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#1
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
I have been weighing up the value of these two processors
in a new system. It seems to me the two processors have fairly similar performances in most situations but that an AMD64 system is considerably more expensive at about £100 - £150 more (not so easy to compare as other items on the machines differ). I am beginning to think that the Semperon would be a better option for me because of the following reason - all the AMD64 systems I have seen available (at a price I am willing to pay) appear to be socket 754, so I will be paying a highish price for an end of line system with little or no possibility of upgradability. If that is the case then I may as well get the cheaper Semperon and use the fairly considerable amount of money I save to upgrade to a 939 system (new motherboard and processor) at a later date. Basically my only upgrade cost would be the new motherboard which at todays prices is about £60 because I will have to buy a new processor anyway. A few other points:- What are those card reader thingys and can I add one if it doesn't have one build in. Is the semperon 64 bit? Does it have cool and quiet? I think the answers depend on the processor model but I won't know what that is in store. Or maybe I should go for the AMD64 machine with a higher spec (and price) even if it is end of line? It would solve all my probs if I could get a 939 AMD64 but I don't want to spend more than £550 (well £500 really). It's all very confusing!! Why are the 939 systems so hard to find at a decent price when the motherboards don't actually cost much more (£10)? Seems to me its a question of clearing obsolete stock and the supply chain is basically a monopoly? (I am in the UK). |
#2
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
"Tad Confused" wrote in message ... I have been weighing up the value of these two processors in a new system. It seems to me the two processors have fairly similar performances in most situations but that an AMD64 system is considerably more expensive at about £100 - £150 more (not so easy to compare as other items on the machines differ). I am beginning to think that the Semperon would be a better option for me because of the following reason - all the AMD64 systems I have seen available (at a price I am willing to pay) appear to be socket 754, so I will be paying a highish price for an end of line system with little or no possibility of upgradability. If that is the case then I may as well get the cheaper Semperon and use the fairly considerable amount of money I save to upgrade to a 939 system (new motherboard and processor) at a later date. Basically my only upgrade cost would be the new motherboard which at todays prices is about £60 because I will have to buy a new processor anyway. A few other points:- What are those card reader thingys and can I add one if it doesn't have one build in. Is the semperon 64 bit? Seems some are and some ain't, will be hard work finding out what is in the box http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx Does it have cool and quiet? I think the answers depend on the processor model but I won't know what that is in store. Or maybe I should go for the AMD64 machine with a higher spec (and price) even if it is end of line? It would solve all my probs if I could get a 939 AMD64 but I don't want to spend more than £550 (well £500 really). It's all very confusing!! Why are the 939 systems so hard to find at a decent price when the motherboards don't actually cost much more (£10)? Seems to me its a question of clearing obsolete stock and the supply chain is basically a monopoly? (I am in the UK). |
#3
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
"Tad Confused" wrote in message ... I have been weighing up the value of these two processors in a new system. It seems to me the two processors have fairly similar performances in most situations but that an AMD64 system is considerably more expensive at about £100 - £150 more (not so easy to compare as other items on the machines differ). Basically my only upgrade cost would be the new motherboard which at todays prices is about £60 because I will have to buy a new processor anyway. And new RAM. Chances are that the new board will need DDR2 by that time. A few other points:- What are those card reader thingys and can I add one if it doesn't have one build in. You can add a memory card reader. There are lots out there and they are pretty cheap! Or maybe I should go for the AMD64 machine with a higher spec (and price) even if it is end of line? You need to ask yourself two basic questions... - Will I use this same machine, unupgraded for 2 or more years? - Do I plan to do any gaming on this PC? I built my current PC about 30 months ago. I didn't scrimp (but kept away from leading edge) so the machine has been a joy to use. I'm planning on replacing it finally, but only because we want a PVR. My current machine will take over the PVR function and I'll get a new machine. I probably could have used this PC for another year or two without any problems. So, if this machine will stay unupgraded within two years, get whatever technology fits your budget and plan to replace the whole machine at the end of it's life. This is usually the best strategy for most users. If you plan to upgrade bits here and there, then you need to plan your strategy. You can pick up a cheap socket 939 mainboard these days. A Sempron may do OK for a while. You really need to plan your upgrades in advance. If you are going to do any gaming, then forget about saving any money. Get a good processor, decent video card, then build your PC around that. 512meg of memory will be OK, but 1gig is better. Don't worry about getting super fast, low latency memory as it really adds to the cost - but don't get cheapo either. |
