Hello everyone, new guy with a question. I just got my spankin new ASUS K8N-E Deluxe MOBO from the EGG. Can't wait till it's hummin but I see that for socket 754 athlons there are two cores available; clawhammer and newcastle. Either will work right? Is one better than the other, if so why? I have one box under my belt, a little $600.00 surfboard and it works great but I am upping the stakes with this new one and I want the best I can get.

mebbie im goin out on a limb here, but im almost 100 percent sure that either will work, as long as the pin layout is the same, newer cpu architectures place standoffs or other pins in the way of unsupported sockets so people dont mistakenly put the wrong cpu in, so it the shoe fits, wear it

Either will work and in my opinion, the higher clock speed of the Newcastle gives more benefit than the increased cache of the Clawhammer. I tested both and the Newcastle beat the Clawhammer at rated speeds and they were pretty damn close at matching speeds.

To the best of my knowledge, s754 CPUs will work in s754 mobos, regardless of CH or NC core. The difference between the two cores is the internal architecture, and most obviously the L2 cache. Some people swear that NC cores run faster, others that the CH L2 cache makes for more efficient processing, therefore a faster CPU.

My personal advice: unless money is an issue, go with the s939 mobo/CPUs, since they allow for your DDR to run in actual dual channel. The s754 CPUs have an internal memory controller that somehow only allows for single channel mode. The difference is not apparent, unless you're timing app startup/whatever with Swiss-engineered timing devices, and every .0001 second is crucial. See the pic below, it's from my CPU-Z screens, CPU and Memory tabs, with nothing overclocked...



I don't notice a significant disadvantage in gaming but I've already made plans to go to s939 when my tax refund comes in next year... ( don't tell my wife...)

If money IS an issue, I'd let my wallet decide what to get. A 2.2CH might perform the same as a 2.0NC (just a hypothetical), but cost $100 less. Which do you want???

I am building a media storage box for streaming Video and audio to my TV, stereo and a client out in the garage so I didn't go with the newest fastest CPU but I want the best for the MOBO I got. I did drop some coin on the RAM though, a GIG of Crucial Ballistix.