price difference 939/AM2

  • Thread starter Thread starter DPH
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DPH

I've been out of the loop for a while since I built my system more than two
years ago. It's an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe with an AMD 3500+ Winchester. I was
thinking of upgrading my processor and noticed the AM2 chips are so much
cheaper than 939 based chips. I had been looking at 4800+ X2 for the 939
but found a place that will sell a combo ASUS board with an AM2 6000+ chip
for less. Can someone tell me why the seemingly better AM2 systems are so
much cheaper than the 939 in not just the cpu's but also memory. Thanks.

Doug
 
I've been out of the loop for a while since I built my system more than two
years ago. It's an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe with an AMD 3500+ Winchester. I was
thinking of upgrading my processor and noticed the AM2 chips are so much
cheaper than 939 based chips. I had been looking at 4800+ X2 for the 939
but found a place that will sell a combo ASUS board with an AM2 6000+ chip
for less. Can someone tell me why the seemingly better AM2 systems are so
much cheaper than the 939 in not just the cpu's but also memory. Thanks.

Doug
Click to expand...

Because the 939 is no longer made and is in short supply. The AM2 is
the currently manufactured processor.

Bill
 
I've been out of the loop for a while since I built my system more than
two years ago. It's an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe with an AMD 3500+
Winchester. I was thinking of upgrading my processor and noticed the
AM2 chips are so much cheaper than 939 based chips. I had been looking
at 4800+ X2 for the 939 but found a place that will sell a combo ASUS
board with an AM2 6000+ chip for less. Can someone tell me why the
seemingly better AM2 systems are so much cheaper than the 939 in not
just the cpu's but also memory. Thanks.

Doug
Click to expand...

It's Moores Law, the 939s are 90nm, the AM2s are 65nm. However as of this
week the current generation of A64s are the new Phenoms which are quad
core and use Hypertransport3 if they are plugged into a socket AM2+
board. The reviews of the Phenom have been universally awful, while they
improve on the socket AM2s they still fall well short of the current
Intel Core2s which are in the process of being replaced with faster,
lower power Intel Penryns. The Penryns are 45nm which is a generation
ahead of the 65nm process used by the AM2 and AM2+ AMD parts.

If you replace your motherboard then you will have to replace your RAM
also, all new motherboards are DDR2, your current system is DDR. If you
do decide to upgrade, wait until January when the mainstream Penryns
ship. The Xeon and Extreme version of the Penryn is shipping now, the
mainstream parts ship in January.
 
Thanks for the replys everyone. My thinking was wait until January at the
earliest if going for an entire motherboard upgrade. If one gets an AM2+
board, from what I've read, one would be somewhat furture proofed whereas
bailing out and getting an Intel system requires another motherboard upgrade
after the current cpu's run their course and another motherboard after that.
Even though AMD's are a little behind now they are also cheaper and
price/performance ratio is equal to Intel's offerings.
 
Thanks for the replys everyone. My thinking was wait until January at
the earliest if going for an entire motherboard upgrade. If one gets an
AM2+ board, from what I've read, one would be somewhat furture proofed
whereas bailing out and getting an Intel system requires another
motherboard upgrade after the current cpu's run their course and another
motherboard after that. Even though AMD's are a little behind now they
are also cheaper and price/performance ratio is equal to Intel's
offerings.
Click to expand...

Intel has done a much better job of maintaining motherboard compatibility
than AMD has. Socket AM2 is the first time that AMD has maintained
compatibility across generations at least in the A65 family. They started
with sockets 940 and 754, then went to 939, then to AM2. AM2+ parts are
supposed to work in socket AM2 but I suspect that socket AM3 parts won't
work (they are supposed to but they will be going to DDR3 on that part so
they may end up punting DDR2 compatibility).

Your best bet would be a Penryn on an X38 chipset.
 
Intel has done a much better job of maintaining motherboard compatibility
than AMD has. Socket AM2 is the first time that AMD has maintained
compatibility across generations at least in the A65 family. They started
with sockets 940 and 754, then went to 939, then to AM2. AM2+ parts are
supposed to work in socket AM2 but I suspect that socket AM3 parts won't
work (they are supposed to but they will be going to DDR3 on that part so
they may end up punting DDR2 compatibility).

Your best bet would be a Penryn on an X38 chipset.
Click to expand...

X48 chipset might be even better, but Intels s775 isn't going to last
much longer, AM2/AM2+ no doubt will outlast s775.
 
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