#4
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 00:58:59 GMT, "Tad Confused"
wrote: A few other points:- What are those card reader thingys and can I add one if it doesn't have one build in. I had one on my caompaq and I trashed my compaq soon after I got it. I disconnected the card reader that came free on that bareboens system I got cheap. It was a 3200 AMD 64 754 socket. I never use it. The only thing that could use it are my camera cards but I can easily use the USB cable that came with the camera to transfer data rather than taking the card out and shoving it into the PC card reader. For me it was hogging resources too in WIN XP. I tried to add a TV tuner to the Compaq and I kept getting out of resources warnings/errors. I was wondering what the heck that was and looked through device manager and found that if I disabled the card reader which was shown as 6 different devices I was able to install the tuner. The first thing I did was trash the case and the card reader and siwtched motherboards. A lot of the low end systems come with graphics builtin , microATX boards with 3 slots. This was a SIS chip MB from ASUS. I swapped for a nforce3 full ATX board and a new case. Is the semperon 64 bit? Does it have cool and quiet? Im pretty sure it does but not all are 64 bit. The older semprons werent the newer ones are. I thought by now ALL were 64 bit but I saw some posts from people who bought the FRYs deals - a US store that often has combo sempron + MBs on sale. They were differentiating the models of 2800 and 3100 semprons --- which were 64 bit etc. Some are said to OC better than others and they switched the manufacturing pricess from 130 and 90 nm on them. Once again I thought by now they were all 90 nm. The thing is - Ive always heard the semprons OCed well and Ive seen some tests in the past where they were darn close to the AMD 64 stock speeds after being OCed. However Im trying to find some reviews right now of OCed 2800s since I bought several of the combos Nforce3 + 2800 semprons and I want to see how close I can get to a 3200 or higher AMD 64. Ive got the 754 socket 3200 AMD 64 too like I mentioned and a 939 X2 dual core 3800. It would solve all my probs if I could get a 939 AMD64 but I don't want to spend more than £550 (well £500 really). In the US you can probably get that farily easily with rebate deals. I got my 754 socket system froim compaq for I think 200 bucks close to Jan/feb I think. People have gotten Compaq systems for lower since then. However that doesnt help ypu if you are in the UK of course. Why are the 939 systems so hard to find at a decent price when the motherboards don't actually cost much more (£10)? Seems to me its a question of clearing obsolete stock and the supply chain is basically a monopoly? (I am in the UK). Well the 929 isnt in the clearance phase yet. Maybe late next year youll see them clearance out and some systems cheap. That would happen far after the M2s were out and started coming down in price. Then the 939s would begin the phase out. But like I said 939 systems can be found reasonably cheap here but only with coupon/rebate deals during special sales. The processor surprisingly has held up or leveled off in price. Often graphics cards and processors and other things after falling to a certain point everyone expects them to keep falling at the same rate but they dont. They level off and sit there. The 3000 and 3200 AMD 64 for some reason I expected them to be under 100 by now since they had been falling fast but the sempron has taken the sub 100 space and the 3200 has stayed at the 140 level for a long time. That puts a floor on how low the systems will go to some extent. You can still find systems cheaper than 600-700 US dollars though fairly easily though all the low end systems are semprons and 754 64s. |
#5
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 01:03:20 GMT, "Tad Confused"
wrote: Seems some are and some ain't, will be hard work finding out what is in the box http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx A lot of places have it in their advertisements now sempron 64. I guess it will be hard to tell though if its in a system build and the builder doesnt want to say. See http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819104245 Check it with Central brain identifier after you get it. http://cbid.amdclub.ru/ The posts I see claim the 2800 doesnt have Cool N quiet. In Wikipedia it says 3000+ sempron 64s use cool n quiet. One post says dont use Cool n quiet when OCing. Ocing --- the 2800 people say they get 2.0-2.2 fairly easy putting it in 3200 AMD 64 territory. The 3100 up close to 3500 AMD 64 territory. |
