Have a Winchester 3200+, what is a good upgrade < $100-150?

[alkemyst]

See lots of low priced CPU's now...my performance is great, but if I could swap it for more performance that would be good.

My full rig is at: My Chiapet

I would like to keep my same Heatsink and fan too (XP-120 and L1A for quiet).

I am running my 3200+ at 2520 (280x9) memory at 229.1 (EL Plat Rev 2 PC3200)

Thanks
Å

 

[Markfw]

dual core X2 3800

 

[Duvie]

I would look at the opty 165...It has more cache...Also the only sckt 939 3800+ x2 is 190+...not in his pricewatch range...

The only way 165 (1.8ghz 2mb cache) or 3800+X2 (1.8ghz 1mb cache)...


Look for used one in the forums...there is quite a few since ppl have been going to C2D systems...

If all you are doing is gaming then I wouldn't switch yet...You wont see much going dual core if you are gaming


http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=45&threadid=1943295&enterthread=y

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=45&threadid=1857184&enterthread=y

 

[AndrewL]

Its odd that the price of the opty 165 is so low while the x2 3800+ is so high

 

[Duvie]

Its because They dont make the 3800+X2 anymore!!! they still make opteron 165's....

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Duvie
Its because They dont make the 3800+X2 anymore!!! they still make opteron 165's....

QFT and the 3800+ was a bad recommendation due to price.

I am siding with a 165 actually already.

Just don't know if since I am already running at 2520 on my 3200+ I'd see a difference.

I do play WOW every few weeks when bored.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
I am siding with a 165 actually already.

Just don't know if since I am already running at 2520 on my 3200+ I'd see a difference.

I do play WOW every few weeks when bored.

In WoW, you won't be seeing any difference at all. But, in any new games (the newest today, and probably the majority of newer), you should see a major benefit, assuming your video card is fast enough.

edit: You won't see any difference with only a 6800GT, though.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: alkemyst
I am siding with a 165 actually already.

Just don't know if since I am already running at 2520 on my 3200+ I'd see a difference.

I do play WOW every few weeks when bored.

In WoW, you won't be seeing any difference at all. But, in any new games (the newest today, and probably the majority of newer), you should see a major benefit, assuming your video card is fast enough.

edit: You won't see any difference with only a 6800GT, though.

what card would I need and at what 'resolution'? The 6800GT last time I looked was still a pretty smoking video card (I am running at ultra speeds).

 

[myocardia]

Well, that's all gonna depend on what game(s) you're playing, and at what resolutions. It's slightly slower than a 7600GT, at most games, even at Ultra speeds. Today a 7600GT is considered midrange. Of course, if all you're playing is Wow, it's plenty fast enough. Then, so is a single-core A64 @2.5 Ghz.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
See lots of low priced CPU's now...my performance is great, but if I could swap it for more performance that would be good.

More performance for doing what? Just WoW... don't see your A64 @2.5GHz limiting you in WoW. Or do you just have the upgrade bug & want to justify it by getting "more performance"?

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: alkemyst
See lots of low priced CPU's now...my performance is great, but if I could swap it for more performance that would be good.

More performance for doing what? Just WoW... don't see your A64 @2.5GHz limiting you in WoW. Or do you just have the upgrade bug & want to justify it by getting "more performance"?

Well I do alot of audio ripping from my cd's to MP3 and WMA, I also back up my DVD's and that takes CPU power.

WoW was just an example, I rarely game...I also play Unreal, FarCry, Quake III, Doom III from time to time in 1st person and arena modes.

If I could pick up a cheap chip for 939 now it would be nice while they are still available...I may wait another 6 months though.

 

[Smoove910]

I would also go with the Opty 165. It has 1mb onboard cache as opposed to 3800 x2 with 512kb onboard cache. Also, the recent shipments have been a great stepping for overclocking upwards around 3.0ghz.

Go for the opty 165!!!

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: alkemyst
See lots of low priced CPU's now...my performance is great, but if I could swap it for more performance that would be good.

