Originally posted by: illusio
I'm looking for convincing arguments as to why I'd buy an Opteron with DDR over a high-end P4 running DDR2. I'd be using it 90% for games, 10% for work and want a quiet, powerful, stable system.
Games = Athlon 64/Opteron is best in benchmark after benchmark using either synthetics or actual gameplay.
Work = For most people this is web browsing and office apps, and anything you can buy right now will do the job easily, even the $299 after rebate with coupon Dell Celeron specials.
Stable = Any properly built/configured system that doesn't have defective hardware or any infections and has the proper drivers installed should be stable no matter what CPU is used.
Powerful = Since you are mostly gaming, either platform should work fine regardless of benchmarks. The real deal is that gaming performance these days are dictated more by video card than by CPU, so though CPU is important, video card is primary.
DDR vs DDR2 = DDR2 has "up to" 1066MHz of bandwidth on the highest end Intel platforms while DDR is "only" 800MHz of bandwidth, not counting overclocking or premium memory modules. DDR is lower latency than DDR2, plus AMD's integrated memory controller gives it a definate advantage even using "antiquated" technology, so don't sweat this detail. Besides, depending on
when you end up buying, sometime supposedly early next year AMD will release the socket M2 Athlon 64 platform that uses DDR2 so this will eventually become a moot issue.
Quiet = The majority of system noise comes from fans. Logically the hotter a component is, the more CFM a fan needs to push to keep said component cool enough. More CFM makes more noise, all else being equal. That Athlon 64/Opteron CPUs run much cooler than current Pentium 4 CPUs is absolute 100% truth.
Here's the lowdown on a quick and easy "relatively quiet" system. Why I say "relatively quiet" is that there are some fanatics (and I say that word with respect and awe) that think
any noise from the computer, real or imagined, is too noisy. :laugh:
case - Any with 120mm fans, non-restrictive fan grills and HDD isolation (usually rubber grommets). Use Nexus fans, or undervolted Yate Loon or Cooler Master. Avoid SilentX and Thermaltake (from anecdotal evidence). Quality steel cases are usually quieter than aluminum, though really not a huge amount of difference. If you want, mount fans with isolators (but don't use the hard rubber Sunbeam ones). A really nice and budget case that is quiet is the Antec SLK3000B, but there are many to choose from in the market.
power supply - Supposedly Seasonic S12 series are really nice. There are passively cooled units, but I wouldn't recommend those to non-fanatics. Antec TruePower II units are nice, as are Fortron "green" units (suffixed as "-60GLN"). Zalman and Enermax should be okay also, along with a bunch of others.
CPU - Any 90nm socket 939 core, which is pretty much all that's currently on the market.
CPU cooler - Any that uses a 120mm fan, or the Zalman 9500 with 92mm fan, plus undervolt the fans. Alternately use a Scythe Ninja heatsink and run it passive.
video card cooler - Most stock coolers are too noisy for "quiet" computing. Replace with a Zalman 700 series or appropriate Arctic Cooling NV series. You can also be hardcore and go passive with dual heatpipe units, though you'd have to be very sure of your case airflow for that to be feasible.
That should take care of all the fan noise, next up is HDD noise... though most current 7200RPM models with fluid bearings are reasonably quiet.
Originally posted by: berat556
Why are you using opterons, since they are not optimized for gaming. I would suggest the x2 since multitasking is the future
WTF is this nonsense? For all intent and purposes, socket 939 Opterons = Athlon 64 of the same core speed and cache amount.
Depending on how much a n00b the OP is and his budget, I'd say single core is the better choice because few games benefit from dual core and if the right drivers/patches aren't installed and a chicken sacrificed to the dual core gods, in a few weeks dude will be back asking "why is my new dual core system lagging in some games and crashing out of others?" Generally speaking unless you are really doing some serious multitasking, in most games a 3500+ at default 2.2GHz will probably outperform an x2 3800+ at default 2GHz because clock speed is still king over the number of cores.
Originally posted by: ribbon13
This chart speaks for itelf
OMG the cheap 3200+ pwned the P4 Extremely Expensive chip! Well, they aren't cheap as of late, with even Newegg bumping price up to $175 - what's up with that?
Originally posted by: wizboy11
Use the dam search button!
Instead of the thread crap, why don't you welcome the forum n00b like ribbon13 did instead of skewering him as an easy pwnage? That's like playing games with difficulty set to "easy." If you think his post was useless, then your non-post was equally useless. Just chill out and have a :beer:
illusio here's a second "welcome to the forums," except I'll one-up ribbon13 by giving you a
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