i've seen the newcastle cores and the clawhammers, but i've never seen the winchester core you're mentioning. Is it cheaper than the other two cores and where can i find it? Also, i have dual channel OCZ platinum 512 MB memory sticks as you mentioned, and i'm overclocking my 2500+ to 3200+ speeds with ease. I'm also running cool at a 34C temperature
I definitely need help. i just received all my parts for my computer i'm building. I put everything together, plugged in the power, press the power button, but nothing. I tried my power supply on my current computer and it works. My motherboard should work cause it was tested at the company before shipping it to me. Thatll be my last conclusion, but i was wondering if it could be a wiring problem with my case itself? I know i connected the right wires for the power and reset buttons....but no juice. The power supply doesn't even make a slightest clue that it's getting power. Please please, someone help me....i'm having withdrawals from not having a gaming only pc. Here's the specs if you need them:
Asus P5GDC Deluxe w/ P4 3.2GHz 1MB Prescott, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 200GB SATA HD, Radeon X700 Pro PCIex Video Card.
Anyone have any luck with sound cards beside creatives? I really hate the ammount of trouble the cause( drivers are even worse then ATIs) and I have seen they have problems with the MSI K8N board. Btw murt, I got the same raidmax case although I switch out the PS.
Alright, well, I do think I'm down to my final checklist for what I need in a computer. Things I'm still not 100% on and I'd like you guys to help confirm for me:
1. Will I need any kind of sound card at all, or do I just plug the speakers directly to the motherboard? (Speakers are 5.1 channel, motherboard is 8)
2. Is PNY a good brand for GeForce cards?
3. Does my motherboard support dual-channel memory?
4. What do I need for cooling?!?!
Case
Diablo Tek Black Demon ATX Mid-Tower with Front USB Ports
*laugh* Well, after finding out I ordered a server case instead of a regular one I finally put together my computer and, sort of, got it up and running. Everything comes up right, I can get to the BIOS and the first time I turned it on I got to the windows installation menu. The problem I'm running into now is that, after doing the recommend changes from pcmech.com to my BIOS, I can no longer get to the Windows installation menu as the computer keeps restarting after the initial logo screen. I'm assuming the problem is something in the BIOS, but my initial guess (that it was trying to boot up my non-existant A: drive) proved false as after making the necessary changes it still gets stuck in its reboot loop. Anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance.
*laugh* Well, after a mishap involving ordering a server case instead of a regular one, I just put together my first computer quasi-correctly. It starts up right and I'm able to get to the BIOS screen and the first time I booted it up I even, accidentally, got to the windows installation screen. Now, after making the changes to my BIOS recommended by pcmech.com's guide, the computer keeps restarting after the initial logo screen. At first I assumed it was the computer trying to load up my non-existant A: drive, but after making the necessary changes it still keeps on rebooting. Anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance.
Er.. sorry about sending basically the same thing twice. I had a browser error when I tried to send it the first time and didn't realize it had actually gone through.
[quote]Originally posted by AbyssKnight Hmm...I thought that if the motherboard has RAM slots right next to each other, and they're labeled as DDR DIMM memory slots, it supports dual channel. As for a hard drive, I'm getting a Hitachi 160GB / 7200 RPM / 8MB buffer / SATA-150 one, [url=http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1086208&sku=TSD-160H2]. It seems like a good deal, it's got everything I need. As for a backup hard drive, I'm not too concerned about having a backup drive...yet... As for onboard audio, how would that work? Does the motherboard have sockets right on the panel to put the speakers into? Or does it have its own speakers? And would it still be able to support those 5.1 surround-sound speakers I had picked out? So, I think I'll get this DFI Lanparty motherboard/processor combo, [url=http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1165967&sku=MBM-UTNF3-A643000], and I'm fairly certain that it supports dual-channel RAM so I'll still keep it. No sound card necessary, an AGP GeForce 6600 GT (either eVGA or XFX), and I should be all set, I hope. Thanks for all the help. Er, by the way...can someone explain overclocking to me? I know the general idea of it, but I'm not sure how to do it/what kind of hardware can support it well.
