Old School hardware question-939

[Zebeon]

As seen in the specs I have a s939 4000+ chip which is a single core, so there is starting to be a few games that I can't play.

My brother has the same setup with a different graphic card.

My question is if I could pick up a opty chip for say 50 or less would it be worth it since it is a dual core cpu.

I have seen on the forums and on fleebay esp. opty 165 for not much money, they say they will OC to 2.x and sometimes 3.x on a good air cooler.

Would this be a worth while upgrade to keep my 939 rig going a while longer or a wast of money... Mostly an upgrade for my bro- as he don't have the cash to rebuild right now-

My rig play most game decently, but like new games ie Saboteur and BF2 will not run, and the opty may not make enough different to play them.


Thanks

[mechtech]

If you can get that chip for a cheap price it would be a good upgrade, since it can usually OC to 2.4Ghz without any issues and higher with a voltage bump.

You will notice a decent difference going froma single core to a dual core also.

If I recall correctly some games like BF2 run best on 2GB + ram

[Batou1986]

if you could get one real cheap it would help i used to play bf2 css dow tf2 and the like on my opty. it was a 165 stock 1.8 ghz i got it to 2.8 easy and my board and ram where holding it back

[erocker]

If the dual core is cheap enough, it's definitely worth it.

[hat]

Definately upgrade to dual core, if the cost is cheap enough to justify not moving to a totally new platform (as you describe it, it is)

[Zen_]

An Opteron 165 was my first dual core, had it on an MSI Neo4-F @ 2.8 GHz as I recall. In regards to BC2 specifically, my C2D @ 3.75 GHz was barely enough for multiplayer where a quad is quite nice.

[Black Panther]

Just make sure it's the same socket, and you'll be fine.

[thebluebumblebee]

Did you see this: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=126922

[Zebeon]

Thanks for the quick reply's!!
Sounds like it would be a decent upgrade!
My bro really wants to play BattleField Bad Company- I think that is the new one right.... and Saboteur- without breaking the bank...

So I am hoping it will upgrade it enough to be playable! LOL

Thanks for all the input guys!

Originally Posted by thebluebumblebee

Did you see this: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=126922

I did see that- very temping- but what is up with the top of the chip being taken off... does that matter much....?

[FreedomEclipse]

my single core FX-55 & overclock AMD64 3000+ run BF2, L4D, L4D2, CoD:Mw1 & almost every valve/steam game just fine. just fine. i think you mean Bad COMPANY 2

not tested that game on my single core as i only boot them up once in a blue moon (its my back up rig)

Id say definitely go for the Opty 165 if you can the motherboard you have is a really good one so unless you have extremely bad luck, you should be able to get some decent clocks. good luck anyway

it would be cool to find out how well BC2 plays on such an old system.

.:Edit:.

Just to add to that since i see you have 2Gb - try nabbing yourself 4Gb of ram & upgrading to a 64bit O/S if you can. dont worry, the opty supports 64bit computing.

ore ram would greatly help with the load times of games. and I would do that without even thinking about it was me keeping an old machine like that around for gaming

[Zebeon]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

my single core FX-55 & overclock AMD64 3000+ run BF2, L4D, L4D2, CoD:Mw1 & almost every valve/steam game just fine. just fine. i think you mean Bad COMPANY 2

not tested that game on my single core as i only boot them up once in a blue moon (its my back up rig)

Id say definitely go for the Opty 165 if you can the motherboard you have is a really good one so unless you have extremely bad luck, you should be able to get some decent clocks. good luck anyway

it would be cool to find out how well BC2 plays on such an old system.

.:Edit:.

Just to add to that since i see you have 2Gb - try nabbing yourself 4Gb of ram & upgrading to a 64bit O/S if you can. dont worry, the opty supports 64bit computing.

ore ram would greatly help with the load times of games. and I would do that without even thinking about it was me keeping an old machine like that around for gaming

I did mean bad Company 2... sorry-
I will try and post back here if I make the upgrade and let you know how it works.-

Good call on the 2G or ram- Would it be smart to plug in 2G more in the other mem slots or buy new and get 2x2G thought I had heard something about all 4 slots doesn't let it OC as well... or am I dreaming?

[brandonwh64]

The only thing i didnt like about 939s were most were DDR1 boards. it wassnt til AM2 launched that 939 got a couple of DDR2 boards

[FreedomEclipse]

it would be better to have 2x2Gb, a 'full stack' stresses out the mem controller and will effect overclocking.

make sure you use a 64bi OS though or you'l end up losing a lot of ram as 32bit can only see about 3-3.5GB. and GX2 will also effect how much ram your systems sees. so dont turn into the incredible hulk n throw the pc out the window when you can only see a little over 2.5Gb if you boot up with a 32bit os.

if you plan to keep this old rig on the road. especially for a gaming machine then it would be wise to upgrade the ram n get the most out of it before it eventually gets too slow for anything else but Warcraft.

but as it is - it would run most MMORPGs no problem but you dont play them games so it doesnt matter

[Batou1986]

bad company 2 is not going to be playable on anything 939skt ddr1 no matter how many upgrades you do. now Battlefield 2 is a different story

[Zebeon]

I will keep that in mind...
I appreciate everyone's input!

