All this bickering is getting old. From someone who is dedicated to reading all the posts it’s getting tiresome reading what is basically unnecessary noise. It’s wasting my time, and others time as well. Knock it off, or do it elsewhere, you’ve been warned.
I just checked up on the Geeks.com website and I realised they aren’t selling AMD Athlon X2 proccessors anymore (939 socket anyway)
Looks like when I send back the proccessor tomorrow Im going to have to get a sempron 
There only $40.00 (which is about 30 bucks under what I am to receive for the return) which leaves me with enough money to buy a CPU fan and 100GB or so harddrive.
Hmm sacrifices 
Don’t get a sempron. They are very old and totally outdated. Worse than P4s. Try to get a old A64 single core 939. AMD has announced that they will stop supporting the 939 socket soon. Its hard to find a 939 X2 these days. If you do find them, they are over priced.
Who said geeks is god?
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz / 1MB Cache / 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB / Dual-Core (Manchester) / OEM / Socket 939 / Processor - $89.97
tigerdirect.ca/applications/ … No=2927576
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor - 2.0GHz, 1MB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB, Toledo, Dual-Core, OEM, Socket 939, ADA3800DAA5CD, Processor - $69.97
tigerdirect.ca/applications/ … No=3001041
Same CPU, different cores. The Manchester came first, then the Toledo. But the Manchester is a better overclocked. Meaning, you can make it go beyond its stock speed. Giving you a faster processor causing you to save $$$.
-robodude666
P.S. Sorry jim
This ain’t a scene, It’s a…
FOB RULES!!!
As I mentioned somewhere in a previous post, geeks.com is giving me store credit, which means I have to use that to get my proccessor. They aren’t giving me a return.
The best thing I can think of to counter this is to sell my AM2 proccessor in the trading post and use the money to buy the proccessor locally. It would be way easier.
This isn’t official yet becuase Im going to spend the day looking for local stores that sell the proccessor for a good price. If there is one I will put up an add in the trading post for the one I have now. I haven’t even opened it and it comes with a CPU fan and heatsink, so it should go quick for the right buyer.
-thanks.
I used to build my boxes from individual parts in the old days, but now one is better off (in my opinion) to get a board/memory/processor bundle that is known to work. It only takes one little mismatch to blow any $$$ you thought you were going to save building from individual parts.
Yes, I agree, I would have bought a CPU/mainboard bundle, but Ckoehler had a good deal I couldn’t pass up. 
Unfortunately two models of the X2 were made and I misunderstood RD6’s advice and got an AM2 instead of 939 socket CPU. Now I’m stuck trying to find it a home and use the cash to get a 939 socket CPU.
Check the trading post if interested and PM me. Im not trying to make any money off it, I just need to get rid of it
-Thanks.
ftw
This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
Cool song I love the lyrics.
Ahhh, I see. How much did your AM2 cost? $80 you said? Sell it for like $65 or 70 + $5-10 shipping. The processor is only worth like $67 US and 71 CAD. Then get the processor from tiger.
-robodude666
Im flexible, but im not about to bring the price down just yet.
Im hoping to get the proccessor locally.
[size=75]I’ve had enough with this border tax bullsh*t, oops, did I say that out loud? 
[/size]
**UPDATE: I’ve finally got a hold of an AMD Athlon 64 proccessor socket 939. Its not X2, but it’ll do just fine in my case. Its $100.00. 
Its at a local summit Direct. I called and put the last one on hold. Later this afternoon I am going to pick it up. I still haven’t found a buyer for the AM2 proccessor yet and Im getting a little nervous. 
Geeks.com is closed on Weekends so I can’t get a hold of them either to confirm if I want to send it back or not. I geuss Im going to have to wait… I don’t know if I can sell it locally or even on here, and I’ve never used eBAY before and I don’t want to go through the frustration. Im going to put an add in the free ads section in the local newspaper and see if I get a bite, otherwise its going back to geeks.com **
Which A64 is it? They aren’t really worth much these days. What Core and speed?
AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 - $60 and $80
tigerdirect.ca/applications/ … CatId=1949
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Socket 939
tigerdirect.ca/applications/ … CatId=1948
You should really shop around for the best product you can get. If your limited with 939, get a X2 because it is dual core. Dual core makes multitasking soo much easier. You can do multiple things at a time and feel hardly any lag.
I had my system at 100% load, but the load was spread between cores so it was 50% load per core. My computer was not laggy at all. I could still play games and do my normal stuff. Plus more games are starting to support dual cores so you’ll get better results in gaming too.
