dirkmirk wrote:

6 cores vs 4 think that's the only difference, as suggested most games back then only used 2 cores so the extra MHz on the X4-965 vs X6-1090T (3.4ghz vs 3.2ghz) was more beneficial, I'm not aware of any games that would favour the 1090T, still I like the 1090T seems one of those ridiculous top of the line over engineered chips trying to impose brute horsepower to achieve performance, not the most elegant buts its definitely a worthwhile chip to collect.

For some reason I actually chose a 1090T for my parents computer over an I3 system from a local pc shop for more or less the same money, that computer wont be finding its way to the scrapheap that's for sure.

I think it would matter more if someone were to game a bit, have a couple browsers open, have music play in the background, have some other programs open in the background, then it might matter 😁

Don't forget that those Phenom II X6 chips have Turbo Core (T at the end of the model number), similar to Intel. So in lower threaded applications they can turbo up. The top X6 chips will turbo up to 3.7 GHz, matching the fastest X4.

These top chips however aren't cheap, in some cases it's cheaper to buy a brand new FX. I'm not quite sure why this is...

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

Don't forget that those Phenom II X6 chips have Turbo Core (T at the end of the model number), similar to Intel. So in lower threaded applications they can turbo up. The top X6 chips will turbo up to 3.7 GHz, matching the fastest X4.

These top chips however aren't cheap, in some cases it's cheaper to buy a brand new FX. I'm not quite sure why this is...

Probably because there still a fairly powerful CPU? More than viable for modern gaming if your running a multi threaded game.

Yea, good point, maybe it's just too early to be chasing them.

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

Don't forget that those Phenom II X6 chips have Turbo Core (T at the end of the model number), similar to Intel. So in lower threaded applications they can turbo up. The top X6 chips will turbo up to 3.7 GHz, matching the fastest X4.

These top chips however aren't cheap, in some cases it's cheaper to buy a brand new FX. I'm not quite sure why this is...

Probably because there still a fairly powerful CPU? More than viable for modern gaming if your running a multi threaded game.

And perhaps because a Bulldozer wasn't a viable upgrade for a non-AM3+ rig, it's basically the fastest that will work in AM3 (or at least afaic).

Tetrium wrote:

And perhaps because a Bulldozer wasn't a viable upgrade for a non-AM3+ rig, it's basically the fastest that will work in AM3 (or at least afaic).

That's a good point!

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

And perhaps because a Bulldozer wasn't a viable upgrade for a non-AM3+ rig, it's basically the fastest that will work in AM3 (or at least afaic).

That's a good point!

AM3+ CPUs weren't meant to be used on AM3 socekts, but it didn't prevent some manufactuers like ASUS, AsRock and ECS made some of thier AM3 mobos compatible with AM3+ CPUs

Also AM3+ CPUs wasn't supossed to fit on the AM3 socket due to the extra pin in AM3+

Ozzuneoj wrote:

Wow, I didn't even know such a thing existed. I own an Abit Nforce 4 SLI board for socket 939, but I honestly thought it was a typo when you said yours was 754.

Those must have made for some really unbalanced systems back then. 754 didn't leave much CPU head room compared to 939. Lower speed per clock, lower clocks and no dual cores. Really unusual setup though. I'd wager that there aren't many of those left. 😀

Yes it existed. The one I have now (754 SLI) is this board for some more information and pictures for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16813123257

As you said, unbalanced system as I'm coming to find out. Even with a +26% overclock on the CPU up to 2640 mhz and running 1.5 GB of DDR @ 528 mhz, it's still pretty darn shitty performance with my pair of 6800 ultra's in it. Or any game really. So I decided to go browsing ebay last night for a replacement.... I already own an amd socket 939 nforce4-SLI system for 939 but it's proving to be extremely flakey and won't come on half the time and a chat with someone else confirmed his 3 nforce4 939 SLI systems also do this.. 3 different boards from 3 different vendors. So 939 is just troublesome and not reliable and flakey in general.

So I was looking for something better cheap when I stumbled upon this:

Seller's ebay photo.

Asus Crosshair, AMD Socket AM2+ & nvidia 590-SLI Dual-16x-SLI system for $39.95 free shipping.

