Athlon 64 X2 4800+ vs Athlon 64 3700+ vs Athlon XP 3200+

Computer Forum CPU, Motherboards and Memory
1

Hi bois. I have XP 2400+ with Gigabyte GA-7N400-L and 1 Gig DDR 266. This thing is workable, though, recently I’ve been having problems.

I’m thinking of upgrading, CPU, Mobo, and memory. I’ve decided against AM2, AM2+, AM3, no thanx. Because I have too many PCI devices, and I go that route, I’d have to buy everything else, and I simply don’t want to do it now.

My choices:

Socket A, GA-7N400 Pro2 + Athlon XP 3200+

Socket 754, GA-K8NSNXP + Athlon 64 3700+

Socket 939, ??, Athlon 64 X2 4800+

With my current CPU, I could pull another 5 years out of my setup, no problems, I have XP 2400+, and I can do eBay, Vegas Pro, CodeGear, I do it all. Though, I’m in need of memory and a new board (old board is acting up), thus my considerations.

So my question to all of you is, in relation to Athlon XP 2400+ how fast each and single one of those CPUs is? Let’s say my 2400+ is 100%, in terms of % what will I see, approximately from each and single one of those. I will be running stock speeds for stability and longevity.

Notice that I’m going for maximum supported CPUs on those boards, that’s not cheap, and I will probably go for something slower, but I need to get my bearings straight.

As far as Socket AM3 and above, I will wait for 12 core CPU, and if I have money, if not, I’ll give it 5 years or so, and purchase it cheap. One more thing, please don’t hate on socket 754!!

And yet another thing, the board I want should have 5 PCI, 8x AGP, preferably a gap between AGP and PCI, so that a video card that takes two slots can fit in. Then I want 4 PATA connectors, SATA is optional, but recommended (I use SCSI), Firewire is a good thing too, frees one PCI slot, onboard network. Not a lot of people make those kinds of motherboards, with 5 PCI slots, especially not the newer once!!! If you know something, recommend it to me.

P.S. This computer will receive its last upgrade from me, another 5 to 10 years from it, and I’ll build a new one if I’m rich by that time, or alive for that matter.

2

If you are dead set against an AM2/AM3 board then I would go with any of the X2’s. Anyway here are the Passmark CPU scores for all of the processers you mentioned. The 4800+ comes out ahead by doubling the score of the 3700+.

Athlon XP 2400+ : 100% PassMark CPU Lookup
Athlon XP 3200+ : 114.52% http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+XP+3200%2B
Athlon 64 3700+ : 135.75% PassMark CPU Lookup
Athlon 64 X2 4800+: 304.03% PassMark CPU Lookup

You have to take that all with a grain of salt though for two reasons.

  1. It is a synthetic benchmark. It will give you a general idea of how they perform though.
  2. I’m not even sure you can say that a CPU that has double the score of another actually has double the performance. But, like I said, it should give you a general idea.
    Lastly, I made the percentages completely based on the scores relative to the 2400+. Good luck with your build!
3

Ok here is what I have found out.

Socket 754 is lacking dual channel 128 bit memory support, AND, CPUs for that socket are more expensive. Thus 754 is out of the window because I could go 939 cheaper.

Basically, be it A, 754, or 939, it all comes to around $200 to $300 (for motherboard, fastest processor, and 4 gigs DDR400). Yes, AM3 setup is cheaper and faster, but that way everything else I have in my beast have to go to junk yard, and I’m old school.

Thus my course of action is to get socket 939 motherboard, and athlon 64 processor, and that will last me at least 5 years. Plus with my old board and processor I will be able to build a windows 2003 server for home, to serve DNS, firewall, etc.

4

What PCI items do you have? Because the onboard sound for an AM3 and other items maybe be better than some ancient PCI board’s.

The only reasons to go with add-on cards would be for better performance or to offload work from the CPU. Well, the performance gains are probably none, and the workload won’t need to be offloaded because it would make almost no noticable difference due to the newer processors’ power. You might want to consider that.

5

I have:

Tuner PCI card
Sound PCI card (I need 2nd sound card)
SCSI PCI card
PATA PCI card
Fireware card
Brand new AGP 8X video card

I have 3 PATA hard drives, 2 SCSI hard drives, 2 DVD burners, a floppy, and a PATA ZIP.

It’s not worth to go PCI-E, since I’d have to buy a new video card, a new tuner card, a new sound card, and a new SCSI card, we are talking $300 to $400 if not more. Then I believe new motherboards don’t come with PATA, I’d have to buy new SATA hard drives, that’s another $300.

Overall, my current setup with Athlon XP 2400+ should work for me another 5 years. I don’t see needing another processor until they drop support for XP. However, I could use a little upgrade, since my motherboard is messing up on me, I bet that is due to my previous AGP card burning up. Thus, I’m getting a new motherboard, Athlon XP 3200+ processor, and 3 or 4 Gigs of memory. If I play my cards right, everything should cost me about $150. Plus, I would sell my old motherboard and recover $50.

Thus, $100 for what I’m doing now. VS. build everything new and spend a lot more.

I’m a guy who is able to use my natural born instincts and thought, unbiased from outside propaganda fed to us over television. Based on history and fact, which could be verified in popular literature, it is pretty obvious that stock market will crash in about a year. I know it is rising now, that’s because the lords of stock markets, the Rothschilds, are allowing it to rise, so the suckers invest. It will crash, and 2nd 9/11 false flag attack should follow, involving WMD. Why do you think they bombing Pakistan now, nuclear nation? This means several things, extreme hardships, revolution, and a lot of dead people. Of course if you get your education from FOX news, then this is a conspiracy theory. Basically, for this reason, I am not ready to whip out $1000+ for a computer of my present dreams. I rather invest into food, guns, and ammunition. Then just sit and wait, and see what happens. I could always build another computer later on, and I heard they have plans for 12 core CPU next year.