FX-55 or X2 3800+

[Extelleron]

If you could get an FX-55 or an X2 3800+ for the same price, which would you choose?

I'm thinking, the FX-55 could OC to 2.8 GHz or 3GHz pretty easily with my ACF 64 Pro. I currently have an Opteron 144 but it won't go beyond 2.45 GHz~.

I'm thinking with an X2 3800+ I SHOULD be able to overclock it to 2.6 GHz or so, but for some reason my motherboard just dies after the FSB is over 265~.

I'm not planning on using this for a 2-3 year, longterm solution, so that might be a factor. I'm almost 100% concentrating on gaming, I don't do any encoding, video editing, etc. I might use this another year or so, when AMD gets back in the game and there's more competition I'll be moving on.

 

[Kromis]

Which core are we talking about for the FX-55? Clawhammer or San Diego?

No, I'm just kidding about that.

If you are just going to game and nothing more, get that FX!

 

[formulav8]

Get the FX55 over the 3800+ X2 if you are mainly going to game.



Jason

 

[inveterate]

If you can't get the opt 144 to 2.7+ then u won't get the fx55 there either, .. opt 144 is like 2.6 guarenteed

 

[formulav8]

Nothing is "guaranteed" when it comes to ocing.

Also, my wifes 144 does not like to do higher than 2.5ghz. So his isn't the only only one.

On the other hand, my brothers 144 will do right around 3ghz at pretty much stock voltage. Just goes to show that no specific model is guaranteed to do the same speed.

Anyways, the 2.6ghz FX55 should really have no problems doing 2.8ghz and a decent chance of hitting 3ghz with good cooling.

This is all just my opinion.


Jason

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: inveterate
If you can't get the opt 144 to 2.7+ then u won't get the fx55 there either, .. opt 144 is like 2.6 guarenteed

umm....... the Opteron 144 is 1.8 GHz stock. The FX-55 is 2.6 GHz.

And I don't think the CPU is the limit, either. I think it's either my motherboard or memory. Temps literally have never gone above 37-38C under the most intense scenarios.

Anyway, overclocking an FX chip is a breeze, you just raise the multiplier.

 

[inveterate]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: inveterate
If you can't get the opt 144 to 2.7+ then u won't get the fx55 there either, .. opt 144 is like 2.6 guarenteed

umm....... the Opteron 144 is 1.8 GHz stock. The FX-55 is 2.6 GHz.

And I don't think the CPU is the limit, either. I think it's either my motherboard or memory. Temps literally have never gone above 37-38C under the most intense scenarios.

Anyway, overclocking an FX chip is a breeze, you just raise the multiplier.

Ok, perhaps my statement is too imposing, what I mean, is that there is a HUGEEEEE percentage chance that the opteron will do 2.6+.

If you think it's ur motherboard, then GET another one. get the DFI nf4s, they still pwn. When you initially try to overclock it, it was likely out of the box, and these things have to be burned in. that could've also been an issue.

Same goes for formulav8's wife's proc.

If you don't have a "WORTHY" motherboard of 300 Htt, than, u'll likely run into those issues.

Sum it all up, it's a problem of the collective, and changing only one thing probably isn't going to give you what you "truely" desire,, 3ghz. fx55 on a lesser mobo won't do 2.8+. trust me, i've seen this happen. ram also an issue. psu, though less important.

Temps have stopped being a big problem ever since the introduction of the athlon64s,. any $25+ aftermarket cooler does a great job.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: inveterate

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: inveterate
If you can't get the opt 144 to 2.7+ then u won't get the fx55 there either, .. opt 144 is like 2.6 guarenteed

umm....... the Opteron 144 is 1.8 GHz stock. The FX-55 is 2.6 GHz.

And I don't think the CPU is the limit, either. I think it's either my motherboard or memory. Temps literally have never gone above 37-38C under the most intense scenarios.

Anyway, overclocking an FX chip is a breeze, you just raise the multiplier.

Ok, perhaps my statement is too imposing, what I mean, is that there is a HUGEEEEE percentage chance that the opteron will do 2.6+.

If you think it's ur motherboard, then GET another one. get the DFI nf4s, they still pwn. When you initially try to overclock it, it was likely out of the box, and these things have to be burned in. that could've also been an issue.