[/quote]
Abyssknight, DDR SDRAM is not the same thing as dual-channel memory. DDR stands for Double Data Rate which means that the data is transferred not only at the rising edge of the clock signal but also at the falling edge. When referring to dual-channel memory, it is not referring to the memory but the platform on the motherboard and/or cpu.
In fact there is no such thing as dual channel memory. Rather, it is a memory interface composed of two (or more) normal memory modules coordinated by the chipset on the motherboard, or in the case of the socket939 Athlon64, AthlonFX and socket940 Opteron processors, coordinated by the integrated memory controller on the processor itself. Think of dual-channel as a two lane highway verses a single lane highway with single-channel memory, and the data being transferred as the traffic on the highway. This enables the controllers to access the two channels simultaneously handling memory operations more efficiently than one module having to access one channel at a time.
On the AMD socket A platform, the AthlonXP and Duron systems could not fully utilize dual-channel due to the fact that of their architecture. Intel's P4 architecture, in contrast, is designed to exploit the increased bandwidth afforded by dual-channel memory architectures. The socket939 Athlon 64 and AthlonFX processor has a fully integrated DDR Dual Channel memory controller providing a 128-bit wide path to memory and therefore eliminating the need for a dual-channel interface on the motherboard which traditionally was always located in the northbridge. The socket754 Athlon64 processors do not support and do not have an onboard memory controller like there socket939 cousins and socket754 motherboards do not have dual channel memory controller either so in answer to your question, as of right now, SOCKET 754 IS SINGLE CHANNEL.
What does this mean??? Right now, a socket939 Athlon64 3200+ system has about a 2% to 5% increase in performance over a socket754 Athlon64 3200+ system.
As far as cooling your Athon64 3000+ goes AbyssKnight, unless you plan to overclock it above 2.35ghz, the stock hs/f that comes with the retail CPU will work fine. My temps never get over 52C under 100% full load running at least 8 hours + when oced to 2.357ghz. At idle the temps sit at around 39C. At stock speeds, my cpu hardly gets over 45C under full load and idles at 34C.
The DFI Lanparty UT board you are getting has 6 jacks on the back panel of the motherboard that are supported for Dolby 7.1 surround sound and 8 Channels by the Realtek ALC850 8CH audio CODEC onboard sound. In addition, there are S/PDIF-in/out interface. The only soundcard out there is going to give you any improvement in sound over you onboard sound is a 24bit Audigy, and even then, you may not notice much difference in the sound quality over the onboard sound. One difference that a sound card does make is that it takes some of the sound processing burden away from the cpu and board which would equate to a 5% improvement to as much as a 10% improvement in performance when playing games depending on the game played.
PNY makes a good graphics card. I prefer eVGA, BFG, Gigabyte, Gainward and XFX brands when shopping for a nVidia card, but PNY and some other manufacturers have really stepped up the quality of product they are producing with the new nVidia chipsets.
You also don't need to order a dual-channel memory kit. Even you were building a system that supports dual-channel, buying two single sticks of the same brand and speed memory would work. Manufacturers match the sticks and in most cases charge extra for them when you can buy the same memory a single stick at a time and save a few $$$. There are certain brands and models of memory where manufacturers only sell it in dual channel kits as the OCZ Platinum Rev 2, but in the case of that Corsair Value Select, I provided a link where you could buy it stick by stick, same site I think too, and it would save you some dough.
Originally posted by fatalblitzz i've seen the newcastle cores and the clawhammers, but i've never seen the winchester core you're mentioning. Is it cheaper than the other two cores and where can i find it? Also, i have dual channel OCZ platinum 512 MB memory sticks as you mentioned, and i'm overclocking my 2500+ to 3200+ speeds with ease. I'm also running cool at a 34C temperature
I wish the new .90nm Winchester cored Athlon64 procs were cheaper. No, unfortunately they are more expensive. A Winchester cored 3500+ is more expensive than a Newcastled core 3500+. They are the newest cores that AMD has developed and are producing right now, and the Winchester is more effiecient than the Newcastle or Clawhammer using less power and producing less heat even when overclocked. They are only available on the socket939 platform as well. You can get them at newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com and many other online dealers. Here, you might find these articles interesting about the Winchester core Athlon64.