Should be quite the step up from this 754 system. I already own an AMD 3-core cpu to get started with, and I have a set of kingston DDR2-1066 overclocking ram, and this is a big designed-to-be-overclocked board.
Seller said it was tested and fully working so hope it works out well for me. This will also officially be the fastest / sexiest AMD setup I've ever owned in my life. It supports up to Phenom x4 unlocked quad cores to play with, and all of the AM2 / AM2+ dual cores. So kind of excited to get to play with a nicer AMD system for the first time ever. Previously the best AMD system I'd ever owned as 939 systems.

kithylin wrote:

someone else confirmed his 3 nforce4 939 SLI systems also do this.. 3 different boards from 3 different vendors. So 939 is just troublesome and not reliable and flakey in general.

No. You and this someone are looking at defective boards. I have quite a few 939 boards, including a couple of NF4 boards and none do this. The only one of my boards displaying this behaviour is an Asus A8N SLI, and I know what's causing it - one of the mosfets around the CPU socket has gone bad.

kanecvr wrote:

kithylin wrote:

someone else confirmed his 3 nforce4 939 SLI systems also do this.. 3 different boards from 3 different vendors. So 939 is just troublesome and not reliable and flakey in general.

No. You and this someone are looking at defective boards. I have quite a few 939 boards, including a couple of NF4 boards and none do this. The only one of my boards displaying this behaviour is an Asus A8N SLI, and I know what's causing it - one of the mosfets around the CPU socket has gone bad.

That's mine too, A8n32-sli deluxe, and it just randomly "shuts off" when gaming and it's not the power supply, it's done this with 3 different power supplies, and same psu's don't do it with any other computers. And when it does do it, it just sits there dark and won't even try to turn on from the ATX power button connection. I have to remove cmos battery and let it sit for 48 hours to get it to ever come on again.

I dunno what to ever do with it but I can't have this kind of instability with a computer I want to play with daily. Need something reliable that at least turns on when I press the button.

I won't mention who to avoid starting arguments here, but the other person I spoke with has three amd 939 motherboards.. an asus, an epox and something else. And he's told me the same situation, either unstable as heck when running or random power off's and won't come on again from all of em. Multiple different power supplies and chips all do it. Our general consensus together is 939 is shite and mostly junk today.

If you have one that does work you're very lucky with that.. enjoy it, it'll probably end up like our boards with time.

kanecvr wrote:

kithylin wrote:

someone else confirmed his 3 nforce4 939 SLI systems also do this.. 3 different boards from 3 different vendors. So 939 is just troublesome and not reliable and flakey in general.

No. You and this someone are looking at defective boards. I have quite a few 939 boards, including a couple of NF4 boards and none do this. The only one of my boards displaying this behaviour is an Asus A8N SLI, and I know what's causing it - one of the mosfets around the CPU socket has gone bad.

...and I have an A8N-SLI Premium still working here like a champ after many years. I used to mine bitcoins with it back in the day when it was still profitable to mine with video cards (had 2xHD5870 and 1xHD6950 cards in it) and it never skipped a beat. Still does light service as a file server.

I can also vouch for 939 SLI motherboards. I own an MSI K8N-SLI (nforce4 SLI) since around 2005 and it has never caused me any problems, in fact it's one of the most stable boards I've used. I use it with an Athlon64 3200+ (Venice), 1GB of DDR and an MSI GF7900GS.

EDIT: one peculiar thing about the K8N-SLI is that you need to plug in a molex connector to give extra power to the PCIe slots, even if you have also plugged in the PCIe power connector to the graphics card(s)...

When did S939 become retro?..

hard1k wrote:

When did S939 become retro?..

S939 can be a good option for Win XP retrogaming, faster than Pentium 4/D at gaming and many other advantages like on-die DDR400 controller and support for dual core CPUs, also the first PCI-E mobos and SLI mobos came originally for this plataform

hard1k wrote:

When did S939 become retro?..

I believe we just have found the right time frame. Anything over 10+ years old should be considered retro.

kithylin wrote:

Yes it existed. The one I have now (754 SLI) is this board for some more information and pictures for you: http://www.newegg.com […]
Show full quote

Ozzuneoj wrote:

Wow, I didn't even know such a thing existed. I own an Abit Nforce 4 SLI board for socket 939, but I honestly thought it was a typo when you said yours was 754.