Same goes for formulav8's wife's proc.

If you don't have a "WORTHY" motherboard of 300 Htt, than, u'll likely run into those issues.

Sum it all up, it's a problem of the collective, and changing only one thing probably isn't going to give you what you "truely" desire,, 3ghz. fx55 on a lesser mobo won't do 2.8+. trust me, i've seen this happen. ram also an issue. psu, though less important.

Temps have stopped being a big problem ever since the introduction of the athlon64s,. any $25+ aftermarket cooler does a great job.

Honestly I don't really know why I can't go further, and I haven't pursued it because I was happy with 2.4~ GHz and didn't want to spend the time tweaking every little setting.

From what I remember (I haven't even been in the BIOS for something like 4 months) I was hitting the limit of my memory, and for some reason the motherboard would crash everytime I went to a lower divider to make the memory under 200 MHz.

BTW I have a DFI Ultra-D.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: formulav8
Nothing is "guaranteed" when it comes to ocing.

Also, my wifes 144 does not like to do higher than 2.5ghz. So his isn't the only only one.

On the other hand, my brothers 144 will do right around 3ghz at pretty much stock voltage. Just goes to show that no specific model is guaranteed to do the same speed.

Anyways, the 2.6ghz FX55 should really have no problems doing 2.8ghz and a decent chance of hitting 3ghz with good cooling.

I had purchased three Opteron 144 chips. Two were good for at least 2.7GHz (didn't even test higher) and one could barely hit 2.2-2.3GHz. This was using all the same hardware - mobo, RAM, PSU. Based on my experiences and based on what I read with other people's experiences, Opterons (of any speed) are likely to hit 2.6-2.7GHz+, but anyone who "guarantee" that they ALL can do it or say that someone who can't do it are doing something wrong or being held back by some other hardware is just being ignorant. Yes, many, many people are hitting super high speeds, but I have also seen many reports of less than 2.7GHz, however those people don't usually go about banging their drum and putting their magic overclocks into their forum sigs.

As for the FX chips, they won't be held back by any hardware unless the motherboard does not allow the multiplier to be changed upwards because they are unlocked. If you can't clock higher, that would be the limit of the FX chip and not something imposed by the motherboard or RAM.

 

[gobucks]

FX's generally suck at OCing. usually they are already at the very top end of whatever process they are built on. you might get about 200MHz over stock, but not much more without watercooling. in my opinion, you'd be better off getting an X2 3800+ and overclocking; you'll probably get at least 2.6GHz which is good enough for gaming. plus, some current and many future games will be multithreaded, so the X2 will come in handy. for example, oblivion runs better on a dual core setup.

 

[cmrmrc]

overall the x2 would be better. but if you're strictly into gaming now...get the fx-55

 

[Netopia]

Why would you not just buy a 3700+ (1MB Cache) at NewEgg for $99 and overlclock it? Poor man's FX.

Joe

 

[inveterate]

Look for Oscar Wu's bios, use the Bigtoe mod one. it did feel like magic, when I flashed my mobo with it, My ram went from 260mhz to 300mhz, though that isn't ideal for my proc. but the difference was there. The processor was also more stable without increasing the Transport bus voltage, or chipset voltage.

 

[aka1nas]

The FX-55 runs really really hot. It's a .13micron chip and is at the top of the speed grade. Definately take the 3800+ X2. Even a mild OC on the X2 will be within 200 or 300 Mhz of the FX and run way cooler and be nearly as fast. Not to mention having the second core for multitasking.

 

[akshayt]

Get the X2 3800 for gaming.

1)At stock, FX55 will be better, but it can't be overclocked much and the X2 3800 with a little overclocking will still provide enough power.

2)In games which support dual core especially the future, X2 3800 will be better or equal at stock and will beat the single core FX55.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
I'm not planning on using this for a 2-3 year, longterm solution, so that might be a factor. I'm almost 100% concentrating on gaming

What does your current system look like-- gpu, ram, psu, and monitor? Your Opty 144 might be just fine as-is for gaming, depending on your playing resolution. You may get a lot more out of your setup by putting that money into a better GPU instead (again, depending on what you have and what res you play at).