1) no you won't need a sound card, but you can add one later on. Just like my board, which has onboad Nvidia soundstorm, you just plug the speakers into the motherboard
2)yeah, IMO i think PNY is a pretty good Nvidia brand company. My old computer had a PNY geforce4 MX 440 and i guess it was good at the time? lol
3)for cooling i suggest a thermalright heatsink, and plenty of case fans
edit : oops i didn't know rabidwolf had already responded to ya
Okay, so I will switch back to single-channel RAM. Still PC3200 though. And as for the cooling/overclocking...I have no idea how to overclock. Do you tell the computer to? Does it do it automatically if it's running cool enough? Is it in the way you wire it? Do you change come properties when you're actually using the computer? Sorry if it seems like a stupid question but I've heard so many people talking about overclocking without knowing what they were talking about...
Originally posted by AbyssKnight Okay, so I will switch back to single-channel RAM. Still PC3200 though. And as for the cooling/overclocking...I have no idea how to overclock. Do you tell the computer to? Does it do it automatically if it's running cool enough? Is it in the way you wire it? Do you change come properties when you're actually using the computer? Sorry if it seems like a stupid question but I've heard so many people talking about overclocking without knowing what they were talking about...
Abyssknight, there is no such thing as single-channel or dual-channel ram. DDR SDRAM memory works in either. Single-channel or double-channel is referring to the memory controller on the motherboard and/or cpu. Dual-channel kits are just two sticks of regular DDR SDRAM that the manuafacturer has matched up and slapped a "dual-channel" label on so they can charge more money for the same amount of ram if you bought each stick separately.
Overclocking is basically adjusting the settings in your BIOS or using a tweaking program to get the clock frequency that the cpu runs at to run faster than stock speeds. If you take a look at my sig, I have overclocked my Athlon64 3000+ which runs at 2.0ghz stock speed to 2.3ghz. You can also overclock memory and video cards. If you again take a look at my sig, I have my Radeon 9800 Pro overclocked to just a tad faster than 9800XT speeds. Yes, it does invalidate the warranty of the product you are overclocking, and yes, it is possible to damage your computer or the paticular part being overclocked if temperatures get to hot for an extended period of time. This is much harder to do with modern CPUs and video cards as there are "safety devices" built in(like VPU recover) that will shut down the system and restart it at stock speeds if the part in question reaches a certain temperature within its operating parameter. Where damage usually occurs is from where the user puts too much voltage to the cpu or video card to keep the overclock stable or the part in question draws to much voltage. I say this not to discourage you, but to just inform you so that you will read up on overclocking and take things slowly. Overclocking can be fun and rewarding if you do it correctly giving you the chance to get the most out of your system and to make it run even faster and more effienciently.
As far as overclocking the cpu goes, there are two ways to do it, through the BIOS or using a tweaking program like ClockGen or similar product. Before you even overclock, you will want to make sure your system is running aok without any problems for a few days once you get it up and running. This also gives the new components a chance to "burn-in" so to speak.
Overclocking from the BIOS is to me the best way to overclock. If I'm not mistaken, DFI is using the Award BIOS on socket754 boards. To begin overclocking the processor, you adjust the mulitplier, HTT(some board's BIOS will refer to this as the CPU FSB), and vCore(CPU Voltage) in the JumperFree Config in the BIOS(It is JumperFree in my BIOS on my Asus board but it may not be called that on yours-just read the manual or RTFM). On socket754 systems and with an Athlon64 CPU, the mulitplier is locked from going any higher but it can be lowered. As you get more experienced, you can start messing with dividers and memory timings to get even higher overclocks. Temperature and not enough power are the biggest "enemies" of achieving a "safe" overclock. I will post some links for you to read up on later as I'm beat from being up for 36 hours straight. I hope that clarifies it some for you and forgive the grammer and spelling as I'm quite tired.
