Member Avatar for belikemike

Hi, My son has an amd 3700, 939 pin processor, 1 gig L2 cache.
I think it is a great processor, but he wants a faster one in a 939 pin to go with his 8800 gts video card.
I would appreciate any advice an this subject.
thanks, Mike

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Dani AI

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Short, practical guidance for and anyone else still on a Socket 939 board: the fastest meaningful upgrade is only useful if the motherboard and cooling can actually support the chip, and only if the workload is CPU‑bound. and raised the platform‑change option — that is the long‑term route — but here are concrete steps if the goal is to squeeze more life from the existing 939 system.

  1. Confirm what the motherboard will accept. Find the exact board model (print on PCB or in the manual), then check the vendor CPU support list and BIOS changelog before buying any chip or attempting an update. Use CPU‑ID tools like CPU‑Z to read current stepping and model before you upgrade (CPU‑Z). Background on the socket family is at Socket 939 - Wikipedia.

  2. Measure whether the CPU is the bottleneck. Run a game or app your son cares about and watch per‑core CPU usage and GPU load. If one core is pegged while the GPU is idle, a CPU upgrade helps. If the GPU is saturated, the benefit will be small.

  3. Check power and cooling: higher‑end chips draw more power and may need better VRM cooling and a thicker CPU cooler. If the board’s BIOS support or VRMs are marginal, the upgrade may be unstable.

  4. Buying used: verify seller photos of the actual CPU markings/OPN, ask about testing and returns, and compare total cost (CPU + any needed BIOS work) to the price of moving to a newer platform.

These steps let a 939 owner decide rationally whether a swap will be noticeable or whether migrating to a newer socket is the better investment.

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Member Avatar for Supernatural

It would be a little hard now because i did notice 939's are being phased out for the 940 Pin processors which are very cheap on the market aswell. I'd go for the 940 Pin CPU + New Motherboard for it.

Member Avatar for jbennet

939 is being phased out for AM2, you mean.

Get an AM2 + An athlon FX Dual Core. They rock and are fauirly cheap.

Member Avatar for Supernatural

AM2 is a 940 Pin processor anyways...

Member Avatar for jbennet

oh

Member Avatar for Supernatural

:) its alllllll good i just got my new AM2 5600+ processor man omg its awesome! :D

Member Avatar for belikemike

Thats nice!I need a 939. How about a 4200 dual core manchester. I just need something which will be noticeable better than a 3700 1meg L2 cache. Next christmass We'll chang over.
Mike

Member Avatar for Supernatural

Well as i said there being phased out in stores. might be lucky to find one but there pretty expensive. best bet would be over ebay though. I may be selling my Dual Core 4600+ AMD 939 over it real soon for a cheap price.

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