I don't know about the Sempron, but my own experiences are that Athlon64 (s754/s939) is roughly 25% faster compared to Barton.

Since your motherboard is AM2 (or at least you mention DDR2), shouldn't it be easy to simply find something faster?

Tetrium wrote:

Since your motherboard is AM2 (or at least you mention DDR2), shouldn't it be easy to simply find something faster?

Totally agree, my desktop computer for about 2007-2013 was based on an AM2 platform, at first with a Sempron 3400+ (Manila core) which I eventually replaced to an Athlon 7750. It was night and day, you should consider something faster, the Sempron is really slow. It's indeed faster than an Athlon XP but not very much.

Tetrium wrote:

I don't know about the Sempron, but my own experiences are that Athlon64 (s754/s939) is roughly 25% faster compared to Barton.

Since your motherboard is AM2 (or at least you mention DDR2), shouldn't it be easy to simply find something faster?

Yeah it's a old nvidia based am2/ddr2 motherboard, still works and I was thinking to try it as main pc to replace the Barton. I could look for some 64 X2 they're quiet cheap I see.

Depending on the OS, you might even consider using an Athlon single core with it. I ended up using some AM2 2.2GHz single core with a LOT of cache!

Under Linux, you definitely want to try to find a dual-core one. Linux loves multiple CPUs. (So do BSD, Solaris and honestly, WinXP and later).

Between the Barton and the Sempron, the Sempron will likely be a wee bit faster. They're not too skookum, but they are based on the Athlon64 (Clawhammer) microarchitecture, which is beefier than Barton in theory. Some Semprons didn't support AMD64 instructions and weren't actually 64-bit chips, but IIRC those were all Socket 754 or 939, so if this is an AM2 it's almost certainly 64-bit, and Linux most definitely can benefit from that if you install a 64-bit distro (and you should).

You can also do the initial install on the Sempron then drop in a beefier chip later. IIRC, the Socket AM2 platform supports some quad-core Phenoms and Athlon2s, which still hold up rather well.

Well, it's always difficult for me when I replace a classic with a "new" system cause I always end up rebuilding something older and when it's not a Socket 7 it's a Socket 462 😁. For example even the Barton seems modern for me and lately I was thinking to "upgrade" to .... a Thunderbird 1400/133... 🤣 😵 😊
But sometime speed isn't bad, so I'll try some newer sockets but only with old type/bios with no mouse or flashing stars in background like I've seen on some new mobo... 😵

Tetrium wrote:

Depending on the OS, you might even consider using an Athlon single core with it. I ended up using some AM2 2.2GHz single core with a LOT of cache!

whats a lot of cache for an am2 single core please? i always thought of dual cores, they sometimes have big shared l2/l3 cache that might boost even the one core that gets used on say win98 or boost a windows 2000 past sonic boom

mrau wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

Depending on the OS, you might even consider using an Athlon single core with it. I ended up using some AM2 2.2GHz single core with a LOT of cache!

whats a lot of cache for an am2 single core please? i always thought of dual cores, they sometimes have big shared l2/l3 cache that might boost even the one core that gets used on say win98 or boost a windows 2000 past sonic boom

My apologies, I was mistaking s939 for AM2. But 512KB cache is still a good improvement over 128KB.

if it were s939, what would be the possible max cache here then? i guass some of the server cpus should have a ton of that,no?

mrau wrote:

if it were s939, what would be the possible max cache here then?

1MB iirc

Just go with an X2 6400 and call it a day

candle_86 wrote:

Just go with an X2 6400 and call it a day

I don't think those are supported by all AM2 motherboards though.

isnt am3/am3+ backwards compatible with am2 anyway?

mrau wrote:

isnt am3/am3+ backwards compatible with am2 anyway?

I theory yes. But before actually buying a chip and a motherboard, it's a good idea to search for a CPU compatibility list for the board you intend to use.
This is for 2 reasons: First one is that not all boards support the CPUs with the highest TDP (my own AM2 board only supported 95W max, for instance) and reason #2 is to do with the BIOS having a limited amount of CPUs it can support (something to do with microcode or something).

