The New AMD Building Thread

You know...I have high hopes of building a PC with water cooling one day. But THIS is simply EXTREME LOL! Talk about enthusiast!!! I don't think I could trust that much fluid around my babies LOL!
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/writing/2004/06/water_cooled_pc.html

 

way to messy

i miss my water setup

 

From the AMD website:
Socket AM2+ Phenom II Compatibility Alert
Socket AM2+ Phenom II processors cannot be used on socket AM3 motherboards without causing irreversible damage to the processor. This type of damage is not covered under warranty.

Whoops! I hope I haven't recommended anybody a system like this accidentally...

 

LOL! I don't think I would have made that mistake anyway. I'm sitting back waiting for Sata/USB Rev3. Heck, by the time I start looking, AM5(or whatever), will be in the labs LOL!

 

and will probably still be the same 940-pin socket.. :S
not that excited about S-ATA3, but very excited about PCIe and USB 3.

 

why pcie 3, cards hardly use the bandwidth off pcie 2.0.

 

But four of them... :S

 

Haha yeah I almost have to agree with you Sam. But didn't you use an x8/x8 P45 board with nearly the same performance? PCIe 3.0 is a bit early I think. USB 3.0 is a welcome upgrade though. USB has always been slow...

 

Sam,
Do you have a link for that by any chance, as finding anything you are looking for on the AMD website is purely by accident. I know that some of the early Phenom II series are AM2+ only, and there was one AM3 Phenom II 940BE that was AM3 only, as it lacked the DDR2 memory controller for AM2+. I found this article at Tom's Hardware that helps sort things out a bit!
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/socket-am3-phenom,2148.html

If you can provide a link to the AMD web page on this without going crazy trying to find it again, I would appreciate it.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx
Jeff: nearly, but not quite the same I don't think. It's difficult to tell, since the newer drivers have cut performance back a tad. Either way, the benchmark tests illustrate it's a bigger problem for some games than others. The fact there is a difference means it is always better (no matter how little better) to have more bandwidth for this generation of cards, let alone the next.

 

Sam,
Thanks for the link! I looked up the CPU compatibility list that GigaByte provides for their 790X-UD4P, since I'll be getting one soon and only the current version Phenom II x4 940 and 920 are not forward compatible. All the other Phenom IIs, some 15 of them are! I think the issue is more a motherboard problem than the CPU, as I seem to remember only one AM3 only chip, and that was a 940 that briefly appeared about 5 months ago. What's that old adage? Look before you leap! LOL!! Check compatibility between the CPU and motherboard, before you buy!

Russ

 

Yet another difficulty though, you have to admit, it being a simple case of plug in, easyflash, update BIOS and done is rather simpler

 

Sam,
A very minor problem at best. Remember too that it wasn't always a case of plug in, Easyflash, update BIOS with the C2Ds either. Even though all the current Intel chips at the time were Socket 775, you couldn't use them with anything less than an 865 chipset, and in some instances could damage both the CPU and the MB if you installed one! You often needed another older CPU just to install a new BIOS flash, or lesser memory to get them to post until you could set the memory voltage to where it would post with the newer memory. A lot of times, just using 1 memory stick would not work! It was also much worse in the Socket 478 era! To my mind, anyone dumb enough not to check for compatibility first, deserves what they get!

Russ

 

the 865 chipset though is so old it's almost going back to the 939 days. We're comparing current tech to current tech. This is all AM2+ and AM3 technology, which is no more than a year and a bit old. All of Intel's boards in that time for 775 have been in the 30 or 40 series, and thus, pretty much all of them apart from obscure ones will take any CPU, it just might need a BIOS flash to show up in windows correctly. For this reason, it takes someone to be quite dumb to get it wrong with an Intel. With an AMD, I'm still not sure I'd get it right even now.

 

Sam,
I used Sockets 478 and 775 to illustrate the point. Both were fraught with peril when trying to get the right chipset to do the job! Not only that the 865 chipset got new life when it was decided to port it to the C2D, after the C2D came out. Besides Socket AM2 came out in mid 2006, followed a year later in 2007, by Socket AM2+, so that's two years now.

I would definitely think that a man of your intelligence would be sure to get it right. I would have to question your abilities if you didn't! LOL!! It's just not that hard to figure out. LOL!! It's such a simple matter to check the CPU compatibility with the motherboard you want to buy or already have. I know Gigabyte has a very comprehensive list for individual motherboards. I know you think the AM2, AM2+ and the AM3 is a bad idea, but how about Intel bring out a new CPU that requires at least a new motherboard in the middle of a worsening recession. Now that's dumb! Almost as dumb as bringing out i7 as a whole new platform that required both a new motherboard and memory right at the time that money was getting tighter by the day. A quick glance at the sales charts, will confirm that! Ask any Economist, and he will tell you the same thing! AMD's socket AM2, AM2+ and AM3 allow a lot more flexibility compared to Intel. You can have a goodly number of upgrade options using the same MB for very little money. That's a very big plus when money is as short, as it is right now, and the worst isn't over yet! Core i7, the fastest PC in the world has been relegated to servers because of buyer drought as a PC! It's a great computer, but not affordable for the average person. No offense to Shaff, but you are starting to sound like him. He said a new CPU design should have a new socket or something to that effect! Why? To show prowess, or to somehow prove it's newer and therefore better? I don't think so!