#6
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
"Tad Confused" wrote in message ... I have been weighing up the value of these two processors in a new system. It seems to me the two processors have fairly similar performances in most situations but that an AMD64 system is considerably more expensive at about £100 - £150 more (not so easy to compare as other items on the machines differ). I am beginning to think that the Semperon would be a better option for me because of the following reason - all the AMD64 systems I have seen available (at a price I am willing to pay) appear to be socket 754, so I will be paying a highish price for an end of line system with little or no possibility of upgradability. If that is the case then I may as well get the cheaper Semperon and use the fairly considerable amount of money I save to upgrade to a 939 system (new motherboard and processor) at a later date. Basically my only upgrade cost would be the new motherboard which at todays prices is about £60 because I will have to buy a new processor anyway. A few other points:- What are those card reader thingys and can I add one if it doesn't have one build in. Is the semperon 64 bit? Does it have cool and quiet? I think the answers depend on the processor model but I won't know what that is in store. Or maybe I should go for the AMD64 machine with a higher spec (and price) even if it is end of line? It would solve all my probs if I could get a 939 AMD64 but I don't want to spend more than £550 (well £500 really). It's all very confusing!! Why are the 939 systems so hard to find at a decent price when the motherboards don't actually cost much more (£10)? Seems to me its a question of clearing obsolete stock and the supply chain is basically a monopoly? (I am in the UK). I actually just read a review on www.tomshardware.com (sorry dont' ahve the exact link, so a search for athlong 64 or sempron 64) but from their article they said it's best to go witha slower athlon 64 machine than a higher end semperon. (main reason that sempron is old motherboard and athlon can be bought on the new 939 boards (which ironically, are now going to be obsolete by the new M2 socket). I'm currently in the same suitation, looking for a cheap computer, and I think I'm going to go with an athlon 64 939 mainly because of a lot less limited upgrade path. (think about it, could get the cheapest 939 athlon and in a year or so upgrade to what is the fastest at this current time and save a bundle). if your not doing any gaming, thats how I'd go. |
#7
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
Heres another clue.
I got the 2800 SDA2800BA BOX - the BA as its sometimes referred to. The BX I definitely is 64 bits and SSE3. The BA -- was only 32bits but even they have the 64 bit enabled now. They started shipping them in the second half of 2005 so I imagine its relatively rare to find a 32 but nowadays but I may be wrong. The BA doesnt have SSE3 ---- not sure if its even slightly important or not. The one defintely 64 bit SDA2800BX BOX. Box I take it refers to the retail box version which i got with the board , meaning 3 year warranty and fan included. I also noticed some boxes on the 2800 series have 64 bit at the bottom right hand corner. The thing is these arent on all the 64 bit CPUs for some reason I think. Are they on the BX boxes and not the BAs ? Who knows. |
#8
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
wrote in message news On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 01:03:20 GMT, "Tad Confused" wrote: Seems some are and some ain't, will be hard work finding out what is in the box http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx A lot of places have it in their advertisements now sempron 64. I guess it will be hard to tell though if its in a system build and the builder doesnt want to say. See http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819104245 Check it with Central brain identifier after you get it. http://cbid.amdclub.ru/ The posts I see claim the 2800 doesnt have Cool N quiet. In Wikipedia it says 3000+ sempron 64s use cool n quiet. One post says dont use Cool n quiet when OCing. Ocing --- the 2800 people say they get 2.0-2.2 fairly easy putting it in 3200 AMD 64 territory. The 3100 up close to 3500 AMD 64 territory. I suspect that the machine I am looking at:- http://www.currys.co.uk/product.php?...amp_id=froogle uses this processor (its just says semperon not semperon64):- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Custra...82E16819104220 However the reviews for it are very positive even if it is not a 64. Mind you it might be this one (the 64) it's hard to say because the shop selling them is pretty useless but I somehow doubt they would miss the oppertunity to sell it as a 64. I guess I could go to the store and ask the useless staff if I want to waste my time, I hink I would need to open up the machine to be sure but I am sure there are some software progs which would confirm the identity of the processor (or something in the operating system) I could click (I would appreciate any help here as I am not familiar with windows XP, as I use W98 where the system icon in the control panel might help you. I find it really annoying that you cannot find out what you are buying and that even the manufacturers appear unable to supply the info. Maybe it would be better to get an Intel.!! |
