Which AMD socket is "in"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cyde Weys
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Cyde Weys

Please tell me if I've read the situation wrong but it seems to me like
Socket AM2 is "in", to the point where it's not a wise decision to get
anything else (by AMD, anyway). Socket 754, 939, and 940 seem to be
superceded by this new Socket AM2, and all of the latest and greatest
chips will be coming out for AM2, right? Or am I reading this
incorrectly?
 
Please tell me if I've read the situation wrong but it seems to me like
Socket AM2 is "in", to the point where it's not a wise decision to get
anything else (by AMD, anyway). Socket 754, 939, and 940 seem to be
superceded by this new Socket AM2, and all of the latest and greatest
chips will be coming out for AM2, right? Or am I reading this
incorrectly?
Click to expand...


Socket 939 is sometimes a little cheaper (mostly the board,
the CPUs are now getting close), offers similar performance,
allows reusing your current DDR(1) memory IF it's PC3200 (or
PC2700 if you run an underclocked memory bus but that's a
horrbile performance so we'll ignore doing it for new
parts).

Socket AM2 allows using newer CPUs, support for more future
CPUs which will inevitably be far faster than anything made
for 939 at some point in the future, and the DDR2 memory it
requires is now slightly cheaper (sometimes), but will be
even cheaper in the future. AM2 also being the newer
platform means there might be more bugs that need bios
patches, but also more/newer features integrated on the
boards and/or design mistakes from the 939 era are
"hopefully" corrected.

Either is a reasonable choice, depending on what matters
most to you. If not inclined to go one way or the other for
any of the above reasons, get AM2.
 
Cyde Weys said:
Please tell me if I've read the situation wrong but it seems to me like
Socket AM2 is "in", to the point where it's not a wise decision to get
anything else (by AMD, anyway). Socket 754, 939, and 940 seem to be
superceded by this new Socket AM2, and all of the latest and greatest
chips will be coming out for AM2, right? Or am I reading this
incorrectly?
Click to expand...

AM2 is "in" but you can be fairly confident that it will be "out" in a year
or two :O)

First law of computing, whatever you buy is 'old hat' next year.
 
AM2 is "in" but you can be fairly confident that it will be "out" in a year
or two :O)

First law of computing, whatever you buy is 'old hat' next year.
Click to expand...


AM2 is supposedly going to support AM3 CPUs too, while AM3
looks to be for DDR3 memory. So essentially, buying AM2
allows forward support of the memory technology that will be
most cost effective for the next couple years.
 
Please tell me if I've read the situation wrong but it seems to me like
Socket AM2 is "in", to the point where it's not a wise decision to get
anything else (by AMD, anyway). Socket 754, 939, and 940 seem to be
superceded by this new Socket AM2, and all of the latest and greatest
chips will be coming out for AM2, right? Or am I reading this
incorrectly?
Click to expand...

It always depends on price , availability in your region and what you
plan to do with the board and your budget.

For a main system the AM2 like everyone says is the best option
obviously cause of the upgradeability. I havent checked in detail but
some people have posted fairly low prices already but I havent checked
if they are real or not. I also dont know how much the motherboards
cost. If the AM2 CPUs are cheap but the MBs which are grossly prices
when new , are high then it might not be such a good deal for people
on a tight budget.

If its low enough a 939 maybe a very good choice. In fact depending on
how tight your budget is --- some people just dont want to get above
150 or so and have some old DDR around, a 754 socket might even be a
decent choice though it will have very limted upgradeablity. My second
and third system are 754s cause of the cheapo prices they were selling
at.

At the moment Im thinking of keeping my X2 3800 and throughout the
year maybe pouncing on a cheap Conroe deal later on as my main system
or if AMD comes roaring back with some killer 65nm CPUs early next
year things might swing back to AMDs favor or if the X2s fall low
enough a 4x4 board might be interesting - two X2s on a MB.

My two 754s might go --- 3200 AMD and 2800 sempron for a Conroe and
Pent805D if its low enough.
 
For a main system the AM2 like everyone says is the best option
obviously cause of the upgradeability. I havent checked in detail but
some people have posted fairly low prices already but I havent checked
if they are real or not. I also dont know how much the motherboards
cost. If the AM2 CPUs are cheap but the MBs which are grossly prices
when new , are high then it might not be such a good deal for people
on a tight budget.
Click to expand...

Check out NewEgg: the AM2 mobo prices are very reasonable and pretty
much cost the same as boards with similar features of other socket
types.
 
Cyde Weys said:
Please tell me if I've read the situation wrong but it seems to me like
Socket AM2 is "in", to the point where it's not a wise decision to get
anything else (by AMD, anyway). Socket 754, 939, and 940 seem to be
superceded by this new Socket AM2, and all of the latest and greatest
chips will be coming out for AM2, right? Or am I reading this
incorrectly?
Click to expand...

That's correct,AM2 will be the prefered platform for AMD.They may release a
few new CPU's for the other platforms,but they won't be easy to find.
 
That's correct,AM2 will be the prefered platform for AMD.They may release a
few new CPU's for the other platforms,but they won't be easy to find.
Click to expand...


Depends a lot on when one buys and whether they plan to
later upgrade the CPU.

Supposing someone had an AGP video card, it might make some
sense to get value out of it for a budget system building on
socket 754. Supposing they only want to reuse DDR(1) memory
they have, socket 939 is a good choice. Replacing
everything, AM2 is then best, largely so your newly
purchased PCI Express video card and DDR2 memory have a
longer life, plus there are the rumors that even some (or
all?) socket AM3 CPUs may be compatible with AM2, but not
the other way around AM2 CPU wasn't supposed to work with
AM3 boards the last I heard.
 
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