I have a quesiton. I'm getting a SATA hard drive but my power supply only has 4-pin power connectors. Will this work for supplying power to a SATA drive or do the sata drives have a diffrent power connector slot? And if they dont I would just need an adapter right? Thanks all.
* Ahh nevermind. The fine folks at Western Digital (which is the brand if hard drive I'm geeting) were kind enough to allow for both types of power connectors. Maybe I should do some research before I ask silly questions.
Ok, i figured out my problem with my computer. And it's a stupid mistake on my part. Just a tip for anyone else about to make it...make sure your power supply has the right connector for your motherboard, lol. But anyway, i need advice on getting a 20 pin to 24 pin converter for the power supply. Should i get it? or just get a power supply with 24 pin and eat the money i spent on my current ps?
my friend was already tellin me to get that one, but i didn't know it was a winchester core is the price reasonable , or are there any cheaper ones out there that you know of?
I was thinking about slowly upgrading this computer I have right now as I get the money (upgrading to the parts I'm going to get on my new computer, like the GeForce 6600 GT, and the 1GB of RAM). Would it make ANY difference at all if I used the new parts in this computer, and then once I have all the new parts, just move it over into a new case and motherboard/processor? I guess what I mean is...is there any difference between getting the components "used to" one computer, and then moving them over to another, or just putting all the new parts together right away and "start fresh" with them?
Say, the memory for example. If I upgraded the memory first and got it up to a gigabyte of RAM, and then put it in the new computer once I have the rest of the parts, would it have retained any sort of memory of the old computer?
Originally posted by AbyssKnight Say, the memory for example. If I upgraded the memory first and got it up to a gigabyte of RAM, and then put it in the new computer once I have the rest of the parts, would it have retained any sort of memory of the old computer?
It's a computer part, not a living thing. It's not gonna plot against you for killing your old machine, lol
You'll be perfectly fine to do that, just have to make sure that your new motherboard supports that kind of ram...
otherwise you'd be stuck with a gig of ram you can't use in your new computer!
nah, it wouldn't really make a difference. That's what i'm going to do. Keep my current memory, video card, power supply, etc. and when i get enough money, i'll buy my ASrock motherboard that i found that supports both SOCKET 939 and 754! wow, what a save this was! anyways, then i'll get the AMD 64 processor and move all my old parts onto the new motherboard and VOILA! a new computer
I hate this computer I've got right now. My parents got it through that Buck-A-Day program and I regret it. We payed so much money for this piece of junk (though at the time it was decent...it's just so slow now)... 1.5 GHz processor, nVidia Vanta 16-bit video card (upgraded to a Radeon 9200se), 40 GB hard drive, no sound card (onboard audio), no idea what kind of motherboard I have so I can't upgrade the RAM without checking to see what I have right now...it didn't even come with the Windows XP Home disk, so when our first hard drive crashed we had to...er...have the computer repairman put on Windows XP Professional (I still have no idea how ). I desperately need this new computer. And I'm hoping that it will be able to run anything...
My ONLY concerns are:
1. If I overclock it, will I do it right? No burning out of parts?
2. Later on, if/when PCI Express becomes the mainstream video card, my motherboard won't be able to support it. I'm hoping that they'll start making socket 754 motherboards with PCI-Express capabilities so I won't be left behind in that respect.
1. As long as you have the proper cooling. Just have a nice PS/fans.
2. Right now GFX cards don't even use the full capalites of the AGP 8. When PCI-E takes hold, there will be Socket 754 pci-e board ready. I wouldn't worry, a 6600 or 6800 should keep you set for at least 2 years.
yeah, DerfelCadarn is right, and you'll also need a motherboard with plenty of tweaking options that allow a good overclock. Such as voltage changes, and front side bus adjustments.