I am kind of keeping an eye on this:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=126922

But what is up with the top part of the chip off.... does that matter or does it glue on?



edit:

Originally Posted by Batou1986

bad company 2 is not going to be playable on anything 939skt ddr1 no matter how many upgrades you do. now Battlefield 2 is a different story

so no bad company 2.... that is a bummer.......... I can already play battlefield 2....
Sorry had the wrong one listed earlier.......

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Batou1986

bad company 2 is not going to be playable on anything 939skt ddr1 no matter how many upgrades you do. now Battlefield 2 is a different story

no harm in trying. minimum requirements states that you need a 2Ghz core 2 duo to play BC2 and a 7800GT/ATI X1900.

the opty obviously doesnt compare to a Core 2 but if the opty was clocked way past 2Ghz it maybe able to run pretty well. but obviously without all the graphical bling that most of us run the game at. unless the game requires something from the Core 2 Duo Architecture - like a certain instruction set or something (SSE4.1??)

[brandonwh64]

S939s go for a pretty penny on Ebay. you could sale the motherboard/CPU/RAM and get a nice AM2+/AM3 setup i would say

[Zebeon]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

no harm in trying. minimum requirements states that you need a 2Ghz core 2 duo to play BC2 and a 7800GT/ATI X1900.

the opty obviously doesnt compare to a Core 2 but if the opty was clocked way past 2Ghz it maybe able to run pretty well. but obviously without all the graphical bling that most of us run the game at. unless the game requires something from the Core 2 Duo Architecture - like a certain instruction set or something (SSE4.1??)

Very true- If I can pick one up cheap enough- might be worth a try-

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

S939s go for a pretty penny on Ebay. you could sale the motherboard/CPU/RAM and get a nice AM2+/AM3 setup i would say

that is an idea also- Didn't know they were expensive on ebay?? Any idea what I might expect for the system in my specs on ebay?

[Batou1986]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

no harm in trying. minimum requirements states that you need a 2Ghz core 2 duo to play BC2 and a 7800GT/ATI X1900.

the opty obviously doesnt compare to a Core 2 but if the opty was clocked way past 2Ghz it maybe able to run pretty well. but obviously without all the graphical bling that most of us run the game at. unless the game requires something from the Core 2 Duo Architecture - like a certain instruction set or something (SSE4.1??)

the reason it says core 2 is due to the fact that a 2.8 ghz DC 939 based cpu has about 25% of the processing power of a core 2 @ 2.8ghz

now u may be able to get bc2 to run at 640x480 and hold 30 fps but i doubt it, i was just trying to say that it would not be worth trying to play as the performance would greatly hinder your ability to play the game.

i had an opty at 2.8 2 gb of ddr400 x1950xt an ran into issues with dow tf2 bf2142 ect where the cpu was greatly limiting the game especialy in tf2 when there was more than 8 ppl in one particular area at a time

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Batou1986

the reason it says core 2 is due to the fact that a 2.8 ghz DC 939 based cpu has about 25% of the processing power of a core 2 @ 2.8ghz

now u may be able to get bc2 to run at 640x480 and hold 30 fps but i doubt it, i was just trying to say that it would not be worth trying to play as the performance would greatly hinder your ability to play the game

well, its all down to how well the opty overclocks - if not then at least L4D can run on it without a hitch.

dont strike the 939 out just yet

[Batou1986]

No strike the 939 out it would be a waste to spend 50s bucks on a cpu to see a 10% performance increase.

No amount of clock speed is going to make a 5 year old cpu run current games that was the entire point of them putting core 2 or equivalent on the package.

Not to mention your still held way back by ddr1 and the rest of the components of the computer, you can think what you want and recommend someone throw money away.

I would save up and get a nice 775 skt , core2, mobo and ram for ~ $200 and see a real performance increase

Now if you just want your older games to run better get the opty for 50 bucks and be done with it

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Batou1986

No strike the 939 out it would be a waste to spend 50s bucks on a cpu to see a 10% performance increase.

man, stop being so negative - you'l have a heart attack or something. I hardly think it will just be a 10% increase. sure the 939 isnt as fast as the Core 2 Duo but the OP isnt after Core 2 performance anywa - he just wants to get the most out of what hes got. of course it isnt going to take on a C2D, he never said it would be - and buying a opty & ram is cheaper then forking out for a completely new system 775 or not.

but your advice to upgrade has been taken into consideration & its upto what the OP wants to do

[p_o_s_pc]

as for the top being off of the opty chip you linked above it won't hurt anything just help lower temps but the die can be crushed/chipped/damaged easy. What cooler do you have?

[Zebeon]

Originally Posted by p_o_s_pc

as for the top being off of the opty chip you linked above it won't hurt anything just help lower temps but the die can be crushed/chipped/damaged easy. What cooler do you have?

Does it just glue back on?

GIGABYTE GH-PCU22-VG 105mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Been using this cooler FOREVER, my bro has the same one.

[thebluebumblebee]

I have 5 S939 systems in my house. The difference between the single and dual core is stunning. IF you can get a dual core at a decent price, go for it. Also, an upgraded graphics card will do wonders as well and don't worry about it being PCI-e version 1. Upgrading everything will cost at least $400, so $50 is well worth it. I believe the idea with removing the heat spreader on these chips is to increase cooling, but you must be very careful not to put too much pressure on them as that was also part of the heat spreader's job. I would not worry too much about the RAM. Finding 2x2 DDR1 will really set you back some dough.