Lookin into a64 setup. Got a few mins, help me out

[asim]

Hey guys. I dont think ive actually posted here before but ive been a member for a while.

I toasted my p4 mobo, cpu and ram. Lookin to rma the ram and buy a new cpu and mobo. Jus dunno what to do.

I was looking into gettin an A64 3400 but have been hearin bad things about them dying. That chip would be my top choice as im not willing to spend more for the fx-51.

Ive also looked into two different motherboards. The Asus K8V Deluxe and Abit KV8-MAX3. Ive heard tons of different stuff about both mobos and how they are both great for overclocking.

Also need to pick a heatsink. thermalright 948-U was at the top of my list.


Oh and ive got 2x512mb ocz pc3500 and ive been hearing about incompatibilities.

Fill me in. Thanks for any help you can give me.

[`schr0et]

The stuff your hearing about A64 chips dying is because of many of the users vmod and set their PSU to provide a high 3,3 line. Since the memory controller is on the CPU itself it causes the CPU to overvolt I guess. But this isn't a sure thing, as it only happens to some people on some NF3 boards. Haven't heard it happening to anyone with a K8T800. But of course this is only based on my observation so I would make sure to do a search thread on dead A64's to make sure.

The 3400+ is a great CPU in many overclockers minds, if your on a budget get the 3200+. The only reason people would get the 3400 over the 3200 is because the multipliers are locked on the A64's so that you can't go over the multiplier that the processor is naturally rated to run, but you can go under it. Per se the 3400+ is 200x11, so you can run any fsb to say but you can't go over 11 multiplier. As opposed to the 3200+ which is 200x10, you can run any FSB again but you can't go over 10 multiplier. Which is a sticking point to some users who have phase change/tec cooling.

I currently have the Asus K8V K8T800 board, love it to death. Nothing but good things to say about it and my A64 3200+.

I have heard some heatsink/block mounting issues with the kV8 Max3 and in particular that weird looking tupperware they got hooked up to it.

About your OCZ 3500 EL, I haven't heard of any issues regaurding that. The only issue I have heard is that of ram rated PC2700 that don't read correctly on some motherboards.

Hope this helps you.

:toast:

[asim]

Hey thanks for the reply. Ive been reading through the forum for the past couple of days and have gained alot of information about the new a64's.

If i went with a amd setup i'd be getting.

a64 3400
Shuttle AN50R

Then i'd upgrade to a nforce 3 250 mobo once they came out.

The other option was to go p4 cause the 3.4ghz northwood has come out and in comparison to the a64 3400 both look equally good. But the amd setup would be a nice change and i know they run cooler. Plus once the new nforce mobos come out there would be a nice pci/agp lock too. Making overclocking nice. :D

[`schr0et]

Well yes the AMD would run cooler, but if your a gamer the AMD64 completely slaughters all P4 in OpgenGL and DirectX, so if yoru mainly going to be doing office work/programming/benching then the P4 is for you. But if your a gamer then the Athlon is for you.

[asim]

It varies. Im having to use office applications for uni work. Will be using dreamweaver, photoshop and flash this semester. But how much of a difference will i really see using a p4. I mean i like to game alot too. Im online gaming most of the time. Rainbow six doesnt require graphics, its a 6 yr old game. But my new games. Battlefield, medal of honour, nfs, midnight club 2. All that need the speed.


Its very confusing. Im wanting an all round good use system. Most for gaming and would like to do some overclocking cause i jus love to see what i can get out of the system.

[`schr0et]

Its a rather big margine of difference when you compare P4 to AMD in terms of gaming. Some games will show as little as 20 fps difference some as big as 60 FPS difference.

AMD64 really does have the upper hand at the moment, because its faster than any processor in its price range in many applications. Best bet right now is to get an A64.

[asim]

Alright cool. I'll go with amd. But I have to wait till my RMA goes through for my old cpu. I found out today that they might have lost my package :eek:

Tracking shows they accepted it. But when I emailed them they said they still havent recieved it.

This is komplett by the way.

And on another note I cant seem to find an a64 3400 instock in the uk. Everywhere seems to either be out or not sell them at all.
:rolleyes:

[`schr0et]

Just do a search on the forums as to where to buy A64's in Europe. I'm sure some results will show.

If that fails just go to www.google.com and type "Where to buy A64 3400+ AND europe"

Hope that helps ;)

[asim]

Thanks. But its like overdue EVERYWHERE. its like the whole uk shipment was delayed or something.

[asim]

Does anyone know whats actually going on with the uk release of the processor. Im hearing something about this friday.

[berk]

overclockers.co.uk has them in stock,great prices too.

[asim]

Originally posted by thebeast
overclockers.co.uk has them in stock,great prices too.

They aint actually instock. Says 4-7 days before they get them. And now the only place in the uk that i was gonna be able to get a shuttle AN50R from have temporarily shutdown their site.

Nothing is going right. I actually needed my system this week aswell so as to get started with uni work.

Tell me whats the deal gonna be in december. See the motherboard and cpu im buying right now, my dads paying for cause my old one went BOOM. And the the upgrade i do in december i'll pay for. So im wondering what kinda stuff is gonna be out in december for me to upgrade to.

If theres somethin completely different coming out then theres no point in me worryin soo much cause anythin i buy is gonna go outta date anyway.

I think intel release the socket 775? And amd with their socket 939. Pci express and ddr-II aswell?

[texuspete00]

Wow! Your going to get a new system in December? Yikes I'd be boring and go with a 2.6C or cheap ass Athlon XP. High end stuff is always cool but I dont think anyone can honestly say they need more than a good ol' (becoming ghetto) OC'd 2500+ to play games and do university work for the next 10 months.

Your december "upgrade" may be a better time to go big. Choices then... well Socket 939 will probably hold the lead on precotts for gaming through most of next year. Intel is going to be forcing people into PCI express on there chipsets, but via and friends will have a lot of tranisitional platforms for both AMD and intel. DDR II is supposed to be a lot of money next year. The MHz will be there but the latencies are crap so I'm not sure if it's a good choice. Maybe it will be price competitive (with enough MHz to make up for timings) by the december, not sure. Again, tranisitional boards will probably be available - with this or that but not that that other thing ;) - in this year.

I guess if you have the monies a 3000+ or 3200+ wouldnt be too bad. Just a lot of platfrom changes coming around. I'm on my last socket A setup. I will probably not upgrade much this year, which is somewhat unusual, and hold out and buy everything at the same time in several months on a entire system. Want my next setup to have all the goodies I'll want and need like socket 939 and PCI-express graphics cards support. DDR II is wait and see totally.