What card to buy for X2 3800+ rig

[ChiSox]

Ahhh AM2 may be a little different but like you said why spend $100 on that old of a machine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162112

[AlienIsGOD]

The Don is going to mail me some DDR2 ram, so theres that taken care of

[Black Mesa]

Stick to onboard if you are not gaming LOL. I don't understand does the on board video not make the desktop and movie playback work LOL ?

[eidairaman1]

there is a bios mod but i dont feel you want to put all that work into such a machine just to support a Phenom 1

http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Threa...-Options--4998

[ChiSox]

Im sure its not snappy with on board and any card would be vastly superior.

Reading around, your board can handle up to 90w Cpus but its likely limited to a x2 5000.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by ChiSox

Im sure its not snappy with on board and any card would be vastly superior.

Reading around, your board can handle up to 90w Cpus but its likely limited to a x2 5000.

the board would require a bios mod and i dont think he is willing to go through that hassle Considering A64 6400 was vastly faster than early Phenoms.

check my previous post

My question is AlienIsGod what are you really using this system for?

[ChiSox]

Originally Posted by eidairaman1

the board would require a bios mod and i dont think he is willing to go through that hassle Considering A64 6400 was vastly faster than early Phenoms.

check my previous post

My question is AlienIsGod what are you really using this system for?

I agree in order to go to a phenom or a higher x2, you may need a mod but they issued that acer model with x2 cpus 4200 & 5000

[NC37]

Originally Posted by AlienIsGOD

i cant find any CPU support for this board, as in specific cpus that can be used. wondering if a 1st gen Phenom would work in it.

If it is a mass produced system then you might want to do a search based on the model of the machine. I did that for a friend of mine. His mom had some ancient 939 based HP with a A64 3500+. I had an X2 4200+ that I never used after AMD replaced my old 3800+. Later realized it was a bad board, not the CPU. So I just did a search for the model and for others who had tried out different CPUs. Came back with a lot of good results. Most from years ago but a lot of folks had taken the CPU out and dropped in ones like mine or better. The bios supported them.

Should be similar for 940 but you'll likely run into a block at one point becauce 940 covers so many CPUs and the hardware will just be too old to handle some of them. For the age of it, I wouldn't expect it to handle Phenom II. Phenom would be iffy. Heck I was running that on my n570 board. Seemed ok till I moved on to AM3+. Dropped an old 5000+ back in along with my old 8800GTS and gave it to another friend. Thing works better now than it did for me. Don't think the hardware was made for quad core CPUs even if it did support it.

[eidairaman1]

Ok Socket 940 which was Sledge Hammer (Opteron/Athlon 64 FX Gen 1) is not the same as AM2, AM2+ etc. The Pin counts are the same but the arrays are different and the CPUs memory controllers are different.

the board in that machine is AM2, lets please end the confusion

Originally Posted by NC37

If it is a mass produced system then you might want to do a search based on the model of the machine. I did that for a friend of mine. His mom had some ancient 939 based HP with a A64 3500+. I had an X2 4200+ that I never used after AMD replaced my old 3800+. Later realized it was a bad board, not the CPU. So I just did a search for the model and for others who had tried out different CPUs. Came back with a lot of good results. Most from years ago but a lot of folks had taken the CPU out and dropped in ones like mine or better. The bios supported them.

Should be similar for 940 but you'll likely run into a block at one point becauce 940 covers so many CPUs and the hardware will just be too old to handle some of them. For the age of it, I wouldn't expect it to handle Phenom II. Phenom would be iffy. Heck I was running that on my n570 board. Seemed ok till I moved on to AM3+. Dropped an old 5000+ back in along with my old 8800GTS and gave it to another friend. Thing works better now than it did for me. Don't think the hardware was made for quad core CPUs even if it did support it.

[AlienIsGOD]

I just want the system to play video properly as the Geforce 6150 LE is super weaksauce. I know a friend has an X2 4400+ laying around, maybe i can snag that off of him.

Also, i didnt know the diff between 939/940/AM2 i just posted what core temp had listed for socket type. AMD CPUs are somewhat foreign to me.

I want a budget card for gaming reasons also, a 6150 LE wont really handle Steam games. I dont mind spending $50 or so on this rig as I have 2GB ram in it now (a friend randomly stopped by with 2 x 1GB DDR2 667) and 2GB coming to me in several days from The Don.

[Cruise51]

I'd bet any Windsor or Brisbane core will work fine without a update. Just make sure you get one that does not exceed 95 watts tdp. Some of those chips go over 3Ghz and still have reasonable tdp. Just as an example, a quick look on ebay turned up a Athlon X2 6000+ 3Ghz Windsor 90nm 89watt AM2 chip for 50 dollars. Might be able to find something around 2.6-2.8Ghz for 30-40 dollars.

