Athlon 64 Socket 940, 939, 754 for noobs - Updated 12/11/04

[DigitalRuin]

Here is the new and improved n00b guide to Athlon 64 chips and sockets. The original short guide was created well over a year ago now and wasn't helping anyone. Since then there have obviously been same major changes, especially since AMD is moving into mainstream 90nm chips and PCIe boards. This is meant for newcomers to the scene and not most of you who I'm sure already known this. It can be a little confusing to those not constantly aware of the latest changes.

Socket 940
CPUs: FX-51/53 and Opteron
Chipsets: nForce 3

This board was the introductory high-end Athlon 64 board. It is basically the same setup as the Opteron chip with some more mainstream tweaks. It's currently being phased out of normal mainstream usage and remains only for the Opteron.

Pros:
Awesome performance similar to high end servers
Dual Channel Memory
1000mhz Bus

Cons:
Requires expensive registered ram
Being phased out

Socket 939
CPUs: FX53/55 and 3000+ 3200+ 3500+ 3800+ 4000+
Chipsets: nForce 3+4

The new power house! This setup kicks some major ass for the price/performance ratio and blows away anything Intel has at the moment. This is the setup that you should be moving towards if you have money to throw around. The 939 chipset is growing rapidly especially with the new nForce 4 and PCIe. Also AMD is moving towards its 90nm chips process which means, cheaper/faster/cooler for you. This is the place to go for serious overclocking and gaming performance. Also has a 1000mhz bus.

Pros:
Very widely available
Great performance/price ratio
New 90nm chips
Uses normal DDR
Dual Channel
1000mhz Bus

Cons:
More expensive than socket 754, but worth it

Socket 754
CPUs: 2800+ 3000+ 3100+ 3200+ 3400+ 3700+ and Semprons
Chipsets: nForce 3

More of a mainstream, mid to low end solution. It's designed for the average computer user who doesn't care about every ounce of performance. Still not a bad solution as it competes very well with the latest Intel solutions at a fraction of the cost. It's widely available from the normal motherboard lineup and comes with a bunch of options. It does not support Dual Channel and only has an 800mhz Hyper Transport bus. A great board for the mainstream but not something your hardcore user would want. I also believe there is no nForce 4 support at the moment.

Pros:
Cheap and simple and still performs strong
Sempron support

Cons:
Only Single Channel memory
No 90nm support (at the moment)
Only an 800mhz bus

Hope this all helps!

[stitch]

The Socket 939 board is also supposed to be cheaper to make because it only requires a 4 layer PCB. Socket 940 requires a 6 to 9 layer PCB.

[2002cbr600f4i]

[Dan Armitage]

Thanks DR! This thread was very helpful! And yes, I am a NOOB....
-V/R

[bex0rs]

Few minor corrections:

Socket 940: Boards just require registered memory - though all registered sticks I have seen also supports ECC. Most FX-51 users will disable ECC through their system bios. Current 940 boards should work with FX-51's, but may require a BIOS update to enable DDR400 operation. This is the case with my SK8N - bios 1001 only supports DDR333 but 1002 and up support DDR400. All current S940 chips support dual channel memory.

Socket 939: Does not require registered memory. This will be the socket of choice for power (rich) users who wish to keep their unbuffered / non-ecc DDR400. Will be dual channel like current S940 boards. I read somewhere that S939 chips will only have 1HT link, instead of the 3 on current FX-51's.

Socket 754: Does not require registered memory. Will probably work with ECC memory but in non-ECC mode. Chips for this socket will only support a single channel of memory.

I can also confirm that S940 FX-5x chips will continue to be released after S939 boards debut.

~bex0rs

[DigitalRuin]

Sounds good guys.... I didn't have all the info but since there was no central source for it I decided to make this quick thread. With your posts it'll definitly be complete.

[nforcedmyRadeon9700]

So I guess that means I will go for the FX-51 with unbuffered memory sometime down the road

[superfatman]

well.. i suggest waiting till the pci express comes out..but then you need new mem cpu 940 , fx 51 or better.. mmm , and a new vid card and some sata drives for raid..

well..thats an entirely new system..lol mmm.. me wishes me had more money than currently has

[Wild Child]

Ditto super...lol

[impar]

Greetings!

nForce3 Socket 754, Socket 940 Mainboards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboards/display/20030926055748.html
"we decided to publish some preliminary specifications of such mainboards for your convenience."