If not Opteron, what about X2 4200?

[jv]

It seems very hard at this time to secure a 165 or 170 opteron with good stepping. Does anyone have good experience with the X2 4200 that sells for around the same price point? i.e. is their any room to overclock?

any feedback is appreciated as I am getting ready to build...

thanks!

jv

 

[compgeek89]

Even a crappy 165 will usually clock as well as a 4200+

Order from monarch, you have a great chance at a good stepping.

 

[krotchy]

First off, the advantage of the opterons is the bigger cache featured on every model, which only the 4000+,4400+ and 4800+ X2 chips have. Plus opterons are generally considered to be binned better.

While a 165 is slower than a 3800+ at stock, if they both overlock to the same speed, the 165 will be the better chip. So I would stay away from the 3800+,4200+ and 4600+ if your planning on overclocking, because a 4000+ at 2.5ghz will actually be faster than a 4200+ at 2.5ghz due to the bigger cache.

As far as opterons go, I bought a random stepping of Opteron 170 from newegg, and it hits 2.666ghz on stock Vcore, and Im a 100% newb overclocker. So Id say your better off aiming for an opteron, since your probably less likely to find a poor overlocking opteron than X2.

 

[n7]

I'd still just get an Opteron 165 or X2 3800+, since even with any random stepping, you'll likely hit at least 2.4 Ghz with either, which gets you a free upgrade to ~ X2 4800+ performance.

My Opty is an 0551, for example, & i can't complain with 2.6 Ghz at stock vcore, or 2.7 GHz @ 1.5V