Processor Upgrade?

I've not had a problem with my processor until now, because I've not been into anything all that processor intensive before. But now, I've found that working with video files which require a lot of encoding, runs my CPU at 100%. That is not a problem, except that I can't use the computer for anything else, during the processing...even simple programs will freeze up.

I don't want to spend the money for a real upgrade to current standards, but I'm wondering if upgrading my 4400+ S939 to a Athlon 64 FX-57 would make enough difference to make it worthwhile to upgrade it? As far as I can see, the only change would be to increase from 2200Mhz to 2800Mhz. This upgrade would cost ~ $200 for a used processor.

I know squat about AMD. Do you have a dual core?

Have you considered altering your "affinity" settings via Task Manager?

I have never changed my settings, but it supposedly allows you to force a certain process to use only 1 core, rather than the standard 2. That would slow down your video processing, but free up 1 core to do something else.

No it isn't worth $200 by a long shot. Makes even less sense when for that same $200 you could get something like this,



that would pretty much blow away any socket 939 based system. Would just need to recycle the rest of the necessary bits from whichever of the computers you decide to replace.

ignatzatsonic,

Thanks for the suggestion. That did permit other operations to run with the video processing properly...but the video encoding speed dropped to ~1/3 of what it was using both cores. That would be tolerable, except that I have over 600 DVDs to process, and I would like to finish before doomsday. Therefore, I'm still pondering my original question.

stormy13 said:

No it isn't worth $200 by a long shot. Makes even less sense when for that same $200 you could get something like this,



that would pretty much blow away any socket 939 based system. Would just need to recycle the rest of the necessary bits from whichever of the computers you decide to replace.

Hmm, I like that processor and perhaps the memory, but I'm wary of Biostar. Not because I ever had one, but because it appears to be a low dollar board, unlike Asus or a couple of others.

In the past, I've had a lot of problems with "economical" motherboards, and if I were to scrimp, it would not be on that.

EDIT: BTW, where is that screenshot from?

How about MSI? Same 770 chipset and $10.00 more (and was actually $10.00 less then the Biostar a couple of weeks ago),

Newegg.com - MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

No matter how you slice it though, $200 spent on a 939 system just doesn't make sense.

BTW, where is that screenshot from?

Newegg.

stormy13 said:

How about MSI? Same 770 chipset and $10.00 more (and was actually $10.00 less then the Biostar a couple of weeks ago),

Newegg.com - MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

No matter how you slice it though, $200 spent on a 939 system just doesn't make sense.

BTW, where is that screenshot from?

Newegg.

I wouldn't touch another MSI motherboard with a 10 foot pole. I have a bunch of them in the closet, and I will probably file 13 them, because the closet space is more valuable to me.

I also do not do business with Newegg, but perhaps I can find something similar elsewhere.

Zepher,

I don't guess that it matters much, because the other two posters have just about talked me out of my original idea, but I fail to understand those benchmarks, because the specs and price of the FX-57 is much higher than my current processor.