nForce3 vs 4 & socket 754 vs 939; upgrade confusion

[videobruce]

I curently have two nForce2 MBs'. I'm considering upgradeing one of them, but have run into confusion between nForce3 vs nForce4 chipsets, but especially this choice of 754 vs 939 pin AMD processors.

1. I read AMDs' FAQs' regarding the two sockets. Are each of the AMD 64s' available in either 745 and 939 pin?

2. Is a upgrade to the older nForce3 chipset worth it or would it be better jumping to v4? How much a difference between v2 & v3?

3. To the above question; AGP vs PCI express graphics cards; for the SAME chipset card, is there any difference?

4. I see these newer PIC express MB's only have three PCI slots. Why the change?

My situation;
Win 2k, no overclocking, very little gaming, don't need/want the latest and greatest. HD tuner card for timeshifting is the most intensive hardware application that the box sees.

Big varible; I would prefer to use my existing AGP card, but I might have to upgrade to a newer card depending on how a new (undecided) Microdisplay HDTV will work with the existing card. If I will have to upgrade it would be a 6600GT from the existing 9600Pro.

Hope all of that made sense. Thank's in advance.

[hockey man]

Anthalon 64s are only Socket 939. Sempron 64s are socket 745. While there would be some boost in performance, upgrading to a nForce 4 Mobo is more about new technology. You would get SATA and PCIe. I'm not sure of the difference between the 3 and 3 are. But, I wouldn't put the money into "upgrading" to old technology. PCIe has way more bandwith than AGP. But unless you are a serious gamer- which you said you are not, you won't really notice any difference. Why only 3 PCI slots? Becuase PCI is old and barely used. So why put a whole punch of PCI slots on a new MOBO. The biggest-cheap upgrade is RAM. How much do you have? RAM seriously affects performance. To make a more educated recommendation though, we are going to need your current specs and your upgrade budget.

[saphalline]

Anthalon 64s are only Socket 939.Nope. There are S939 A64's. However, I wouldn't recommend any of them. Not enough performance per dollar spent (or whatever currency you use). There are much better options for cheaper.

For instance, the S754 Sempron 64's represent the most performance per dollar spent at the low end. Celeron D's are a close second. Beyond that, you're looking at the higher end CPU's like the P4 and A64. So for the A64, 939 is the superior platform. The 754 versions are out-classed by the cheaper Sempron 64's in a budget match, and by the 939 A64's in a performance match.

As for your chipset question, there are differences. If you want to keep your AGP vid card, you can go with an AGP-based chipset. But as hockey man said, we can make a more solid recommendation based on your budget.

[videobruce]

Anthalon 64s are only Socket 939. Sempron 64s are socket 745. Not according to this;
http://images.tomshardware.com/2004/12/21/the_mother_of_all_cpu_charts/cpu_table_amd_big.gif

I haven't looked into Semprons since I know those are the low end product. I was just figuring to go with a slower, less expensive Athlon.
I was under the impression that the 'dual' video card slot MBs' have their own problems and to stay away from.

The real issue is if my current 9600Pro card will work with a soon to be purchased HD set. If I can't get it to than the 6600GT would be the card of choice. If I have to get a new card, I might as well go with PCI-E.

[saphalline]

There are S939 A64's.Doh! I meant there are S754 A64's. That's what happens when you type too fast with too many numbers. :rolleyes:

Anyways, yes, there are Athlon64's for Socket 754. However, I wouldn't recommend them. Not enough performance per dollar spent. And the Sempron 64's aren't really any different. They still use the same CPU core technology and the "64" versions have 64-bit support. So if you're going for Socket 754, go for a Sempron 64.