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

I have a s939 running a 4400+ and a Nvidia 7300gt under Linux. It does a great job for what it does. But when I do retire it from crunching for good I will jam in at the very least 2 8800gtx 's in sli of not faster cards ( still in sli) and make it one hell of a win xp gaming machine for my older games.

[AlienIsGOD]

I think i've decided to go with HD6450 http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=038372 and im going to grab this Corsair 430w PSU http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=038031

Thats $100 total to make this project worthwhile i can always take the PSU and GFX to my daughters build next year.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by AlienIsGOD

I think i've decided to go with HD6450 http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=038372 and im going to grab this Corsair 430w PSU http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=038031

Thats $100 total to make this project worthwhile i can always take the PSU and GFX to my daughters build next year.

dont have to fuss with drivers too much.

[Jstn7477]

Hopefully your sound should work alright with the AMD card.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

Hopefully your sound should work alright with the AMD card.

heck the audio from the GC could technically be better than the Mobo Audio

[Jstn7477]

Originally Posted by eidairaman1

heck the audio from the GC could technically be better than the Mobo Audio

True, but the problem I mentioned actually affected both the onboard sound and the HDMI audio, rendering both non-functional. Tried every trick in the book and cannot get a 200 or higher series card (with exception of the GTS 250 probably) to play nice with any of my nForce4 systems (3 socket 939 boards and a GF6150/430 unichip s754 board).

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

True, but the problem I mentioned actually affected both the onboard sound and the HDMI audio, rendering both non-functional. Tried every trick in the book and cannot get a 200 or higher series card (with exception of the GTS 250 probably) to play nice with any of my nForce4 systems (3 socket 939 boards and a GF6150/430 unichip s754 board).

not even disabling the onboard audio fixes that issue?

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

True, but the problem I mentioned actually affected both the onboard sound and the HDMI audio, rendering both non-functional. Tried every trick in the book and cannot get a 200 or higher series card (with exception of the GTS 250 probably) to play nice with any of my nForce4 systems (3 socket 939 boards and a GF6150/430 unichip s754 board).

Thanks for posting this jstn7477. That is so great info for us that are still running s939 system to know. So If I replace the onboard sound with a card I should be fine right.

[Jstn7477]

Originally Posted by eidairaman1

not even disabling the onboard audio fixes that issue?

Nope, it's something to do with the BIOS and/or nForce4 not being able to handle two devices on a PCIe port. May be some kind of crazy IRQ problem, but so far I haven't discovered a solution other than using a video card from that time period such as my 7600GT.

I will test with a PCI and USB sound cards sometime this week to make sure you can at least get around that, Mad Shot.

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Cool man. The onboard sound on my Sli s939 board is fried anyway. I have been using a Sb Audigy 2 Platinum in it.

[AlienIsGOD]

So the store i go to has no HD 6600 series. They did offer me a HD 6790 for $69.99 brand new I know this is waay too powerful for this system, but @ $70 i think its too good a deal to pass up on.

[ColdCheese]

My current HTPC is a skt939 4200+ with an HD6450, the only gaming I do on it is emulaters. Personally I wouldn't sink money in ancient tech when you can buy a Pentium 1155 4gb for close to $200 and a slightly slower AMD equivalent for even less if you shop around. Add a used HD6850 for $100ish and OC the snot out of it if your on a bare bones budget.

[AlienIsGOD]

PSU and GFX are being used in this rig until i can afford a mobo, CPU, and a case for my kid. The goal is to have it built by Xmas. This rig is merely a media machine in my room used for music and full time WCG.

Like I said $70 for a NEW 6790 is too good to pass up and just makes me want to get my daughters rig built all the quicker that card will be more than enough for a 10 year old girl who plays flash games and Diablo 3 (if she has her own rig she can play all the time, whereas right now she has to wait until im off my PC).

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by AlienIsGOD

PSU and GFX are being used in this rig until i can afford a mobo, CPU, and a case for my kid. The goal is to have it built by Xmas. This rig is merely a media machine in my room used for music and full time WCG.

Like I said $70 for a NEW 6790 is too good to pass up and just makes me want to get my daughters rig built all the quicker that card will be more than enough for a 10 year old girl who plays flash games and Diablo 3 (if she has her own rig she can play all the time, whereas right now she has to wait until im off my PC).

Oh hell a card like that for under 100 yes definitely. Now on a case for less that 100 bux Look at a TT v9 unless if your trying to find one with the standardized Usb 3.0 internal plug.