AMD 939 owners who want to upgrade to X2

[amheck]

I have a 939 3200+ now. THe CPU does everything I need it to for now, but I would like to upgrade to a x2 chip just to buy me another year or two beyond that. I was just checking around newegg and ZZF and saw that quite a few 939 x2 chips are OOS. Is it time to get worried yet about stock levels?

I'm looking for the optimal time to buy. I want to let them drop lower. I want to hold onto my 3200+ as long as I can. But I don't want to wake up one day and they're all gone either.

What are you guys (in the same situation) doing?

Aaron

 

[EXEEMLITE]

I am about to drop an opteron 165 in my htpc. Not that I really really need it but for 150 bucks... I really cant see x2's getting much cheaper, the 3800 x2 is up to $213 right now on price watch. Ofcourse I could be wrong but I am leaning toward snatching one ;up with in the next week or so

 

[amheck]

Wow....I see you're right on the x23800. That took a pretty big jump.

I was thinking maybe about the 4400 or the 4600. They are roughly the same price. The 4400 gives you the 2x1meg cache, but the 4600 gives you the extra .2 GHz out of the box.
Wish I could see into the future......

 

[EXEEMLITE]

You should look at the opteron 175 then. Opterons are famous for the overclockability.

 

[jelifah]

I just bought an Opteron 170 from NewEgg, and got a CCBBE stepping. I've read a couple places that this stepping is common from NewEgg right now, and these are the ones that most consistenly hit above 2.8

I'd been sitting on the fence for quite awhile, but the more I thought about a new MoBo/CPU/RAM/Video card build, the more I realized that my system is totally 'good enough' and for a $200 upgrade it became, IMHO, great.

Bought my system 2 years ago, and now it should run another 2 years. Than I can do a new build.

 

[Entropism]

I had a 3500+, jumped on the Opteron 165. Ended up being a bad chip (OCed perfectly to 2.9Ghz, but even at stock speeds, idled at 50c), so I returned it for a 170 for $30 more.

 

[hydroponik]

Yeah, I actually wanted to buy an x2 few months back, but I'm glad I waited for the $160 opty 165s.

Best bet right now if you want to extend the life your system and don't want to shell out money for C2D.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Entropism
I had a 3500+, jumped on the Opteron 165. Ended up being a bad chip (OCed perfectly to 2.9Ghz, but even at stock speeds, idled at 50c), so I returned it for a 170 for $30 more.

What's so bad about that? What voltage were you pumping through it? Also, Opterons do seem to run hotter.

 

[Entropism]

50c idle and 65c under load is just a tad bit much.

 

[hydroponik]

Originally posted by: Entropism
50c idle and 65c under load is just a tad bit much.

That's way too high. ~30 idle, ~42 load is what i'm running at currently with stock hsf.

 

[aelfwyne]

Eagerly awaiting UPS with my Opty 170.... delivers today. I'll post the stepping tonight if I have a chance (after my grad class where I present on Milton... Newegg's timing is impeccable).

I gotta say, NOW is the time to jump if you want any kind of selection on upgrading your 939 system. Wait any longer, and you may get something, but it will be the dregs (open box returns, ebay specials that have been sifted through, etc)...

 

[jjmIII]

Bought my 939 x2 3800+ at the right time...$152 shipped from Newegg .

 

[Tullphan]

Is there much difference between the Opty 165/170 & the x2?

 

[aelfwyne]

Not really, no. The only real difference, apparently, is that the opterons are selected a little more carefully.

 

[poohbear]

why is the original poster asking? are the s939 cpus being discontinued soon? i still see x2s & optys all over the place.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: poohbear
why is the original poster asking? are the s939 cpus being discontinued soon? i still see x2s & optys all over the place.

I think they reached EOL this quarter and are being succeeded by the AM2 socket.

 

[hydroponik]

Originally posted by: aelfwyne
Not really, no. The only real difference, apparently, is that the opterons are selected a little more carefully.

Well, all optys have 1mb L2 cache, while x2s have both 512 and 1mb versions.

 

[Tullphan]

How much actual real-time difference is there between the E6300 & the Opty 165/170?

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Define what you mean by "real-time" difference? Which applications?

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: Entropism
I had a 3500+, jumped on the Opteron 165. Ended up being a bad chip (OCed perfectly to 2.9Ghz, but even at stock speeds, idled at 50c), so I returned it for a 170 for $30 more.

Couldn't have been the chip. Even my overclocked Pentium 805-D idles less than that. Much have been something wrong with the heatsink or the thermal compound.

 

[ajemm]

I was about to go with an X2 4400+ about a month ago and was sidetracked by the deal that Newegg had going on the FX-55 and hard drive. I've been ripping my CD collection to FLAC and the FX is blazingly fast. But I'm not really a big gamer so I think the X2 will suit my overall needs better. I did notice over the past few weeks it seems that most of the major online retailers were out of stock on X2s (939 & AM2). I broke down and got an 89W 4400+ Toledo (CCBWE) from Zip Zoom Fly and it arrived today . I'll be dropping it in my mobo later tonight and eventually I'd like to run it somewhere around 2400 MHz.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
Define what you mean by "real-time" difference? Which applications?

Well, all the charts & graphs are fine & dandy, but i'm talking about actually seeing a performance difference w/the naked eye...whether it be calculations on a spreadsheet, changes in a CAD drawing or FPS on the latest & greatest game.

 

[Lonyo]

It's been and gone. 3800+ are extinct, and what's left is increasing in price.