I say borrow like $80 cad from your parents and get this processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor - 2.0GHz, 1MB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB, Toledo, Dual-Core, OEM, Socket 939, ADA3800DAA5CD, Processor - $69.97
tigerdirect.ca/applications/ … CatId=1948
Shipping will be like 5-10 (don’t know Canadian rates).
Trust me. You will be happy. I upgraded from a Pentium 4 3.2 w/ HTT to my X2 3800+ @ 2.6GHz. Damn do I notice a difference in performance.
On my old P4, if I did a virus scan or burned a DVD my entire system was at like 80-100% load and I couldn’t do anything else but wait. Virus scans for me take well over 10-20 hours =P And converting codecs was a pain. Now I can do a virus scan, burn a DVD and play HalfLife2 without a problem.
I say sell your AM2 X2 for $65 shipped, it would be a great deal counting that its $67 USD. You can’t sell something fast if you sell it higher than retail. That simple. I had to sell my BRAT stuff crazy low in order to get a sale. But I wanted to sell it so I had to live with the lose. In your case the lost is like $10-15 which isn’t too bad compared to my few $100+.
Do you remember what core your X2 AM2 is? Is it a Windsor or a Brisbane? I’m assuming Windsor, but I might be wrong.
-robodude666
UPDATE: Im typing this from my newly built computer! 
Not bad for a first timer 
Thanks to all that helped. The computer still is incomplete. I need to transfer files and install programs still, but the worst is over! 
Cool!
Let us know how you like it
Cheers,
-robodude666
WOW! Honestly, my games look 10X better/different than they used too! And I mean going from 2D to 3D is a big step!!! Woa! So clear and precise movement!
The computer runs so smooth now after getting all the major updates installed. It was slow at first becuase of this, but now it seems like it is 2X faster than that old sempron of mine.
Question though. I dont want to do this, but I would like to know how I can overclock the CPU (sempron) just a little so I can have it run a little smoother for my sister. Even she needs a good PC
Go read some overclocking tutorials.
Get some AS5 for better thermal transfer.
Then slowly increase the HTT of the processor. You might need to tweak ram settings. Every like 10MHz increasein HTT, do like 1-2 days worth of benchmarking to insure stability. In the beginning you wont need to do so much. To get to my OC (From 2 to 2.6GHz) it took me about 4 days worth of benchmarking. Make sure your case has enough fans to keep the system cool.
Use:
superpi
3dmark03
3dmark05
3dmark06
pcmark04
coretemp or speedfan
For the heavy testing, run StressPrime2004 for 7hr+.
-robodude666
that sounds like I have a lot of work ahead of me!
lol, when we’ll see what my sister is into and if it starts slowing down for her, I’ll amp it up a bit 8)
How do you actually speed up the processor thoug,does the software you listed above do this?
No. The software I listed is for benchmarking.
SuperPi can calculate PI upto like the 32millionth place. This puts some stress onto the ram and CPU. If it fails to calculate, then it means there is something wrong with the RAM.
3DMark is an benchmarking tool mostly used for GPUs, but it can also test the CPU.
PCMark isn’t really needed since it just tells you how much of an increase in performance you gained. But its nice to know these numbers.
CoreTemp and SpeedFan are two programs which can tell you how hot your processor is.
To Overclock you need to know how the CPU works.
There are multiple values to look at.
There is the HTT (AMD) and FSB (Intel). Then there is a multiplier factor. Your CPU’s speed is determined by the HTT or FSB * multiplier.
So, lets take my CPU for example. I have an AMD X2 3800+. The default HTT on it is 200MHz, and the multiplier is 10x.
By default, my CPU is 200MHz x 10 = 2000MHz. If I were to ramp my HTT to 260, like i did, and leave the multiplier at 10x then I will get 260MHz x 10 = 2600MHz.
Some CPUs have a “locked” multiplier. This means that you can’t change the multiplier value, but only the FSB/HTT.
Sometimes the cpu wont be able to take the speed you are asking it to run so you will need to increase the juice (voltage) do this VERY SLOWLY, and ONLY when you notice instability. Once you found the MAX speed of the CPU that it is 100% not stable, go down like 5-10MHz on the HTT/FSB.
There are other things to know such as memory timings, fsb:ram ratio, and other fun stuff. But thats the basics.
I’d also like to add that this can only be done on custom made computers. It can not be done on prebuilt systems like Dells, HPs, gateways, etc. Currently only dell’s super high end offers overclocking options. None other. If you have an nvidia chipset, you can use ntune which is their overclocking software. But its highly recommended to OC via BIOS. And not software.
Happy OCing,
-robodude666