Those must have made for some really unbalanced systems back then. 754 didn't leave much CPU head room compared to 939. Lower speed per clock, lower clocks and no dual cores. Really unusual setup though. I'd wager that there aren't many of those left. 😀

Yes it existed. The one I have now (754 SLI) is this board for some more information and pictures for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16813123257

As you said, unbalanced system as I'm coming to find out. Even with a +26% overclock on the CPU up to 2640 mhz and running 1.5 GB of DDR @ 528 mhz, it's still pretty darn shitty performance with my pair of 6800 ultra's in it. Or any game really. So I decided to go browsing ebay last night for a replacement.... I already own an amd socket 939 nforce4-SLI system for 939 but it's proving to be extremely flakey and won't come on half the time and a chat with someone else confirmed his 3 nforce4 939 SLI systems also do this.. 3 different boards from 3 different vendors. So 939 is just troublesome and not reliable and flakey in general.

So I was looking for something better cheap when I stumbled upon this:

Seller's ebay photo.

Asus Crosshair, AMD Socket AM2+ & nvidia 590-SLI Dual-16x-SLI system for $39.95 free shipping.

Should be quite the step up from this 754 system. I already own an AMD 3-core cpu to get started with, and I have a set of kingston DDR2-1066 overclocking ram, and this is a big designed-to-be-overclocked board.
Seller said it was tested and fully working so hope it works out well for me. This will also officially be the fastest / sexiest AMD setup I've ever owned in my life. It supports up to Phenom x4 unlocked quad cores to play with, and all of the AM2 / AM2+ dual cores. So kind of excited to get to play with a nicer AMD system for the first time ever. Previously the best AMD system I'd ever owned as 939 systems.

Your the one who bought the last of those Cross hairs that had been up there a month 4 days before my next paycheck...............

Well. Atleast this disproves my initial thirty that a scalper had bought them and the 2 listed for 150 USD each (WTF! These boards are literally scrap metal to most...) We're in fact the 2 available I had seen the night before.

It's literally impossible to get ANY good boards if you're in a horrible local for buying things in person OR can't afford to pay 150 USD for items thats value as components is the same as there value in scrap metal.

I'd also like to point out that it's AM2 not AM2+. It can only run up to an Athlon FX (old FX series, not the new FX).

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Your the one who bought the last of those Cross hairs that had been up there a month 4 days before my next paycheck...............

Sorry? I guess.. shoulda bought it before I did?

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

I'd also like to point out that it's AM2 not AM2+. It can only run up to an Athlon FX (old FX series, not the new FX).

Again.. not trying to start arguments but you are wrong.

See here: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/CROSSHAIR/HelpDesk_CPU/

It supports all the way up to unlocked "Black Edition" Quad-Core Phenom X4 chips. I specifically checked that before I bought it.

EDIT: Typos

I got some 754 and 939 boards recently, they all cost very little, around $15 or so. All Asus, but nothing with SLI. SLI will cost you. But being on PCIe, just go with the next GPU higher up, e.g. a 7 series instead of 6 series SLI.

IMO because the memory controller is integrated, you should see little performance difference between boards. The CPU stepping and clock speed vs. cache configuration is the thing that can make a difference. Anyway, it's good to see these sockets getting some attention.

I vote for 939 SLI.
I bought one some days ago as i was scanning for a bargain as usual.

It's an ASUS A8N SLI SE (nforce4 SLI). I got it as defective (3 beeps - didn't even blink to decide to go for it).

The graphics card must be installed in the blue slot.
A single memory module must be installed in the blue slot and off you go.
Specs: Athlon64 3200+, 2GB DDR, XFX 8800GS

A Gibraltar rock, but some games and benchmarks like 3dmark2006 are lagging in HD 1680x1050
(around 15 MIN FPS).
The weakness seems to be the processor (I got anything cheap to be able to test the motherboard).
So i think it can be arranged. An Athlon 64 X2 comes to mind.

The chipset came with an apalling blue LED fan and I must say the heatsink gets super hot (It's normal).

TheMobRules wrote:

EDIT: one peculiar thing about the K8N-SLI is that you need to plug in a molex connector to give extra power to the PCIe slots, even if you have also plugged in the PCIe power connector to the graphics card(s)...

Just funny. In ASUS A8N SLI SE you need the molex connector only for a SLI setup.

You can talk whatever you want, but many people in here like 939.