Overclocking Buyer's Guide - September 2004
by Wesley Fink on September 17, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
CPU and Motherboard: VALUE OC Alternatives
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Sempron 3100+ RetailMotherboard: Chaintech VNF3-250
Price: CPU - $123 shipped (OEM). Motherboard - $80 shipped
There is a lot to be said for the overclocking value of an Athlon 64 2800+ or 3000+ combined with a 2nd Generation 754 board. However, a $140 to $175 processor is still more than some want to invest in a processor. This is why the Athlon XP continues to be top sellers. However, the new Sempron 3100+ for socket 754 changes that economics equation enough to shift our Alternative recommendation.
When AMD recently introduced the Sempron line of value processors, there was a little surprise hidden in the new Sempron line. The Sempron 3100+ was a Socket 754 CPU based on the Athlon 64 core. While it did not support 64-bit code and had half the cache of the popular 2800+, the Sempron 3100+ established a new low price of entry for the Athlon 64 architecture. It still has the defining on-chip memory controller and all the other great features of Athlon 64.
Please do not be confused by the silly number that AMD gave the Sempron. It is a 3100+ only compared to Celeron. The real performance is a notch below the Athlon 64 2800+. It runs at the same 1.8Ghz and has 256k of cache instead of the 512k of the 2800+. However, we have found the Sempron 3100+ to be a dynamite overclocker. On 3 different 754 boards, we reached 255 to 260 CPU settings at the stock multiplier of 9. A little quick math shows that the Sempron reached 2340MHz with ease at stock voltage. That means that it will run almost as fast as the top FX53/3800+/3700+, which operate at 2.4GHz. We're certain that more creative overclockers will reach even further with the 754 Sempron. At a price of $123, this certainly qualifies as a value overclocker!
If 64-bit capabilities and/or double the cache are important to you, then spend $20 more and buy the 2800+. The 2800+ has also developed quite a reputation as an excellent overclocker and you will find the $20 to be very well spent - returning great value for your additional investment.
You need a cheap Socket 754 board to house your Sempron 3100+, and it's nice that there's a cheap 754 board available that doesn't know that it is cheap. The Chaintech VNF3-250 is one of those rare boards that can be had for very little money, but behaves like it costs a lot of money. Put another way, the Chaintech VNF3-250 is based on the latest nVidia nForc3-250 family chipset. It uses the cheaper 250 member of the family, but it brings the really important features to the table. Most important, the overclocking controls are exemplary - as good as you will find on any 754 board except maybe the DFI LANParty UT. In our book, this combination spells overclocking value. The Chaintech has the stuff to squeeze whatever performance that your Sempron or 2800+ has waiting to be realized, and it will deliver that performance at a price that is kind to your budget.
We have recommended the Chaintech VNF3-250 in many Guides where we were looking for top performance at a low price. That's the reason it earned our Silver Editors Choice in a larger Socket 754 roundup.
For more information on the outstanding features and overclocking options available on the Chaintech, please take a closer look at our review of the Chaintech VNF3-250.
If you cannot find the lowest prices on the products that we've recommended on this page, it's because we don't list some of them in our RealTime pricing engine. Until we do, we suggest that you do an independent search online at the various vendors' web sites. Just pick and choose where you want to buy your products by looking for a vendor located under the "Vendor" heading.
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MemberSince97 - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
^^GJ^^ WF...Wesley Fink - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
#10 - I just checked the ORB for 3DMark2001SE and the highest placing Intel was #10 - the 9 top scores were AMD. 2001SE IS sensitive to CPU speed and memory speed and is useful for comparing CPU's.3DMark2003 is not very sensitive to CPU and Memory, so it is excellent for testing pure video performance. Intel does lead in many of the top ten 3DMark2003 scores, but that is a result of Video card performance since 03 is very video centric. Consider the leads there the result of Intel's chipset prowess in graphics support. Looking at the top 20 it is like 50/50 AMD/Intel in 03.
#17 - The DFI is already for sale in the US. The problem is it is selling out very quickly. Additional production is on it's way to resellers, and DFI is gearing up more production for October.
gnumantsc - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
Just a little typo in regards to 2 x 74GB Western Digital 74GB Raptor 10,000RPM SATA RAID (148MB Total) Should be 148GB not MB.Unless there is a raid system to make your 2 HDs 1000 times smaller :)
helopilot - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
Wesley: What an *excellent*, well written article! Full of veryuseful info, specs, opinions and lots of general observations and
tips. I think this is one of the best pieces I've read on a
hardware review site. You must have invested considerable time on
this article!
I especially appreciate the level of detail you've incorporated and
the tables, diagrams, graphics etc. that really help to get the
information across to the reader. You deserve high praise indeed
for this level of tech writing.
Keep up the Good Work!
PolaroidPaul - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
Great review but one issue that bugs me. I am looking into building a value OC system and it sure seems like the DFI board is a good one. Unfortunately, it is practically vapor ware at the present time.Maybe parts that are not readily available should not be on the recommended list. I hate having to wait for parts to show up in distribution while every article tells me how good the sample was. Tell me about what is comming but don't put it on the list if it does not show up as availalbe on your real time pricing list.
Just my humble opinion!
Illissius - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
I will repeat the stuff about the value RAM. You say yourself that the A64 isn't as sensitive to memory bandwidth, and the doubling of it with socket 939 only results in 2-9% performance gains. 'Enthusiast' memory is a lot less than twice as fast, so you can extrapolate how much extra performance that would gain, and it makes little sense to spend double on it when that money would be much better spent on a faster processor or video card*.Actually, you should just split the memory into Performance and Value, same as with the processor. Ballistix and EB for Performance, and standard value RAM from someone reputable (eg Corsair Value Select) for the Value. Hell, why not seperate /every/ component into Performance and Value? 9800Pro/6600GT and 6800GT for the video card, WD Raptor and random 120-200GB drives, and so on.
...I'm starting to think that the best thing to do would be to just flat out split the Performance and Value into seperate buyer's guides. They're at least as different as the mid- and high end guides are.
One more thing, and then I'll stop - the HSF has much more significance in the overclocking equation than you seem to be attributing it. You don't need to give it a seperate section, just mentioning a list of the better choices would be nice (afaik, Zalman CNPS7000A-(Al)Cu, Thermalright SLK-947/8U, SP-94/7/8, and XP-90/120, and possibly others), because for the person just getting into the whole overclocking thing, they may not know ;).
* Contrary to a common misconception, you don't need faster memory to overclock the processor. Most boards can lock the memory at stock speeds, or otherwise can use a 5:4 ratio or something.
iversonyin - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
i would fork out a little more for 2800+ athlon 64 then usin the sempronhes right on the money $20 more, u r better off with 2800+ 64 then sempron
thebluesgnr - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
#13,it's actually:
X300SE = 9600SE
X300 = 9600
X600PRO = 9600PRO
X600XT = 9600XT
No 9200 in PCIe.
DEMO24 - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
This is to poster #2. You CAN buy a x300 or x600. its called the 9200 for a x300 and a 9600 for the x600. Theres nothing speical to the x cards below the x800 cuase they are all jsut old cards made to fit PCI-e. A good way for ATI to make money and look good.ksherman - Friday, September 17, 2004 - link
Yippie! someone finally OCed a Sempron! Ive been wondering how well those cheapos would do... Sounds amazing!