i am looking for a cheap, decent socket A PROCESSOR lol. i have a board: Biostar m7NCD -Ultra (i know it sucks but i got it cheap..).. www.linuxteens.com

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Athlon XP Mobile, a good cooler, and OC that bad boy! :-) "...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

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I would go ahead and spend the extra money and get an ABIT NF7-S rev 2.0 and couple it with an AMD Athlon XP 3200 "Barton" 400FSB 2.2Ghz. A little pricey but if you're gonna upgrade I found the cheapest way is to go big or go home, otherwise in a month or 2 you will be saving up to "just get by" again.

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It would have been nice if you gave all the info right from the start...I didn't know what you meant by a socket A card, but I sure didn't think you meant a CPU I'm with HeroPsycho, get an XP-M, but only if your board supports all the overclock settings...that is, multiplier, FSB, voltage, RAM, etc Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 512MB PC3200 Asus Ti4800SE 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro

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Since you already have a motherboard, and just want an inexpensive CPU, I'd go with a Duron, http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-104-160&depa=0 Though I haven't looked up your particular board, Biostars are usually no frills, with few options for overclocking. That CPU would match the board nicely. Save your money for the move to 64 bit.

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Yeah the Sempron 3100+ isn't Socket A but instead a 754. It's basicly an AMD Athlon 64 754 but the 64 bit is disabled, a lower cache size and a few other minor differances. The last of the Socket A processors are the Athlon XP 3200+ and the Sempron 3000+ Semprons are nothing more then older Athlon XP's. I wouldn't get a Sempron unless it has the Barton core to it. Well I wouldn't get any 32 bit processor now unless I was upgrading the processor on a 32 bit motherboard that I already had. The Athlon XP 2800+ on the Barton core is under 100 bucks now I believe and that has to be the best bang for you buck in my opinion.

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okay thankyou, 2800+ it is. www.linuxteens.com

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The XP-M is generally the way to go. It's cheaper, unlocked, runs cooler, & will overclock better than any desktop Athlon XP or Sempron....but hey, it's your money Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 512MB PC3200 Asus Ti4800SE 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro

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1) Excellent NF3 S754 are not expensive 2) A64 S754 processors are not expensive 64 O/S is coming out soon. A64 performance is not much less than S939 but way better than AXP. I have been running AXP-M @2.6 Ghz which is below A64 S754 performance. If you don't go A64, Sempron 2600+ in S754 is a good overclocker when pairs with DFI board. If anything has to "die", AXP Athlon will be ahead of S754.:)

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"If anything has to "die", AXP Athlon will be ahead of S754" Admittedly, I have no experience with the A64 yet. I only know what I've read about them & I'm still unclear about how Hypertransport technology works. I realize the AXP is at the end of it's run, but I really don't see S754 going anywhere either, though I'm sure it'll be with us for a while. I have no doubt that an nForce3/A64 rig is better than an nForce2/AXP, but doesn't the lack of dual channel support hinder the performance? And I don't think any S754 boards support PCI-E either, correct? From an upgradeability standpoint, S754 isn't much better off than Socket A. Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 512MB PC3200 Asus Ti4800SE 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro

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I thought we were referring to bang for buck. HTT opens up the bottleneck. And, I thought we were talking about performance per $ pay. Of course, they (AXP and A64 S754)will face obsolescence sooner than S939. Owning both AXP and A64 S-754, I merely stay my point on value(bang for buck); the same you you did.:)

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The original question was about socket A wasn't it? Is a S-754 a socket A? I'm confused. I hate to get in on the tail end of a good conversation. YO

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Jam - The hypertransport thing is very similar to the marketing BS of intel with the quad pumped crap. Bottom line is your RAM is still only running 200MHz bus (400DDR), so while you can play with theoretical numbers about how fast the CPU bus speed is, it's still 400 to the memory, so it doesn't really matter. The real reason memory performance is so amazingly good on Athlon 64's is because the memory controller is on the CPU, not on the motherboard. This greatly reduces latency and artificial bottlenecks caused by the controller on the mobo. In regards to S754 being a bad way to go, it's not AS bad as you may think. The good news is there ARE 1M cache CPU's for S754, so you have a decent upgrade path in respect to the CPU if you go lower end. However, it's still limited, so I'd recommend S939. "I would go ahead and spend the extra money and get an ABIT NF7-S rev 2.0 and couple it with an AMD Athlon XP 3200 "Barton" 400FSB 2.2Ghz. A little pricey but if you're gonna upgrade I found the cheapest way is to go big or go home, otherwise in a month or 2 you will be saving up to "just get by" again." First off, if you buy a motherboard these days, and I know this will ruffle some feathers here, but bang for the buck for gamers and power users, it's VERY stupid to consider an Athlon XP Socket A platform. Even Athlon XP Mobiles overclocked aren't a good cost/performance solution because S754 motherboards are barely anymore money than a Socket A motherboard, and the 2800 A64 CPU's are not much more than a Mobile Athlon XP. When it's all said and done, you'd end up spending $40 more to go Athlon 64 2800 which would be faster without even overclocking than an Athlon XP 2500 (or close) Mobile overclocked to 2.2GHz. Not to say S754 is the best way to go, but it certainly has a better upgrade path than Socket A, and significantly better performance in the meantime. But he has a motherboard, so it's not a bad way to go since he doesn't have to spend $50 or more just for that. The Barton 3200 is $145! EEKS! NOT a good cost/performance CPU at all. An Athlon XP Mobile 2400 is $75. Add a good cooler such as a Volcano 12 ($30) or lower end effective coolers for less money, and you now have a CPU that overclocks better than the Barton 3200. It's very common to hit even 2.4GHz with the mobiles. "...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

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So the bottom line is this? If their mobo don't overclock with all of the bells and whistles, get an AMD 64/mobo combo? If it does have all of the bells and whistles, get a mobile CPU? hmmm??? YO

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No...I'm saying if you don't already have a socket A motherboard, don't bother. Just go Athlon 64, even if it's S754, it's still a better way to go. "...but in my defense, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious!"

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lazyman & heropsycho, Although I plan on clinging to my socket A for a while longer, you guys both bring up some excellent points about the S754. Although I had considered the S754 format as a "skipover", I think you may have converted me...lol! I just did some reading about the new Sempron based on the Palermo core, & the article stated that they overclock by as much as 50%! Here's just the last page: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/sempron-2600_12.html Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 512MB PC3200 Asus Ti4800SE 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro

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Yeah, I don't plan on upgrading for awhile either for two reasons: 1. No need. Mine is fast enough. 2. Still waiting for the dust to settle to get me upgradeable technology (PCI-e, S939) at a more affordable price. But for new system builds, I'm done with Athlon XP. There just isn't good value there with Athlon 64's being so close in price. MCSE, MCSA Messaging, baby!

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Although lazyman might have missed the original ? by a hair, his answer holds water and I agree with his best bang for the buck solution. Socket A is effectively history now for a new build. S754 is the closest thing out there and certainly is the best bang for the buck now. I intend to do a S939, SLI, "best" motherboard available build this year but if it all goes to hell because of money...I'll go A64 S754 and try to make careful component choices. Skip

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