Comments
i've seen the newcastle cores and the clawhammers, but i've never seen the winchester core you're mentioning. Is it cheaper than the other two cores and where can i find it? Also, i have dual channel OCZ platinum 512 MB memory sticks as you mentioned, and i'm overclocking my 2500+ to 3200+ speeds with ease. I'm also running cool at a 34C temperature
I definitely need help. i just received all my parts for my computer i'm building. I put everything together, plugged in the power, press the power button, but nothing. I tried my power supply on my current computer and it works. My motherboard should work cause it was tested at the company before shipping it to me. Thatll be my last conclusion, but i was wondering if it could be a wiring problem with my case itself? I know i connected the right wires for the power and reset buttons....but no juice. The power supply doesn't even make a slightest clue that it's getting power. Please please, someone help me....i'm having withdrawals from not having a gaming only pc. Here's the specs if you need them:
Asus P5GDC Deluxe w/ P4 3.2GHz 1MB Prescott, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 200GB SATA HD, Radeon X700 Pro PCIex Video Card.
Please someone help me. Thanks in advance.
err...isn't that the answer?
Test it. Take a psu out of another computer and test it. Test all the parts just by taking them out of another computer and replacing them.
Always works
http://www.facebook.com/murtb
Anyone have any luck with sound cards beside creatives? I really hate the ammount of trouble the cause( drivers are even worse then ATIs) and I have seen they have problems with the MSI K8N board. Btw murt, I got the same raidmax case although I switch out the PS.
Alright, well, I do think I'm down to my final checklist for what I need in a computer. Things I'm still not 100% on and I'd like you guys to help confirm for me:
1. Will I need any kind of sound card at all, or do I just plug the speakers directly to the motherboard? (Speakers are 5.1 channel, motherboard is 8)
2. Is PNY a good brand for GeForce cards?
3. Does my motherboard support dual-channel memory?
4. What do I need for cooling?!?!
Case
Diablo Tek Black Demon ATX Mid-Tower with Front USB Ports
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=541440&Sku=D15-1002
Power Supply
Diablo 550-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm LED Fan / SATA-Ready
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=541436&Sku=D15-1000
Motherboard/Processor
DFI Lanparty Motherboard with AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1165967&sku=MBM-UTNF3-A643000
Hard Drive
Hitachi 160GB / 7200 RPM / 8MB Buffer/ SATA-150
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1086208
Graphics Card
PNY GeForce 6600 GT / 128MB DDR3 / AGP 8x / Dual DVI
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1184256&CatId=880
Memory
Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 1024MB (1GB) PC3200 DDR 400MHz (2 x 512MB)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=669365&sku=C13-4911
CD/DVD Drive
Sony DRU710A / 16x4x16x DVD+RW / 8x4x16x DVD-RW / 2.4x DVD+R DL / 48x24x40x CD-RW / Dual / Nero Software / DVD Burner
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1045578&CatId=89
Speakers
RWTI Cintre RW-6510 6 PCS Surround Sound System (5.1 Channel)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=672370&CatId=492
*laugh* Well, after finding out I ordered a server case instead of a regular one I finally put together my computer and, sort of, got it up and running. Everything comes up right, I can get to the BIOS and the first time I turned it on I got to the windows installation menu. The problem I'm running into now is that, after doing the recommend changes from pcmech.com to my BIOS, I can no longer get to the Windows installation menu as the computer keeps restarting after the initial logo screen. I'm assuming the problem is something in the BIOS, but my initial guess (that it was trying to boot up my non-existant A: drive) proved false as after making the necessary changes it still gets stuck in its reboot loop. Anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance.
[quote]Originally posted by AbyssKnight
Hmm...I thought that if the motherboard has RAM slots right next to each other, and they're labeled as DDR DIMM memory slots, it supports dual channel.
As for a hard drive, I'm getting a Hitachi 160GB / 7200 RPM / 8MB buffer / SATA-150 one, [url=http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1086208&sku=TSD-160H2]. It seems like a good deal, it's got everything I need. As for a backup hard drive, I'm not too concerned about having a backup drive...yet...
As for onboard audio, how would that work? Does the motherboard have sockets right on the panel to put the speakers into? Or does it have its own speakers? And would it still be able to support those 5.1 surround-sound speakers I had picked out?