It's actually a good reason to have at least a single older and widely supported test CPU at hand, if only for doing BIOS updates so you can then swap the test with the one you really want to use.

An interesting aspect is that there might be a way to download a BIOS file for the board you intend to use (but is without microcode for the CPU you wish to use with your particular board) and then modify the BIOS file by inserting the required microcode yourself...in theory.

I probably forgot something else, but with AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+ it isn't plug and play...well it kinda is if one compares it with the plug and play we're dealing a lot with here on Vogons 🤣

You can plug it (fits mechanically) and it will play most of the time...but it doesn't always mean that it will work right out the box 😜

Tetrium wrote:

I theory yes. But before actually buying a chip and a motherboard, it's a good idea to search for a CPU compatibility list for […]
Show full quote

mrau wrote:

isnt am3/am3+ backwards compatible with am2 anyway?

I theory yes. But before actually buying a chip and a motherboard, it's a good idea to search for a CPU compatibility list for the board you intend to use.
This is for 2 reasons: First one is that not all boards support the CPUs with the highest TDP (my own AM2 board only supported 95W max, for instance) and reason #2 is to do with the BIOS having a limited amount of CPUs it can support (something to do with microcode or something).

It's actually a good reason to have at least a single older and widely supported test CPU at hand, if only for doing BIOS updates so you can then swap the test with the one you really want to use.

An interesting aspect is that there might be a way to download a BIOS file for the board you intend to use (but is without microcode for the CPU you wish to use with your particular board) and then modify the BIOS file by inserting the required microcode yourself...in theory.

I probably forgot something else, but with AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+ it isn't plug and play...well it kinda is if one compares it with the plug and play we're dealing a lot with here on Vogons 🤣

You can plug it (fits mechanically) and it will play most of the time...but it doesn't always mean that it will work right out the box 😜

Today I was almost buying a brand new Asus M5A78L-M LE (AMD760G) for AM3+ cpus cause I was hoping it supported the AM2 cpu I have, but I wasn't sure so I waited. 😁
They said me it supported only Am3 cpus, anyone knows more about this?

EDIT: from the asus site it looks like support only from Sempron X2 and above all am3 cpu.

386SX wrote:

Today I was almost buying a brand new Asus M5A78L-M LE (AMD760G) for AM3+ cpus cause I was hoping it supported the AM2 cpu I hav […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote:

I theory yes. But before actually buying a chip and a motherboard, it's a good idea to search for a CPU compatibility list for […]
Show full quote

mrau wrote:

isnt am3/am3+ backwards compatible with am2 anyway?

I theory yes. But before actually buying a chip and a motherboard, it's a good idea to search for a CPU compatibility list for the board you intend to use.
This is for 2 reasons: First one is that not all boards support the CPUs with the highest TDP (my own AM2 board only supported 95W max, for instance) and reason #2 is to do with the BIOS having a limited amount of CPUs it can support (something to do with microcode or something).

It's actually a good reason to have at least a single older and widely supported test CPU at hand, if only for doing BIOS updates so you can then swap the test with the one you really want to use.

An interesting aspect is that there might be a way to download a BIOS file for the board you intend to use (but is without microcode for the CPU you wish to use with your particular board) and then modify the BIOS file by inserting the required microcode yourself...in theory.

I probably forgot something else, but with AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+ it isn't plug and play...well it kinda is if one compares it with the plug and play we're dealing a lot with here on Vogons 🤣

You can plug it (fits mechanically) and it will play most of the time...but it doesn't always mean that it will work right out the box 😜

Today I was almost buying a brand new Asus M5A78L-M LE (AMD760G) for AM3+ cpus cause I was hoping it supported the AM2 cpu I have, but I wasn't sure so I waited. 😁
They said me it supported only Am3 cpus, anyone knows more about this?

EDIT: from the asus site it looks like support only from Sempron X2 and above all am3 cpu.

This is because AM2 CPUs don't have support for DDR3

Yes. AM3 CPUs can sometimes work in older boards (depends on microcode and VRM design) but AM2 CPUs are not forward compatible with AM3. AM3+ CPUs don't include DDR2 controller capability, so your AM2/AM2+ board won't work with CPUs newer than Athlon II, Phenom II, and Sargas.