AMD 3700+ San Diego vs. 3800+ X2

[Waylay00]

Hello, I am ordering my parts today, but I still can't decide on whcih CPU to go with.

I am trying to choose between the 3800+ X2 or the 3700+ San Diego.

Pros of 3700+
-Faster in Single Threaded Games right now
-$100 cheaper
-1MB L2 Cache

Pros of X2 3800+
-Faster in MultiTasking
-More future proof
-Future games will take advantage of X2 3800+
-I could overclock the 3800+ to 2.2GHz, giving me the same speed of the 3700+.

A few questions first though.

1. Could I essentially load all of my background tasks onto one core and have the other core solely run the game?
2. Since both cores have 512KB of L2 Cache, does each core's cache essentually add up to 1MB?

Thanks in advance,
Waylay00

 

[MDE]

1) Yes
2) No, each core behaves like a separate CPU.

The 3800+ would be the wise choice right now, IMO.

 

[asicman]

The 3700+ San Diego has 1MB L2 and will OC to 2.8 for most people. I have mine running at 2.6 ATM. I am, however, looking to sell my retail 3700+ for $240 if you want to save a little more money... It's only about two weeks old.

My main apps (I am not a gamer) use dual threads already, so the X2 is going to benefit me today. That's why I've decided to upgrade.

FYI

 

[imported_Kensai]

I say X2..

 

[imported_g33k]

You'll be fine either way you go. You can get faster single core performance or slower dual core, but better multitasking. You will not see apps take advantage of multi cores for at least another year or two. By that time multi-core will become more mainstream and then you can upgrade to one then.

 

[xTYBALTx]

Originally posted by: MDE

The 3800+ would be the wise choice right now, IMO.

:thumbsup:

 

[eurovw]

i have a 3800+ x2 system right now, OC to 2.65 GHZ. 31 degrees idle, 45 degrees under load cpu temps.

 

[asicman]

Originally posted by: eurovw
i have a 3800+ x2 system right now, OC to 2.65 GHZ. 31 degrees idle, 45 degrees under load cpu temps.

Impressive OC. What VCore ?

 

[superfly27]

I just looked a short while ago at some benchmarks on Tom's Hardware. There were two different benchmarks with the 4000+ at only one frame per second difference in UT2004. Anyway, I found by looking at both, I could figure out how the X2 3800+ compares to the socket 754 3400+ (2.4 GHz, Newcastle). Well, the X2 was at 136 fps while the 3400+ was at 151 fps. So, guess I'll do file sharing at night while I sleep. Hehehehe.
I know it's socket 754 but, it's on sale at Compuvest:
http://www.compuvest.com/Description.jsp?iid=136201

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

Though i know dualcores are so cool and futureproof and whatever the fans like to call them i still say single core if u want a gaming rig and Id prefer a x850XT PE over a G70 chip, or better wait until october and buy a R520.

 

[Ike0069]

If you mainly want to game, then the 3700+.
It's cheaper and faster. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[piotrgurin]

hey what type of cooling do u use?

my x2 3800 is idle at 36

 

[bigsexychris]

with a 3800+, at 2.3, i'm at about 27 idle 1.39 vcore on air.. my x2 doesn't seem to like superpi 32m at 2.4+ though

 

[Waylay00]

So X2 or not?

 

[yourdeardaniel]

x2 3800 is nice.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Another vote for X2.

1. X2 is more than fast enough for any game out there.

2. X2 eats the 3700+ SD for lunch in multithreaded CPU-intensive apps.

3. Better multitasking.

 

[monster64]

So how long to you plan to keep this PC? Right now developers are struggling with dual core because the code is much more complicated. Valve is trying it, but they aren't having much success. IF you plan to OC that 3700+ then I'd go with it. It will still be a minimum of 3 to 4 years before you could find a popular game, and it will be multi-threaded.

 

[ShadowBlade]

X2, add poll

 

[Muscles]

If you're primarily a gamer I'd go with the 3700+. X2 does absolutely nothing for gaming right now. In fact it's a hinderance. Do a search and read about how people have had to disable the 2nd core to be able to run any of their games. Talk about a pain in the ass.

 

[Waylay00]

Well, I plan on keeping this PC for quite some time, maybe 2 years without an upgrade. Ahh, this is killing me.

Poll added.

 

[Waylay00]

Bump for more opinions.

 

[imported_g33k]

You need to post your uses. If you are a gamer get the single core. The San Diego will clock higher than the 3800+. I would wait for prices to drop on multicore and apps are designed to make use of them. Right now they are just very effecient multitaskers.

If you want something new to play with, get the 3800+ since you already have a 3700+ (in your sig).

 

[yosuke188]

X2

 

[Waylay00]

Originally posted by: g33k
You need to post your uses. If you are a gamer get the single core. The San Diego will clock higher than the 3800+. I would wait for prices to drop on multicore and apps are designed to make use of them. Right now they are just very effecient multitaskers.

If you want something new to play with, get the 3800+ since you already have a 3700+ (in your sig).

The rig in my sig (hey that rhymes) is the one I'm ordering. So actually I don't have either.

 

[JME Fidelity]

If you want to game, theres absolutley no reason to get the x2. That diego will overclock much much higher and kill the x2 in all games.