CPUs AMD is going to release?

Sebastian

Supposedly there will be dual core 939s however no one knows if they will
be compatible with today's boards. There are lot's of things that can
happen that will cause them not to work, for example the latest stepping
of the existing A64 changed the thermal diode which caused a problem with
a lot of boards. Don't make your decision based on future upgradibity,
there to many unknowns. Make you decision on the suitability for your
current needs. The worst thing that can happen is that you'll have to buy
a new motherboard when you upgrade to dual cores but chances are that's
what you want to do anyway in three years. By then you'll want DDR-II or
maybe DDR-III, a new graphics card, and a new disk because the 200G drives
that are mainstream today are going to look pretty puny 3 years from now.

 

[Derek Baker]

Supposedly there will be dual core 939s however no one knows if they will
be compatible with today's boards. There are lot's of things that can
happen that will cause them not to work, for example the latest stepping
of the existing A64 changed the thermal diode which caused a problem with
a lot of boards. Don't make your decision based on future upgradibity,
there to many unknowns. Make you decision on the suitability for your
current needs. The worst thing that can happen is that you'll have to buy
a new motherboard when you upgrade to dual cores but chances are that's
what you want to do anyway in three years. By then you'll want DDR-II or
maybe DDR-III, a new graphics card, and a new disk because the 200G drives
that are mainstream today are going to look pretty puny 3 years from now.

Increases in disc platter data densities has slowed an awful lot lately.
200Gb may not look all that small by then.
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200407/20040729revisit_1.html

 

[Steve]

I'm planning to buy a new computer the next month and have chosen to
buy a socket 939 mainboard with an Athlon 64 with Winchester
core. But I'm also thinking of upgrading to a dual core CPU in two
or three years, so the question is if current socket 939 chipsets
already support the dual core CPUs AMD is going to release?

Sebastian

AMD has stated that any 939 board that supports the current FX55 will
support Dual-Core processors. A Bios update may be needed to
recognize the DC processor.

 

[Timbertea]

AMD has stated that any 939 board that supports the current FX55 will
support Dual-Core processors. A Bios update may be needed to
recognize the DC processor.

The question then becomes..Do you trust the maker of your motherboard to
update the BIOS to support it, or to try to make more money by selling
you a brand new motherboard that does...