Best sub$300 AMD Chip for overclocking?

[seiyafan]

3800 Venice or 3700 San diego? This is for top-of-line air cooling to decent water cooling. Assuming it's got a great memory controller and all that.

 

[bjc112]

Opteron 146/148

 

[Shimmishim]

opteron 144/146/148

 

[seiyafan]

Well, yeah I have been following that too.

But so far I haven't seen any prime stable from any 3+ gig on air yet.

 

[Shimmishim]

so you're asking for a 3 ghz + sub $300 on air processor?

wow. good luck finding one of those.

i think you're asking for a bit much.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: seiyafan
Well, yeah I have been following that too.

But so far I haven't seen any prime stable from any 3+ gig on air yet.

Are you kidding?

When is the last time you saw 3ghz+ from a 3000/3200/3700+ ? Let alone prime stable..

 

[seiyafan]

Well, I didn't mean 3 gig on air literally. I mean the chip is capable of doing that only because temperature is holding it back, not because of memory controller problem.

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: seiyafan
Well, I didn't mean 3 gig on air literally. I mean the chip is capable of doing that only because temperature is holding it back, not because of memory controller problem.

huh?

"i mean the chip is capable of doing that only because temperature is holding it back..."

so because temperature is holding it back it CAN do 3 ghz? i'm confused by your statement.

 

[monster64]

He means with phase change since the temp will be in the negatives you will be able to OC it higher. If he doesn't mean that, and he means that on an AMD rig you will get a higher OC with water than with decent air, he is completely mistaken.

 

[Hyperlite]

yeah there was a thread floating around here at about 3AM yesterday...guy had an opt 144 on an XP-90 @ 3.1Ghz...
i mean, theoretically, an opt 144 or any of the single core opt shouldn't be able to OC any better than a 3700 or FX57, but as far as value goes, opteron 144 ftw.

 

[seiyafan]

I think the topic has shifted a bit so let me get it back.

I wanted a comparison between 3800 venice and 3700 san diego,

 

[Bona Fide]

Originally posted by: seiyafan
I think the topic has shifted a bit so let me get it back.

I wanted a comparison between 3800 venice and 3700 san diego,

There is no comparison. The 3800+ is a waste of money. Get the 3700+ and some decent cooling, and you should be able to easily attain 2.8GHz.

 

[mike3uz]

3700 San Diego. You can get an FX-57 for 300 since it does overclock quite nicely.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

The only thing the 3800+ Venice has over the 3700+ San Diego would be the 12x multiplier but that really isn't significant unless you're really concerned about a lower HT . . . plus the San Diego is about $50 less and has 1MB L2 cache vs. 512KB for the Venice.

Also, from what I've seen around the web and around the forums, Venices aren't nearly as reliable as San Diego cores in terms of getting a good one that can overclock well.

Bleedingedge had a 3700+ SA go to about 2.7 Ghz on stock Vcore of 1.4v and 2.86 Ghz with Vcore of 1.66v, on a stock cooler mind you. On something such as say, a XP-90C w/ 120mm fan or a Scythe Ninja I would think it could easily hit 2.9+ GHz.

Yes, it's true a good 3800+ Venice can reach similar speeds but it's $50 more not to mention you may not get a good one capable of 2.8+ GHz (and of course not on stock vcore) whereas I would venture almost all San Diegos should be able to achieve 2.7+ GHz on stock and 2.8-2.9 Ghz with good air with only a small increase in stock vcore.

So basically the 3800+ Venice is more expensive and can usually achieve 2.8+ GHz on good air but with relatively high voltages compared to the San Diego. Also, considering that a good 3000+ Venice could match a 3800+ Venice means that if you're gonna get a Venice get a lower model since they aren't that different when it comes to OC . . .

With the SA you get better OC, more L2 cache, and a lower price to boot. Not such a hard decision now is it?

3 Ghz though I think is a little out of reach on most air for a SA, or Venice for that matter, generally speaking, unless you use massive fans or have a room temp that is in the 15-18 C range . . .

 

[Shenkoa]

"Also, from what I've seen around the web and around the forums, Venices aren't nearly as reliable as San Diego cores in terms of getting a good one that can overclock well"

:laugh: