Which socket should I get?

I'm putting together a new system, and I'd like it to be as upgradeable as possible. For AMD, which currently available CPU socket do you think will provide the widest array of future possible upgrades? Put another way, which socket will take the longest to become obselete?

 

Socket 939 is currently very popular at the moment. It supports Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX & Dual Core 64 FX. I can't see those processors going out of fashion quickly.

 

Cool. I notice that some of the Socket 939 boards listed on Newegg say they support Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64/Athlon X2, some say Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64, and some are only Athlon 64. Why wouldn't all motherboards with a particular socket support all processors that use that socket? I guess if I want the possibility of upgrading to an FX or X2 in the future, I need to make sure the motherboard specifically supports it. Am I right?

 

Yes you're right. It's all to do with the chipset onboard the motherboard.

 

Hmmm....now I have a problem. The cheapest 939 processor on Newegg is $174! That's not even a dual-core. That's gonna add about $100 to my cost, and I don't want to do that. But if I go with a 754 board to be able to use a less expensive CPU now, I can never upgrade to an X2 dual core (unless I'm seriously missing something.) Oh, decisions, decisions! Know where I can get a 939 processor for less than Newegg?

 

Ebay....

 

I agree socket 939 is the way to go, 754 boards don't have duel channel ram, 939 does. Hard to believe the price as at Ncix in canada they have the 3000+ for $152 canadian , like thats just over a $100 bucks american..

 

That would be around a 130 bucks american.

 

like I said just over 100 bucks american, LOL.

 

Yeah.... Fine, you win.

 

eBay wasn't much better.

What advantages does dual channel RAM offer? Do all 939 boards have it, or does it need to specify?

 

dual channel = double the speed in mhz.

 

Dual channel has about 1-3% improvemnt over standard single channel DDR. all 939 boards use dual channel, 754/940 boards dont use dual channels.

 

DDR400 means it runs at 400MHz, right? So witih dual channel, does that mean 800MHz?

If dual channel doubles the speed of the memory, why does it only offer approximately 1-3% performance improvement. Obviously other factors are involved, but what are those factors?

It turns out I'm really learning alot here. Makes me want to take a PC repair class. I took one (actually two) back in college a couple years ago, but of course none of this was covered. Oh yeah...because it didn't exist!

 

DDR400 RAM (PC3200) runs at 200mhz X2. If it's dual channel it's x2 again (800mhz).

Obviously the RAM has a threshold when it comes to speed. So dual channel doesn't increase the performance much...

 

In order to use dual channel, the motherboard has to support it and the memory has to specify it is dual channel, right? Will non-dual channel memory work in a board that supports dual channel, or is dual channel memory required in those boards? Will dual-channel memory work in non-dual channel boards?

 

All DDR RAM works in dual channel. DDR = Dual Data Rate.

 

No, DUAL CHANNEL IS NOT DOUBLE DATA RATE. They are two seperate items, google your information.

 

They are -not- required per say, but its recommended you carry identical sticks, different speeds/brands/latencies affect dual channel performance. Processes that are more demanding can cause stability issues.

 

I know they are two seperate terms...DDR still means Dual Data Rate.

Dual Channel is not Dual Data Rate ...it's just Dual Channel...

 

DDR400 is 200mhz x 2 = 400mhz, thats why its called DDR400. DDR 600 = 300mhz x 2 or 600mhz.

 

I know that, if you had read properly you would have seen I was replying to kosmickens question about dual channel memory. I was simply saying that all DDR RAM will work in dual channel mode.

Dual Channel & DDR are two completely different things!

 

er dual channel doesnt boost the speed to double the speed of the memory, it just means two channels are used instead of one doubling the bandwidth through-put.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual%2Dchannel

 

It's so funny!