Athlon 64: Dual core 3800+ or single 4000+ ?

[1000]

Following on from my previous post, I have narrowed my CPU purchase down to either:

Athlon 64 3800+ x2 Dual core
Athlon 64 4000+ single core

I'm not particularly excited about overclocking, I just want the best bang for buck for gaming. Am I better off plonking down for a 4000+ single core now (with higher speed) and then upgrading in 12months to a dual-core, or should I just bite the bullet and get dual-core now and just hope that stuff supports it short-term ?

How do both compare with a 3.2ghz P4 northwood ?

The only "mulit-tasking" I really do is run dvds, xvids etc on a second display while I'm gaming...

1000

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I chose to go X2 myself, and both are better gamers than a 3.2ghz NW.

I should think any gaming advatage the 4000+'s has over the X2 3800+ would be negated when veiwing any content on the 2nd display, even if hardware decoded by your vid card too. I haven't tested it myself, and been awhile sine I perused comparative benchies, but even the light CPU usage of MPEG2 playback is likely enough to nullify the 4000+'s advantage. I just can't see a reason to go single core anymore unless buying an inexpensive model and overclocking. Given you are looking at very comparable pricing the X2 is a no brainer in my book.

 

[forumposter32]

I saw some benchmarks where the socket 754 3400+ 2.4 GHz was at 151 fps in UT2004 and the X2 3800+ was at 136 fps.

Since I bought my 3400+, I think the price for the socket 754 3700+ has gone down so it's now the best bang for the buck. You could then get socket M2 and a dual next year or even wait for quad cores.

It's all dependant on when we start seeing lots of multi-threaded software. From what I've read, it's going to happen in 2 to 3 years.

 

[ElTorrente]

Originally posted by: forumposter32
I saw some benchmarks where the socket 754 3400+ 2.4 GHz was at 151 fps in UT2004 and the X2 3800+ was at 136 fps.

What exactly does that prove? How about a 3800 operating at 2.4ghz (4800 speeds)? What kind of comparison is that? If you can OC one, you can OC the other.

At any rate, the only people who EVER recommend single core, are people who still own single core. Those of us who own an X2 know what it's like, and will NEVER go back.

You WILL see benefits of dual core whether or not the application you are running is optimized for it or not.

Look at benchmarks all you want to- those are taken in perfect conditions on clean installs with nothing else running. They aren't indicitive of REAL WORLD gaming. You know- online, on a big server, with firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, AIM, FRAPS, VOIP, IE, etc etc etc running. Lets see a benchmark with that stuff running - oh yeah, and splitting the CPU time up to send hundreds of TCP packets every second, and moving your mouse around and pressing keys and blah blah.. This is why single core owners often don't understand - because they only look at benchmarks and don't experience the smoothness of that extra core picking up the slack at all times. There's no more stutters or hiccups, and everything I do and ask of the CPU gets done right away: no more waiting for CPU time.

People say to wait "2 or 3 years" until there will be benefit :roll: give me a break.. in the real world- X2s really do rule.

 

[shiznit]

i got a 3800 X2, and overclocked it past 2.4ghz (stock speed of a 4000), so now i have 2 cpu's, each faster than one 4000. most next-gen games are going to be multithreaded so you will get additional performance from having a dual core cpu, not to mention that you can have a gazzillion programs running at the same time and not slow down game performance. NO BRAINER.

 

[1000]

OK, seems like a no-brainer then.. 3800 x2 is the way to go. I'm getting the Asus Premium SLI mobo to go with it, so where can I find a guide to how to overclock my 3800+ to 2.45ghz or whatever to achieve 4000+ single-core speeds ?

1000

 

[theMan]

here ya go.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1497607&enterthread=y

 

[ElTorrente]

Originally posted by: 1000
OK, seems like a no-brainer then.. 3800 x2 is the way to go. I'm getting the Asus Premium SLI mobo to go with it, so where can I find a guide to how to overclock my 3800+ to 2.45ghz or whatever to achieve 4000+ single-core speeds ?

1000

There's a "sticky" on the top of this section that talks about OCing AMDs.

It'll be very easy to OC the 3800 to 2.45ghz or more- the only part you have to really figure out is your RAM speed.

Basically, you could just set your HT speed (also called FSB speed) to 245, and the CPU multi to 10, and put your voltage to about 1.47 or so. Now it's a matter of finding out what your memory can handle.

If you have good quality RAM, you could run at 1:1 divider with CAS 2.5 and 2.9v - otherwise you need a divider. For the ASUS Premium, the dividers are labeled "max memory speed" in the BIOS- so default is DDR400 (1:1 divider), so try DDR333 if you have troubles with the 1:1 setting. You have to experiment but you'll figure it out.

 

[1000]

OK, I bit the bullet and ordered a Athlon 64 4600+ x2 instead.. best of both worlds. I can't justify buying 1 or even 2 7800GTX cards and not making sure than I have a CPU that will compliment them.

Let the insanity commence..

1000

 

[Fallengod]

Originally posted by: 1000
OK, I bit the bullet and ordered a Athlon 64 4600+ x2 instead.. best of both worlds. I can't justify buying 1 or even 2 7800GTX cards and not making sure than I have a CPU that will compliment them.

Let the insanity commence..

1000

lol damn

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: 1000
OK, I bit the bullet and ordered a Athlon 64 4600+ x2 instead.. best of both worlds. I can't justify buying 1 or even 2 7800GTX cards and not making sure than I have a CPU that will compliment them.

Let the insanity commence..

1000

:shocked:

 

[milomnderbnder21]

I wish I had the money to do that.

 

[Hacp]

Nice choice, especially if you aren't overclocking. 4600+ performs just veryvery slightly below 4800+