AMD CPUs and ASUS mobos

[Germanicus75]

Hi guys,

I'd like to try a couple of questions on you.

I've got an ASUS A8N-E socket 939 mobo and an Athlon64 3800+ (Venice) CPU (2.4 Ghz) with 512 kb L2 cache.

My questions are as follows:

1) I've heard that the CPU L2 cache makes a hell of a difference. Would it be worthwhile to upgrade to the Athlon64 4000+ for the 1 GB L2 cache?

2) Or would it be better to buy an Athlon64 X2 CPU instread? (Assume the larger the cache, the better). I've heard these are not so good for gaming? If it's worth to get one of these, which one would give an affordable boost over my current CPU?

3) As well as a PCIe x 16 slot, the ASUS A8N-E also includes 2 x PCIe x1 slot and 1 x PCIe x4 slot. I believe the x1 and x4 PCIe standards are now almost obsolete (?), so I believe some features of this mobo are redundant.
There are several ASUS A8N-xx mobos, but the A8N32-SLI Deluxe looks the best. Can anyone recommend it? I'm not actually planning to run two video cards in SLI though (I'm planning to get 1 x Nvida 7900GT).
Basically though, I'm looking for an up-to-date ASUS PCIe mobo with nForce4 chipset that's good for gaming, supports all Althon64 chips, supports SATA II and has some future-proofness built in.
What could you recommend to replace my A8N-E?

Thanks alot for any advice on these matters :-)

Cheers! Germanicus91

[Aristocrat]

A DFI Lanparty if you plan to overclock.

If not, go the Asus SLI Premium, which is basically a revised version of the SLI deluxe, having (as far as I know) a better chipset fan cooling solution for one thing, and a few other tweaks that make it superior.

I have the SLI deluxe, it's a solid board, and it meets your requirements, but be prepared to change the chipset fan for another, or passive cooling, unless you get one of the newer ones that already have the newer fan.
I believe you are reading too much into cache, sure it has some impact, but if you get 2 cpu's side by side with the only difference being 512 L2 cache, you will not see much difference outside of a benchmarking program.

As it stands your cpu can still (easily) handle any game out today, and venice cores are renowned overclockers, but thats only if you feel the urge to void warranty. As it stands if I were you I would save my money....at least for a few months as AMD is dropping it's prices (upto and including 50%) in July and August I think.

On dual cores, to put it simply, if you want the best dual core out there go Intel as it beats an AMD offering hands down. AMD dual cores do not have the edge over single-cores in gaming, if anything they perform slightly worse.
At the moment the FX line is still vastly overpriced (hopefully this changes with the price cuts).
My advice is to hold your money, and wait till you actually need to upgrade. If you want a new motherboard fine, but why buy right now? Prices can only drop and a new motherboard will not increase performance.

[Custor]

The AMD rating system of speed for its CPUs is as relevent as any other. So a 3800 to a 4000 would make 5% increase in speed if your PC is totally CPU limited.

AMDx2 - if the software is optomised for x2. If not optomised, then no a x2 will be slower then the corresponding single core rated CPU.

Do you acutally use these additional PCIe slots or are you planning on running a dual SLI rig in the near future? If so then yes a dual x16 mobo may be useful. Edit - just read you're not going SLI - why do you want additional PCIx16 slots?

Alot of people buy the delux uber mobos and don't use raid, the onboard sound, overclock, more than two USB ports or infact any of the additonal functions and shiney bright toys they just paid through the nose for.

Buy a mobo for what you're actually going to use it for. With the money saved take the Mrs or mates out for a nice meal or to the pics.

[Incinerate_IV]

Just to clear some things up,

PCI-E 1x and 4x isn't obsolete, they arn't being used yet. Sooner or later we are going to see PCI-E 1x and 4x sound cards/RAID cards coming out, but the switch from PCI to PCI-E is pretty slow.

If you don't plan to use SLI, stick with your current motherboard. Motherboards make no difference in performance.

As for the CPU, get the dual core. It might not be as fast as their single core cousins as of now, but in the future, most of the programs are going to be optomized for dual core and thats when they start to shine. (Actually some of the newer games and applications is already optimized for dual core, and drivers is also starting to move to dual core too!)

[Shaun]

What is RAID?

I am planning on getting a new Mobo, but not going SLI, so what kinf of Mobo should i get? I am also planning on getting a new graphics card(7900GTX, or probably a 7950 GX2 when the drivers are functioning properly) and a new processor(4000+).

[Custor]

What is RAID?

I am planning on getting a new Mobo, but not going SLI, so what kinf of Mobo should i get? I am also planning on getting a new graphics card(7900GTX, or probably a 7950 GX2 when the drivers are functioning properly) and a new processor(4000+).

RAID combines 2 HDs either to duplicate your data incase one HD goes down, or to use both as a combined single HD allowing better access time.

A AM2 mobo uses DDR2 - so if you have DDR2 great, and a 940 socket CPU. 95% of folks don't. So thats another $200. Nor will it currently give you a great (if any) performance increase.

Why are you getting a new mobo? Is your current mobo unable to run your new planned CPU?


A word of warning...
A common and seemingly incurable disease amongst PC purchasers is ****ing away money on useless "future proofing" adman cons. It seems people want to spend what they can afford regardless of actual need or performance benefit. The equivalent of go faster stripes and fluffy dice on a gold Capri.

[Incinerate_IV]

RAID is basically combining 2 or more hard drives and using them as one, for better performance or better protection. There are different kinds of RAIDs, but I won't get in that. Basically to use RAID you need a RAID card with slots for 2 or more hard drives.

As for the motherboard, just get any nforce 4 motherboard. But since you are upgrading all these components, you should just as well switch to AM2.