More performance for doing what? Just WoW... don't see your A64 @2.5GHz limiting you in WoW. Or do you just have the upgrade bug & want to justify it by getting "more performance"?

Well I do alot of audio ripping from my cd's to MP3 and WMA, I also back up my DVD's and that takes CPU power.

WoW was just an example, I rarely game...I also play Unreal, FarCry, Quake III, Doom III from time to time in 1st person and arena modes.

If I could pick up a cheap chip for 939 now it would be nice while they are still available...I may wait another 6 months though.

I wouldn't bet on being able to find 939 chips in 6 months, especially not at current prices. With a decently clocked dual-core K8 chip, you should be fine for gaming for a while as long as you keep up with GPUs. Wouldn't hurt to get the RAM up to 2GB either.

 

[AndrewL]

Originally posted by: aka1nas

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: alkemyst
See lots of low priced CPU's now...my performance is great, but if I could swap it for more performance that would be good.

More performance for doing what? Just WoW... don't see your A64 @2.5GHz limiting you in WoW. Or do you just have the upgrade bug & want to justify it by getting "more performance"?

Well I do alot of audio ripping from my cd's to MP3 and WMA, I also back up my DVD's and that takes CPU power.

WoW was just an example, I rarely game...I also play Unreal, FarCry, Quake III, Doom III from time to time in 1st person and arena modes.

If I could pick up a cheap chip for 939 now it would be nice while they are still available...I may wait another 6 months though.

I wouldn't bet on being able to find 939 chips in 6 months, especially not at current prices. With a decently clocked dual-core K8 chip, you should be fine for gaming for a while as long as you keep up with GPUs. Wouldn't hurt to get the RAM up to 2GB either.

Even though the manufacturers think they can control the market used 939 will be available for years to come.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: aka1nas

I wouldn't bet on being able to find 939 chips in 6 months, especially not at current prices. With a decently clocked dual-core K8 chip, you should be fine for gaming for a while as long as you keep up with GPUs. Wouldn't hurt to get the RAM up to 2GB either.

I thought if I went to 2GB on my MB (and the ASUS A8N-SLI I had prior to it) I would have to deal with 2WS on the memory....I see you get 1WS on your DFI board.

Has this changed? I am all for 2GB as an upgrade.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: aka1nas

I wouldn't bet on being able to find 939 chips in 6 months, especially not at current prices. With a decently clocked dual-core K8 chip, you should be fine for gaming for a while as long as you keep up with GPUs. Wouldn't hurt to get the RAM up to 2GB either.

I thought if I went to 2GB on my MB (and the ASUS A8N-SLI I had prior to it) I would have to deal with 2WS on the memory....I see you get 1WS on your DFI board.

Has this changed? I am all for 2GB as an upgrade.

With 4x512MB sticks, you'll likely have to settle for 2T and you might have to back off the overclock or use a different divider if the memory is overclocked. But, going with 2x1GB sticks, you'll should still be able to use 1T

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Well I do alot of audio ripping from my cd's to MP3 and WMA, I also back up my DVD's and that takes CPU power.

Seems like a good enough reason to go dual-core. you'll just want something that can OC to at least 2.4GHz so you don't lose out on performance in single-threaded apps. Either the X2 or the Opteron should manage this, so go for the cheaper (Opteron 165?).

 

[nyker96]

opty 165 is your man.

 

[customcoms]

another vote for the opty. best cpu I have purchased (cheaper than pretty much all the C2D offerings, and at 2.7 stock v and stock, without even trying, for me anyway, it still keeps up with the midrange stock clocked c2d offerings). And I didn't need to buy anything else. Except a new gpu would be nice, as its really the only thing holding me back at this time (Flight Sim X just kills a 6600GT).

 

[Markfw]

Yes, when I said X2 3800, I didn;t know that they were now more than the 165. That or a 170.....

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Yes, when I said X2 3800, I didn;t know that they were now more than the 165. That or a 170.....

why so many rigs?