I know when I wanted to use the D-940 in the P35-DS3R when I sent the E6750 in for RMA, all I had to do was spend maybe a minute to find out that it would work. It was on the list at GigaByte and it worked fine! AMD is no different! I know if I was the CEO at AMD and someone had even suggested to me that the Phenom II needed a new socket, I would have given him an attitude adjustment with a small ball peen hammer! ROFL!! It's not like the economy went bad overnight and you couldn't see it coming! AMD did the right thing, the smart thing for the times, and their constantly improving sales justify their decision!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Well, 18 months ish, it was a the very end of 07, beginning of 08, so AM2+ isn't that old. AM2 is 2006, LGA775 is 2004, so it's an ancient socket. Since 775's introduction AMD has had 754 (Socket A462 was even still around during 775's introduction), 939, AM2, AM2+ and AM3. Granted, the socket is the same for the latter three, but the compatibility issues dependent on the CPU, the individual board and memory etc. effectively render them separate. It's pretty obvious a core 2 isn't going to go in a 2004 era 800 series board, but you haven't been able to buy those new for years.
If I was building an AMD system, I'd make sure I got it right, but to be quite honest, it's taken so long to figure out exactly what works with what it genuinely would be a barrier to me building an AMD. The only safe bets are to get an AM3 CPU, AM3 board and DDR3 RAM and forget about all the older CPUs.
Every time Intels are even mentioned in AMD's presence, the i7 gets brought up as the worst idea since the chocolate teapot because it uses a new socket and mandatory DDR3 RAM. What's AM3 then? Given the statement I printed from the AMD website. You can now get an i7 920, X58 board and 6GB of Corsair DDR3 for £425. That hardly renders it irrelevant in this economic climate, sub £700 PCs can now realistically be built off the i7 platform, which is a very popular price point for PCs.
In all essence, AM3 and i7 are equals. They are both new platforms that require a complete infrastructure overhaul - the only difference is that AMD used it for all CPUs in their range, whereas Intel have only used it for their high end. If you don't want extreme performance, you buy a 775 system, simple. Any 775 board tends to work with any 775 CPU these days. While I don't advocate that a new platform should be compulsary for a new CPU, I can see why Intel finally wanted to move off from a socket they've been using for 5 years, and given that AMD have done exactly the same thing, I'm not sure why either need be criticised for it.
AMD's rising sales have absolutely nothing to do with i7s, as AMD don't have anything to offer against the i7. AMD's rising sales are due to their extremely aggressive pricing, nothing more.

 

im sorry russ but i do not recall ever saying that a new chip should have a new socket. i7 needed a new socket, due to its archetecture, IE using a QPI and an IMC in the CPU.

but i do think they are wrogn from brigning in 1156.

 

I don't remember you saying a new chip needs a new socket, but I remember you understanding the idea, and like you, it makes sense. One new socket. Ideally not two though, that is a bit much. That said, the architectural differences of the 55/57 chipsets versus the 58 make the system so entirely different I'm not sure how they could have done it any other way. The X58 is a traditional AMD style setup where the MCH is in the CPU and the rest of the northbridge is in a CPU. With the 55/57, the whole lot is in the CPU and ICH. Whether that could have been done with LGA1366 I've no idea.

 

Shaff,
I'm sorry in that I might have the terminology wrong, but it was one of those newer is better higher tech things. I could go and hunt for the post, but I would rather apologize, and forget about it than to dig through hundreds of posts! LOL!! I know I misquoted you, I probably just quoted something that was a joke at the time! Sorry about that!

Wait until you hear this one! The 790X-UD4P has been discontinued! Newegg has them in stock, but Gigabyte is out of them. I talked to both Gigabyte and Newegg, and here's what's going to happen. Even though GigaByte replaced the original motherboard so the serial number is different, Newegg is allowing me to return the MB to them for a full credit. I've ordered the 790X-UD4P from Newegg, to be paid for by check within 30 days. That holds the in stock motherboard for me. Once I get the credit from Newegg, I'll call them up and switch it back to the Credit card. This way it gives me 30 days to take care of everything! It should take about 10 days to take care of it all! Newegg even sent me a return UPS shipping label! That's the deal Newegg offered me! I'm pretty sure that they took a look at how much I spend with them a year, but it's things like this that's the reason I buy almost exclusively from Newegg!

I'm happy and in about 10 days or so I'll be even happier! LOL! Again, I apologize for misquoting you for what was probably a joke.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Double Post