So, I think I'll get this DFI Lanparty motherboard/processor combo, [url=http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1165967&sku=MBM-UTNF3-A643000], and I'm fairly certain that it supports dual-channel RAM so I'll still keep it. No sound card necessary, an AGP GeForce 6600 GT (either eVGA or XFX), and I should be all set, I hope. Thanks for all the help.
Er, by the way...can someone explain overclocking to me? I know the general idea of it, but I'm not sure how to do it/what kind of hardware can support it well.
[/quote]
Abyssknight, DDR SDRAM is not the same thing as dual-channel memory. DDR stands for Double Data Rate which means that the data is transferred not only at the rising edge of the clock signal but also at the falling edge. When referring to dual-channel memory, it is not referring to the memory but the platform on the motherboard and/or cpu.
In fact there is no such thing as dual channel memory. Rather, it is a memory interface composed of two (or more) normal memory modules coordinated by the chipset on the motherboard, or in the case of the socket939 Athlon64, AthlonFX and socket940 Opteron processors, coordinated by the integrated memory controller on the processor itself. Think of dual-channel as a two lane highway verses a single lane highway with single-channel memory, and the data being transferred as the traffic on the highway. This enables the controllers to access the two channels simultaneously handling memory operations more efficiently than one module having to access one channel at a time.
On the AMD socket A platform, the AthlonXP and Duron systems could not fully utilize dual-channel due to the fact that of their architecture. Intel's P4 architecture, in contrast, is designed to exploit the increased bandwidth afforded by dual-channel memory architectures. The socket939 Athlon 64 and AthlonFX processor has a fully integrated DDR Dual Channel memory controller providing a 128-bit wide path to memory and therefore eliminating the need for a dual-channel interface on the motherboard which traditionally was always located in the northbridge. The socket754 Athlon64 processors do not support and do not have an onboard memory controller like there socket939 cousins and socket754 motherboards do not have dual channel memory controller either so in answer to your question, as of right now, SOCKET 754 IS SINGLE CHANNEL.
What does this mean??? Right now, a socket939 Athlon64 3200+ system has about a 2% to 5% increase in performance over a socket754 Athlon64 3200+ system.
As far as cooling your Athon64 3000+ goes AbyssKnight, unless you plan to overclock it above 2.35ghz, the stock hs/f that comes with the retail CPU will work fine. My temps never get over 52C under 100% full load running at least 8 hours + when oced to 2.357ghz. At idle the temps sit at around 39C. At stock speeds, my cpu hardly gets over 45C under full load and idles at 34C.
The DFI Lanparty UT board you are getting has 6 jacks on the back panel of the motherboard that are supported for Dolby 7.1 surround sound and 8 Channels by the Realtek ALC850 8CH audio CODEC onboard sound. In addition, there are S/PDIF-in/out interface. The only soundcard out there is going to give you any improvement in sound over you onboard sound is a 24bit Audigy, and even then, you may not notice much difference in the sound quality over the onboard sound. One difference that a sound card does make is that it takes some of the sound processing burden away from the cpu and board which would equate to a 5% improvement to as much as a 10% improvement in performance when playing games depending on the game played.
PNY makes a good graphics card. I prefer eVGA, BFG, Gigabyte, Gainward and XFX brands when shopping for a nVidia card, but PNY and some other manufacturers have really stepped up the quality of product they are producing with the new nVidia chipsets.
You also don't need to order a dual-channel memory kit. Even you were building a system that supports dual-channel, buying two single sticks of the same brand and speed memory would work. Manufacturers match the sticks and in most cases charge extra for them when you can buy the same memory a single stick at a time and save a few $$$. There are certain brands and models of memory where manufacturers only sell it in dual channel kits as the OCZ Platinum Rev 2, but in the case of that Corsair Value Select, I provided a link where you could buy it stick by stick, same site I think too, and it would save you some dough.
Hope that helps.
I wish the new .90nm Winchester cored Athlon64 procs were cheaper. No, unfortunately they are more expensive. A Winchester cored 3500+ is more expensive than a Newcastled core 3500+. They are the newest cores that AMD has developed and are producing right now, and the Winchester is more effiecient than the Newcastle or Clawhammer using less power and producing less heat even when overclocked. They are only available on the socket939 platform as well. You can get them at newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com and many other online dealers. Here, you might find these articles interesting about the Winchester core Athlon64.
.90nm Winchester core socket939 Athlon64, Anandtech.com
90nm Processors from AMD: Athlon 64 3500+, 3200+ and 3000+, Xbit Labs
AMD's 90nm Processors: Overclocking, Thermals and Power Consumption
1) no you won't need a sound card, but you can add one later on. Just like my board, which has onboad Nvidia soundstorm, you just plug the speakers into the motherboard
2)yeah, IMO i think PNY is a pretty good Nvidia brand company. My old computer had a PNY geforce4 MX 440 and i guess it was good at the time? lol
3)for cooling i suggest a thermalright heatsink, and plenty of case fans
edit : oops i didn't know rabidwolf had already responded to ya
Okay, so I will switch back to single-channel RAM. Still PC3200 though. And as for the cooling/overclocking...I have no idea how to overclock. Do you tell the computer to? Does it do it automatically if it's running cool enough? Is it in the way you wire it? Do you change come properties when you're actually using the computer? Sorry if it seems like a stupid question but I've heard so many people talking about overclocking without knowing what they were talking about...
Abyssknight, there is no such thing as single-channel or dual-channel ram. DDR SDRAM memory works in either. Single-channel or double-channel is referring to the memory controller on the motherboard and/or cpu. Dual-channel kits are just two sticks of regular DDR SDRAM that the manuafacturer has matched up and slapped a "dual-channel" label on so they can charge more money for the same amount of ram if you bought each stick separately.
Overclocking is basically adjusting the settings in your BIOS or using a tweaking program to get the clock frequency that the cpu runs at to run faster than stock speeds. If you take a look at my sig, I have overclocked my Athlon64 3000+ which runs at 2.0ghz stock speed to 2.3ghz. You can also overclock memory and video cards. If you again take a look at my sig, I have my Radeon 9800 Pro overclocked to just a tad faster than 9800XT speeds. Yes, it does invalidate the warranty of the product you are overclocking, and yes, it is possible to damage your computer or the paticular part being overclocked if temperatures get to hot for an extended period of time. This is much harder to do with modern CPUs and video cards as there are "safety devices" built in(like VPU recover) that will shut down the system and restart it at stock speeds if the part in question reaches a certain temperature within its operating parameter. Where damage usually occurs is from where the user puts too much voltage to the cpu or video card to keep the overclock stable or the part in question draws to much voltage. I say this not to discourage you, but to just inform you so that you will read up on overclocking and take things slowly. Overclocking can be fun and rewarding if you do it correctly giving you the chance to get the most out of your system and to make it run even faster and more effienciently.
As far as overclocking the cpu goes, there are two ways to do it, through the BIOS or using a tweaking program like ClockGen or similar product. Before you even overclock, you will want to make sure your system is running aok without any problems for a few days once you get it up and running. This also gives the new components a chance to "burn-in" so to speak.
Overclocking from the BIOS is to me the best way to overclock. If I'm not mistaken, DFI is using the Award BIOS on socket754 boards. To begin overclocking the processor, you adjust the mulitplier, HTT(some board's BIOS will refer to this as the CPU FSB), and vCore(CPU Voltage) in the JumperFree Config in the BIOS(It is JumperFree in my BIOS on my Asus board but it may not be called that on yours-just read the manual or RTFM
). On socket754 systems and with an Athlon64 CPU, the mulitplier is locked from going any higher but it can be lowered. As you get more experienced, you can start messing with dividers and memory timings to get even higher overclocks. Temperature and not enough power are the biggest "enemies" of achieving a "safe" overclock. I will post some links for you to read up on later as I'm beat from being up for 36 hours straight. I hope that clarifies it some for you and forgive the grammer and spelling as I'm quite tired.
