AMD 64 3800+ or X2 3800+ for gaming?

[Vampirrella]

Im on my last componant towards completing my gaming rig and i am stuck on what to do as far as cpu goes... the ancient old question, single core or dual.

im considering a A64 3800+ or a X2 3800+ or maybe an opteron 148 single or 165 dual? Do the dualies really make a diffrence for gaming? This rig will be used for the sole purpose of gaming and nothing else.

Any quick comments?

 

[Bobthelost]

For non SMP games the single core, for SMP games the dual core.

165 is the best choice imo.

 

[BadThad]

Single core is generally faster, but as more and more game support SMP the dual core will be the best bet. Personally, I'd go dual core without thinking twice.

 

[robertk2012]

Dual core - 165 if overclocking. 3800, 4200, 4600 if not.

 

[markkleb]

For gaming the others (much smarter than me) say single core is faster in games. But get the 3700+ instead as it has the 1mb cache.
Mine oced to 2500 easy.

 

[NewBlackDak]

I got an Opteron 148, and it's more than enough for gaming. I wish I had spent a little more for dual-core now though. It would have made compiling while running apache and mysql on my machine more bearable.

 

[Aarondeep]

go with the dual core. You want that rig to last as long as possible b4 the next upgrade.

 

[Painman]

If I were buying a CPU this year, I'd buy a dually, everything is going in that direction.

 

[programmer]

At the moment, it looks to me the best "bang-for-the-buck" is the 3700+ single core. About $215, and is generally faster than dual cores in current games. I suppose it depends how often you turn your equipment over. I tend to buy 1 or 2 generation old stuff and replace it every 1-2 years, rather than spend big $$$ on the latest and greatest. Works for me, saves money, and gives time to work out bugs in the new technologies.

Now, specifically to your question, if I were thinking of spending about $285 for a single core 3800+ or $295 for a dual core 3800+, I'd go dual core. But again, I would rather spend $215 on that 3700+ and maybe get a better GPU.

 

[letdown427]

3700+ over 3800+ without a shadow of a doubt. 3700+ is an awesome chip. You'll comfortable see 2.5Ghz, most probably 2.7Ghz no big deal. That is onehell of a gming chip. However, if you want it to last longer, and so on, OC'ing a 3800+ is probably a better deal. If getting a 3700+ would allow you a better gfx card though, get that, definately. Ignore the 3800+ single core. 3700+ is the best bang for buck single core available. (IManyOs )

 

[RussianSensation]

If all you care about is gaming, single core is the way to go. It'll be a while before dual cores allow any substantial improvements in gaming. In reality, even when they do, it'll be at resolutions below 1600x1200. So spend more on the videocard. If you tend to multi-task or run processes in the background while gaming though, dual-core is a better solution.

 

[CP5670]

im considering a A64 3800+ or a X2 3800+ or maybe an opteron 148 single or 165 dual? Do the dualies really make a diffrence for gaming? This rig will be used for the sole purpose of gaming and nothing else.

In that case, get a single core, especially if you're willing to overclock. The dual cores are nice for general usage and multitasking, but the cheapest dual core, the 3800, is about $300 while you can get the single core Opteron 144 for as little as $135 at Monarch. If that $165 is put into the video card instead, the performance improvement in games would be way bigger than any faster processor you could buy.

 

[cdjr]

You might find this article interesting. Compares A64 3800+, A64x2 3800+, and A64 3200+ for gaming (no overclocking).

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=461

 

[starwars7]

Originally posted by: cdjr
You might find this article interesting. Compares A64 3800+, A64x2 3800+, and A64 3200+ for gaming (no overclocking).

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=461

Great article!

 

[Vampirrella]

thx for the article and all your input. Good read

 

[furballi]

Get a Sempron 3100 and overclock it to +2400MHz, which is a tad faster than a stock A64 3500 with dual channel memory.

 

[Vampirrella]

Well thx to everyones input. Ive bought a cpu tonight at my fav local store. I settled for a single core A643800+ Rev E (they didnt have any 3700's)

So i have the following setup:

A64 3800+ Rev E
ASUS A8N32-SLI
2GB Corsair XMS 3500LL Pro
BFG 7800GT
74GB Raptor
Enermax Noisetaker 600W
Coolermaster Stacker 810

Seems like the system works great. Plopped in the cpu, powered up without a hitch. Hopefully ill be able to do some decent gaming now.