Do I want an Opteron if I can't find a regular 939 x2?

[zonkie]

I am trying to stretch a little more life out of my PC and am going to upgrade the proc and video card.

Right now I have a socket 939 Athlon 64 3000+ Venice and started looking for something faster but it seems that socket 939 x2 4200-4600 Athlons are starting to dry up and/or go up in price. I did notice there are lots of Opteron server CPU's around but I have no idea if having a server CPU is different then a non server CPU. I hope I phrased that right.

Secondly. Would I be better off price wise getting an AM2 x2 and entry level mobo or will I still be able to find some 939 x2's?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DrMrLordX]

The s939 Opterons are identical to 1 mb l2 cache X2s, core-wise.

They also overclock pretty darn well.

Whether or not you'd be better off getting an AM2 rig depends on whether or not you overclock . . . x2-3600+ chips OC very well, and will be $70 come April 22nd. Pair that with a Tforce550 motherboard and you're looking at a budget OC on the cheap for less than the cost of many s939 chips.

 

[zonkie]

No, I don't OC. I know I missing out on untapped potential from my PC but where I live it's very hard to keep my home cool let alone my PC and I just get too chicken. I also have 2g of DDR ram that wouldn't work in a AM2 motherboard I think.

What should I look for? Is there one core that is better than another right now?

 

[azilaga]

If you want to keep your existing setup, I'd highly recommend an opty if you can't find X2's. Server class processors that overclock really well. I've got my 175 running at 2700 on stock voltage and air cooling.

 

[catalysts17az]

stay with your Socket 939 setup. because if you decide to go with an AM2 or C2D you will also need to invest in Ram. i recommend a Denmark 170 (165 are cool) with a 170 you get the 10 multiplyer. i have one OC'ed to 2.5 (2.0 is stock). and is easily OC'ed past 2.5 but i'm happy with it. i am keeping my eye on the Xeons, but i hate the fact that you haved to use FB dimms. but i will continue to keep my eye on socket 771. just get your self a 170, you'll be happy with it.

 

[zonkie]

Thanks for the replys. I guess it's time to start searching through Anandtech for info on Opterons and a "OC'ing for chickens" article.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you're worried about heat or damaging components, just stick to the defaut vcore setting while overclocking. You won't damage anything that way. Some s939 Opterons reach excellent speeds at default vcore, too.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
Some s939 Opterons reach excellent speeds at default vcore, too.

Most will do 2.5 Ghz or higher.

 

[Boyo]

Don't go the AM2 Route. It's just not worth it. Look for an Opty 170 or 180. THose will get you a nice OC. Don't be afraid to OC. Once you read up on it, it is fairly straight forward and easy.

 

[Vampirrella]

I am in the same boat as the OP. (see sig)

Seeing as the x2s are so expensive now or totally unavailable, im considering the opteron170 route. Newegg sells em for about $190. The AM2 thing seems just like a waste of good money seeing as i can still use my current mobo / ram for a while yet. Will these Opterons dry up fast too I wonder...? Prolly should order one within the next week maybe.

EDIT: I just placed the order on the Opteron 170 at Newegg for $188 shipped. Sounds like this cpu will suit my needs just fine.

 

[f4phantom2500]

You guys who are telling him not to be afraid of ocing obviously don't live in a hot place. I live in Texas, and a couple years back whenever my xp 2500 rig was oc'ed during the summer my room was so hot i would literally sweat just sitting in there (with the fan and ac on); it was 10~15 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. My processor was running at a fine temperature, but it was heating up my room!

 

[MarcVenice]

Well, it might be a little sweaty f4p, but it's not dangerous. My stupid mobo makes my cpu run at a higher voltage, when at stock, then I make it run, overclocked at 2.2ghz *stock is 1.8* Right now, its at a lower temperature then it used to be at stock. So it might even be a little less sweaty

And I'm in the same boat as zonkie, 3000+ venice here as well, on a asus a8n5x mobo, with 1GB of kingston ddr 400 ram. All the advice is nice. In another thread this got mentioned too though, AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Toledo 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor for a measly 93 bucks.

That sounds very tempting to me, but I once again ask you guys to check out my thread, because I do wanna OC any new cpu I buy, but it has to be viable, with my mobo, which I'm not sure about. Heres my thread

 

[secretanchitman]

opterons are as good as X2s, but slightly better (server grade, etc).

you cant go wrong with either ones...i would prefer an opteron as they overclock decently and i like the 1MBx2 cache.

 

[zonkie]

Well I narrowed it down to:
Opteron 170 or the x2 3800

The 3800 plus a fan will be about $115 and the Opteron retail is $188. I don't know yet if I am going to OC it or not. At stock speeds is the Opteron, for $70 more, worth it? Can't find any benchmarks.

Speaking of OC'ing, I don't think I can with my ram. I have Corsair valueram. Which was fine when I wasnt thinking of OC'ing the PC.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: zonkie
Well I narrowed it down to:
Opteron 170 or the x2 3800

The 3800 plus a fan will be about $115 and the Opteron retail is $188. I don't know yet if I am going to OC it or not. At stock speeds is the Opteron, for $70 more, worth it? Can't find any benchmarks.

Speaking of OC'ing, I don't think I can with my ram. I have Corsair valueram. Which was fine when I wasnt thinking of OC'ing the PC.

You can overclock any Athlon 64 with any DDR RAM ever made. That's what memory dividers are for. And no, at stock speeds, the 3800 wins by a mile in performance per dollar.

 

[tallman45]

No, the only diff is in the cache and that is a 5% at best improvement in performance.

You will be able to OC a bit with the value ram, at least 200mhz and maybe even up to 400mhz

 

[betasub]

The extra cache on the opteron is nice, but by itself isn't worth the difference in price. However for an overclocker, the overclocking potential of the opteron probably is worth the money: YMMV.

FWIW $115 for an X2 + cooler = bargain

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: tallman45
You will be able to OC a bit with the value ram, at least 200mhz and maybe even up to 400mhz

Huh? With an Opteron 165 at it's stock 9x multiplier, you can hit 3 Ghz with RAM that will only do 166 Mhz/333 DDR, since at 2.97 Ghz, the RAM will be running at 165 Mhz, if using the 100 Mhz/200 DDR divider.

Originally posted by: betasub
FWIW $115 for an X2 + cooler = bargain

No doubt, that cpu by itself cost $300 a year ago.

 

[almach1]

i upgraded from a Venice 939 to an x2 3800+ about 6 months ago. OC'd to 2.4 and worth it. 120$ to hopefully last another year.

 

[MarcVenice]

I got kingston value ram, loosened up the timers to 3-12-4-4 and its running, with a ram divider of 2:3 at 2430mhz, while stock is 1800 *3000+venice*. And that on a pretty ****** mobo as well, asus a8n5x. So, I'm pretty sure you can with your ram, hehe.

 

[Late4Dinner]

So what about Newegg listing the HT speeds at 1000MHz for the Opteron and 2000Mhz tor the X2? They're actually the same, then?

 

[SZLiao214]

I recommend the opty as well. I found the 165 for a friend while it was on sale and we got it to oc from 1.8stock to 2.8 on stock everything.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Late4Dinner
So what about Newegg listing the HT speeds at 1000MHz for the Opteron and 2000Mhz tor the X2? They're actually the same, then?

Yep.