Thoughts & Conclusion:

Okay, I now have the latest processor from AMD line running at a speed that is not yet available for the moment for $149. I could have easily purchased the Chaintech version to lower the overall investment. The Apacer memory would have given me the same performance result thus saving me another $100 for a mid-range video card. The fact the matter is; I did not know before hand.

I would like to find out more regarding the SATA problems I encountered at a later day. Knowing DFI is only going to make this board more suitable for overclocking in varies memory brand, I feel comfortable that the extra $40 is well spent. I must say the Apollo 6200 is not at all "bad" for the money. If you don't have extra $100, this is the card.

A PC rig is a very personal matter. Some enjoy tweaking on anything, others may just want a different look while a few will go the extra miles exploring the ultimate SuperPI, 3DMark scores, highest speed and lowest sub-zero temperature. Go ahead, do whatever fancies you the best; unlike driving a car, there is no speed limit here.

The Venice core with SSE3 instruction is not much faster than Winchester; it does support HTT reaching a new high. Perhaps, others will find out soon enough how well it performs with 4-dimms populated. In summary, I chose both entry level CPU (Venice 3000+) and video card (Geforce 6200) and a mid-range (DFI Ultra D) motherboard. I believe the combination suits my computing needs as I am not trying to break any record and couldn't stay focus on any game more than one hour. AMD S-939 series CPU is certainly performs better than its rival in addition to thermal characteristic that could be managed by most ordinary users including me. I only wish Hyper Threading is available.... may be dual core is the answer to people who are into heavy multi-thread tasks. I look forward to seeing more BIOS refinement from DFI; and my forum friends in providing me tweaking tips, perhaps 2,800 Mhz is possible. More importantly, should my kids read this article before my birthday they will know what I like to have.





With Prime95 still running on the background and timings now at 3-5-9-5 and memory voltage now at 2.9 Volt, this is where I would leave until (IF) we hear from GSkill.

Again, thanks for all the help in making the tweaking process simple for me. See you guys at the forum. Right now, I plan on playing HL2 the fifth time using the new system.


Questions/Comments: forum thread