Haha, I meant "single-channel" as more of a slang term there...easier to say than "non-dual-channel".
Thanks for all the help with that...any grammar mistakes hereby forgiven
To everyone here who spends their free time helping out those of us too stupid to build a computer by ourselves
I have a quesiton. I'm getting a SATA hard drive but my power supply only has 4-pin power connectors. Will this work for supplying power to a SATA drive or do the sata drives have a diffrent power connector slot? And if they dont I would just need an adapter right? Thanks all.
* Ahh nevermind. The fine folks at Western Digital (which is the brand if hard drive I'm geeting) were kind enough to allow for both types of power connectors. Maybe I should do some research before I ask silly questions.
Ok, i figured out my problem with my computer. And it's a stupid mistake on my part. Just a tip for anyone else about to make it...make sure your power supply has the right connector for your motherboard, lol. But anyway, i need advice on getting a 20 pin to 24 pin converter for the power supply. Should i get it? or just get a power supply with 24 pin and eat the money i spent on my current ps?
hey man, i've found a winchester cored cpu from zipzoomfly and it's a socket 939.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80699-2
my friend was already tellin me to get that one, but i didn't know it was a winchester core
is the price reasonable , or are there any cheaper ones out there that you know of?
I was thinking about slowly upgrading this computer I have right now as I get the money (upgrading to the parts I'm going to get on my new computer, like the GeForce 6600 GT, and the 1GB of RAM). Would it make ANY difference at all if I used the new parts in this computer, and then once I have all the new parts, just move it over into a new case and motherboard/processor? I guess what I mean is...is there any difference between getting the components "used to" one computer, and then moving them over to another, or just putting all the new parts together right away and "start fresh" with them?
Say, the memory for example. If I upgraded the memory first and got it up to a gigabyte of RAM, and then put it in the new computer once I have the rest of the parts, would it have retained any sort of memory of the old computer?
It's a computer part, not a living thing. It's not gonna plot against you for killing your old machine, lol
You'll be perfectly fine to do that, just have to make sure that your new motherboard supports that kind of ram...
otherwise you'd be stuck with a gig of ram you can't use in your new computer!
http://www.facebook.com/murtb
nah, it wouldn't really make a difference. That's what i'm going to do. Keep my current memory, video card, power supply, etc. and when i get enough money, i'll buy my ASrock motherboard that i found that supports both SOCKET 939 and 754! wow, what a save this was!
anyways, then i'll get the AMD 64 processor and move all my old parts onto the new motherboard and VOILA! a new computer 
I hate this computer I've got right now. My parents got it through that Buck-A-Day program and I regret it. We payed so much money for this piece of junk (though at the time it was decent...it's just so slow now)... 1.5 GHz processor, nVidia Vanta 16-bit video card (upgraded to a Radeon 9200se), 40 GB hard drive, no sound card (onboard audio), no idea what kind of motherboard I have so I can't upgrade the RAM without checking to see what I have right now...it didn't even come with the Windows XP Home disk, so when our first hard drive crashed we had to...er...have the computer repairman put on Windows XP Professional (I still have no idea how
). I desperately need this new computer. And I'm hoping that it will be able to run anything...
My ONLY concerns are:
1. If I overclock it, will I do it right? No burning out of parts?
2. Later on, if/when PCI Express becomes the mainstream video card, my motherboard won't be able to support it. I'm hoping that they'll start making socket 754 motherboards with PCI-Express capabilities so I won't be left behind in that respect.
1. As long as you have the proper cooling. Just have a nice PS/fans.
2. Right now GFX cards don't even use the full capalites of the AGP 8. When PCI-E takes hold, there will be Socket 754 pci-e board ready. I wouldn't worry, a 6600 or 6800 should keep you set for at least 2 years.
yeah, DerfelCadarn is right, and you'll also need a motherboard with plenty of tweaking options that allow a good overclock. Such as voltage changes, and front side bus adjustments.
Yeah that should definitley serve you well.