64-bit system

[xxhereticxx]

I'm thinking of building a 64-bit system but have a few questions. Do I need a special memory, or could I use the memory in my intel system I'm running now. Also, are there any power supply reqirements?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Nate

[Corrosion]

No limits, same memory.

All as far as I know.

[xxhereticxx]

Not that I don't believe you, but I want to know from somebody who know's for sure. I've heard talk about registered memory as apposed to the unbuffered memory I have now.

[Cyanide]

Well, I believe the Athlon64 FX series requires registered ram. So if you don't get an FX you'll be ok with your current memory, as long as it's just standard DDR and not RDRAM.

[Electrofreak]

Well, I'm the registered 64-bit AMD nut here, let me clear some things up for you.

You'll need the same power supply you took running an Intel, these AMD 64's aren't that power hungry.

If you are going to get a regular AMD 64 chip (like the 3200+ such as I have) you can stick pretty much whatever memory you want into it. However, if you are going to be using an nForce 3 chipset mobo (as opposed to a VIA chipset), there is always a slight possibility of running into ram compatibility problems as the nForce 3 can be finicky. Hopefully you won't have any problems. One thing I would like to point out. With the socket 754 mobos (for AMD 64s, not the FX series), you cannot run your RAM in Dual-Channel mode. Sure you can use more than 1 stick, but you won't get a speed increase. In some mobos (nForce 3 again I think) if you run more than 2 sticks of RAM, their speed will drop down to PC2700 (DDR333) speeds as well. Not to mention, they only have 3 DIMM slots, so running 4 sticks of RAM is out of the question. Running 2 sticks of RAM works just fine however.

If you are going to be getting an FX series of AMD 64 CPU (in which case I would very much envy you), you will have to get Registered ECC RAM (which is damned expensive). However, you can install up to 4 sticks of RAM, and run them in Dual-Channel mode, which is nice.

Also, in the near future, a new socket of mobo for AMD 64-bit chips will be released, socket 939. You will be able to buy a socket 939 AMD 64 or a 939 FX to put into this board, and it will have dual-channel capabilities without needing Registered ECC RAM. I think they will be releasing the new 939 processors and mobos on June 1st, so if you want to wait a month, you'll be able to get some cutting-edge (but most likely quite expensive) stuff.

Here is also a good forum to learn about AMD 64-bit processing...
http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72

Hope that helps :)

[Rbstr]

I woudl wait for the 939 and get a regualr 64 3200+ or 3400+

[Acaila]

What is your current system? You might be better off doing a small upgrade now and waiting 6 mths for all the new tech to come out and drop a little bit in price before doing a large upgrade.

[Electrofreak]

Yeah, a Socket 939 mobo with PCI-X and DDR2 would definately rock...

[Rbstr]

meh DDR2 is not such a big deal, DDR2-400 is acctualy Slower/more expensive than DDR-400

[Electrofreak]

True, DDR2 doesn't perform very well, but it will inevitably improve.

[xxhereticxx]

To answer Acaila's question:

I've got an Intel P4 2.6c 800MHz FSB
asus p4p800 deluxe mobo
1gb ddr400 pc-3200
ati radeon 9600 pro 128mb

the 64-bit FX processors are pretty cheap here in japan...about $400 for an fx-51

what's a good mobo for this too....i'm still contemplating if i want to make the big intel-amd switch or not....had some trouble's with my old amd system which is why i switched to intel

anyways...i'm getting a little of topic here...thanks for help and keep bringing me answers (as i'm sure you all know a lot more than me!!!!)

thanks,
Nate

[Sentrosi]

Another great resource is Anandtech.com (http://www.anandtech.com) as they often have the latest hardware reviews out there. Take a look at their forums as well for great info and insight.

I'm going to agree with what everyone else has said; wait for the Socket 939 processors to come out along with PCI-Xpress. It's not worth going in right now when the FX series is going to become the "value" processor once the 939's roll out.

You've got a nice system there. I'd hold of a couple of months before upgrading to 64-bit processors.

[Rbstr]

Yeah thats basicaly the system i have, probalby quite a bit better, I would not bother upgranding for a little while, maybe aroun Xmas of this year or early spring 2k5

[Acaila]

Definately wait bud, your current system is excellent. Read up on Over Clocking what you already have if you want to squeeze a bit more out in the time being. Those P4 2.6 OC really well, great OCing chip, you can get it up to 3.0-3.1 with no difficulty. Upgrading now would be silly, considering anything you buy will not be that much faster than what you currently have if you OC it nicely.

[xxhereticxx]

i used to have my system oc'ed to 3.12GHz and it ran very stable but my memory clocks went down since i'm running ddr400. the speed dropped to 333 and i read somewhere, forget where, that the drop in my memory clock speeds would have a more negative effect on my system than the improved clock speed on my processor. i was thinking about putting a 3.2GHz prescott processor in my system but i'm not sure.

p.s. living in japan is great. all the cool stuff is so cheap over here!!!! :D