Athlon 64 Venice 3200+: Still a good choice?

[Woz]

I was reading the A64 Venice overclocking article and I want to now if this CPU is still a good choice. I have been a long time Intel user and overclocker, so I know nothing about the AMD processors. It will be for my HTPC/Gaming rig. I don't think the added expense of a dual core makes any sense at this time for my application since I won't be multitasking.

 

[BassBomb]

i have it, its definatley a good cpu, check out the whole cpu scaling article by Xbitlabs, you will see the 3200+ can keep up with the big boys, except when it requires SMP

but its a very good cpu, i haven't oc'ed much but i hear its good to ~2.4

 

[Ika]

still a great CPU. get it if you're on a budget or don't need a dual-core proc. great for an HTPC.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

good cpu, i have one

though at stock speeds, i have to say i found it abit slow to get windows up, and definately felt it chugging when trying to do a few things at once.

i overclocked to 2.5Ghz (may go further but i havent really bothered trying) and its nice and responsive now, still chuggs when i do lots of stuff at once, bbut i guess only dual core can help me there.

its a very very good choice for the money, you can get OEM chips for £90 in this country. i mean come on £90 thats pretty good considering its performance. OEM 3500 is £40 more, not worth the extra 200Mhz speed, but you get an 11x multiplier so lets you be a little more lenient on the FSB

 

[Woz]

I don't mind spending more if it pays off, but I am an overclocker. Always have been. I never pay more for performance that is built into lower priced, underclocked chips.

 

[Shenkoa]

Originally posted by: Woz
I don't mind spending more if it pays off, but I am an overclocker. Always have been. I never pay more for performance that is built into lower priced, underclocked chips.

 

[F1shF4t]

yea the 3200+ a64 is a good chip, can easily keep up with a 3.2 - 3.4ghz p4 in non multitasking senarious. I had mine runing easily at 2.5ghz with a small volatge bump, but this mainboard that i have now for it can overclock to save its life, so its stuck at stock.
The chip runs cool and great for silent pc's.

My stupid board overvolts it at stock to 1.46v and its runs a bit hotter due to it.

 

[Woz]

Hmmmm, would an Opteron 146 for $143 from Monarch be better than the 3200+ for $154????

 

[RallyMaster]

it ain't no dual-core so it's gonna be slow. to make up for the lack of processing power, you should also consider 2GB of RAM. i have OCed but it doesn't make that great of a difference (shaves off 5 seconds on SuperPi, no noticeable gaming boost)

yes, Opty 146 > 3200+. I would definitely take one over this considering the 146's OCing capabilities.

 

[Shenkoa]

If you can be happy with a chip that will smoke any single core P4 when overclocked then buy the Venice. If you would like to go dual core and spend a ton of money then go for a dual core. It does not matter what you do. I realize that once you have your PC setup and running its allready obsolete and you should go out and spend another ton of bucks for faster. And as soon as you get that system setup and running, they will make heavy revisions to it and place it on another socket with faster memory.

Spend $ according to what your needs are. My system outside of my crappy video card, will do me fine for a long time.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Woz
Hmmmm, would an Opteron 146 for $143 from Monarch be better than the 3200+ for $154????

Yes.

I was going to suggest the Opty if you could find it for a similar price, & it appears you have