Thandor wrote on Today, 09:17:
Dan386DX wrote on Yesterday, 20:35:ASUS A8N-VM Socket 939 motherboard
Opteron 148 […]
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ASUS A8N-VM Socket 939 motherboard
Opteron 148
Question - why are 2003 Socket 754 boards, and OG 2003 Athlon 64 CPUs so rare, bordering on unobtainium? At least in the UK.
Late 754 from 2005, bundled with Semprons, when they'd become the budget option are everywhere. But I struggle to find a single 2003 board or CPU.
I guess they didn’t sell that much. S939 was available one year after S754 launched. People who knew S939 was around the corner probably waited for it.
It was well known, maybe 2 years in advance that 754 was always intended to be the budget x64 platform. So enthusiasts were not enthused about it. Early adopter performance enthusiasts with spare cash and impatience, went to socket 940 and Opterons, probably getting an FX on there later. The majority of AMD friendly enthusiasts were still squeezing the pips out of socket A and wringing it dry, they'd just got dual channel a year prior, they weren't giving that up for questionable x64 benefits for software that didn't exist yet, or really for several years, nobody was hurting with 32bit until probably 2007.
OEMs were probably getting a deal that component retailers weren't though, the pricing didn't drop to "new PC for grandma" build level until '05 or so, but 754 was appearing in compaqs and emachines a little before that. It was a little under cover though due to the budget version of budget, Sempron and even Athlon XP naming on some 754 CPU which made it unsure whether systems were actually 754 or Socket A in the brief details on magazine ads and product cards in store. Not sure it ever looked like a good deal for "best performance for lowest bucks right now" for most self builders, due to sheer mass of Socket A selloff gear. For instance, I put a new parts only, clearance parts, socket A based machine together for under $200 in 2006 that "tuned up" to 2.4 ghz, for that money in 754 I think you only got the motherboard and CPU and stayed a couple hundred behind in "PR" terms. Those who consciously chose 754 I think were misguided as to how futureproof it was, better CPUs never really came out, or were on the roadmap if you actually looked, so it was kinda the Socket 4 Pentium P5 60/66 of the 2000s, the architecture wasn't needed yet at release and the platform went nowhere.
It's saving grace though was it put relatively low power x64 into laptops and evolved into s1g1 and dual core support there.
Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.