#9
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
"Dr Nick" wrote in message news:S2A_f.6771$EA3.4280@dukeread10... "Tad Confused" wrote in message ... I have been weighing up the value of these two processors in a new system. It seems to me the two processors have fairly similar performances in most situations but that an AMD64 system is considerably more expensive at about £100 - £150 more (not so easy to compare as other items on the machines differ). I am beginning to think that the Semperon would be a better option for me because of the following reason - all the AMD64 systems I have seen available (at a price I am willing to pay) appear to be socket 754, so I will be paying a highish price for an end of line system with little or no possibility of upgradability. If that is the case then I may as well get the cheaper Semperon and use the fairly considerable amount of money I save to upgrade to a 939 system (new motherboard and processor) at a later date. Basically my only upgrade cost would be the new motherboard which at todays prices is about £60 because I will have to buy a new processor anyway. A few other points:- What are those card reader thingys and can I add one if it doesn't have one build in. Is the semperon 64 bit? Does it have cool and quiet? I think the answers depend on the processor model but I won't know what that is in store. Or maybe I should go for the AMD64 machine with a higher spec (and price) even if it is end of line? It would solve all my probs if I could get a 939 AMD64 but I don't want to spend more than £550 (well £500 really). It's all very confusing!! Why are the 939 systems so hard to find at a decent price when the motherboards don't actually cost much more (£10)? Seems to me its a question of clearing obsolete stock and the supply chain is basically a monopoly? (I am in the UK). I actually just read a review on www.tomshardware.com (sorry dont' ahve the exact link, so a search for athlong 64 or sempron 64) but from their article they said it's best to go witha slower athlon 64 machine than a higher end semperon. (main reason that sempron is old motherboard and athlon can be bought on the new 939 boards (which ironically, are now going to be obsolete by the new M2 socket). I'm currently in the same suitation, looking for a cheap computer, and I think I'm going to go with an athlon 64 939 mainly because of a lot less limited upgrade path. (think about it, could get the cheapest 939 athlon and in a year or so upgrade to what is the fastest at this current time and save a bundle). if your not doing any gaming, thats how I'd go. That is what I used to think however I an f**ked if I can find a athlon 64 at a reasonable price and the ones I can find are almost certaintly 745 versions. (it seems impossible to find out untill you have bought the machine). The situation I seem to be in is that I will have to pay an extra £150 for the athlon64 with a 200gig drive and 256 graphics as opposed to a semperon with an 80gig drive and 64meg graphics. I estimate the 200gig drive is worth £30 more so that leaves £120 for the graphics (which I aint to bothered about) and the AMD64 which is actually 745 anyway, so if I am buying an unupgradable system I might as well get the cheaper won (£400 v £550). The main problem is I can't find 939 systems and a 939 mobo dont cost that much (£60?) which is small compared to the £150 or much more I would have to pay for a 939 system. It's annoying though, I am gonna take a look on ebay. or |
#10
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AMD64 or Semperon, deal or no deal?
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 22:54:51 GMT, "Tad Confused"
wrote: I find it really annoying that you cannot find out what you are buying and that even the manufacturers appear unable to supply the info. Maybe it would be better to get an Intel.!! Well in this case its difficult cause its such subtle information. Its not like you are asking if theres a 3100 or 3400 . Also its prebuilt so they wouldnt know the exact chip details unless Packard Bell provided the info. You know I dont see that model at their site. In fact I didnt even know PB was still in business. The last time I saw one was in the late 90s when a neighbor bought one. They used to be a popular super low end brand like emachines but they seemed to have disappeared around here. Anyway I only see the 1308 which has a INTEL chip. Does that mean the 1309 is a new model? If thats the case they might be using new chips and it seems like ALL the new sempron 2800s and 3100s are ALL 64 bit now. Of course I cant guarantee that. I noticed there are cheap refurb models here Dont know the Euro mkt so this may be a sleazy seller or there may be some catch like shipping etc . These are refurbs though but they have some straight AMD 3400 systems for cheap. http://www.europc.co.uk/pages/Produc...aspx?PID=52240 |
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