Is my opty 165 @ 2.8ghz a bottleneck for 8800gt sli?

poohbear

Platinum Member
Mar 11, 2003
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Hey all, i've still got the system in my sig and its been serving me fine, but the 2gb of ram is getting to be a noticeable hindrance, and im wondering if my cpu (2.8ghz dual core opteron w/ 2mb cache) is also over the hill for gaming. Im debating 2 upgrade options mainly for their gaming benefit:

1. Getting a 2nd used 8800gt for SLI, adding 2gb of DDR ram for 4gb ram total. cost: ~$150

or

2. Getting a whole new C2D system, 8400e overclocked to 4ghz, P45 mobo/750i SLI, 4gb DDR2. cost: ~$450

in option 2 i wouldnt even be buying a new vid card, just transferring my old 8800gt, & if i go for the better p45 chipset, it rules out SLI. If i go the 750i SLI route, i have to settle for an inferior overclocking chipset that is a bit finicky from what im reading, but later i can get the 2nd 8800gt.

I'd rather avoid this costly upgrade all together if option 1 would hold me over for another year (when 8gb rigs start emerging). thing is, im not sure what would happen w/ stability w/ 4x1gb in my DFI Expert, all kinds of wierd stuff might happen considering my overclock. :(

So, main question is, is option 1 (8800gt SLI w/ my current rig) better than option 2 (4ghz C2D w/ 1 8800gt) for gaming?

Thanks in advance.

btw i game @ 1680x1050. Pretty sure this is GPU intensive territory, so not sure if the C2D would add that big a difference?
 

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
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Yeah, your CPU won't fully exploit the 8800gt in SLI. You should, however, still see a noticeable improvement in performance.

As far as your CPU's longevity for gaming... that depends on your settings. If you like to crank all the eye-candy to max, then I think the answer to your question is "no". I recently replaced my X2 4000+ oc'd to 3 Ghz with a Phenom 9850, and my Far Cry 2 fps jumped from 38.92 avg to 53.61. This was running on a single 8800gt, 1680x1050, all graphics settings on "Very High", DX10, no AA.
 

poohbear

Platinum Member
Mar 11, 2003
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Originally posted by: zerogear
What size resolution do you play games on?

1680x1050, thats gpu territory yea? im thinking it'll still be strong for another year? much cheaper to go 8800gt SLI & the 8800gt sli would show a much bigger FPS jump then the 8400e yes?
 

zerogear

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2000
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Hmm, I assume you're on S939, so going Phenom is out of the question. Though adding another 8800GT, you'll definitely notice a improvement in framerate. I think go with the 150$ upgrade now, and wait until i7 matures (read, price lowers) or wait for Phenom II to come out and compare. Right now, if you go from S939 -> LGA775, you're going from one end of life motherboard to another.
 

poohbear

Platinum Member
Mar 11, 2003
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Originally posted by: zerogear
Right now, if you go from S939 -> LGA775, you're going from one end of life motherboard to another.

true, but a 8400e @ 4.3ghz is gonna smoke anything i throw at it for the next couple of years. just cause its EOL doesnt mean its obsolete yea? I can also upgrade to a quadcore on any P45 chipset mobo when the 45nm quadcores drop in price.
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
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I run an Opteron 165 at 2.6ghz and have very little desire to upgrade it. IMO it's still an acceptable CPU. I've used C2D systems and I actually find my Opteron 165 to be just as responsive, if not more so.

In terms of it being a bottleneck, I'm sure it will be to some extent, depending on the game, and depending on how much AA/AF you use.

If I were you I would wait until the Phenom II is released before jumping on anything. You need to upgrade your entire platform, so you should make sure you're getting good value, and try to ensure that you will have a good upgrade path.
 

poohbear

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Mar 11, 2003
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thanks sickbeast, that's good to hear! i'll wait a around a bit for the phenom 2 then, but in the meantime im gonna get the extra 2gb of ram. Is the phenom 2 expected to match the C2D in terms of performance?

In terms of longevity for the LGA775 socket, i was thinking going w/ a 8400e @ 4.3ish ghz and 1 year+ down the road upgrade to a Core 2 Quad 9400 (w/ 12mb cache) when it comes down in price.
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
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Originally posted by: poohbear
thanks sickbeast, that's good to hear! i'll wait a around a bit for the phenom 2 then, but in the meantime im gonna get the extra 2gb of ram. Is the phenom 2 expected to match the C2D in terms of performance?

In terms of longevity for the LGA775 socket, i was thinking going w/ a 8400e @ 4.3ish ghz and 1 year+ down the road upgrade to a Core 2 Quad 9400 (w/ 12mb cache) when it comes down in price.
Early reports say that the Phenom II overclocks to 3.8ghz easily, and performs equivalently to the i7 in games, clock-for-clock. It's also 1/2 the price, plus there's the fact that the AMD motherboards are much cheaper than the intel ones.

The e8400 is a good option, but I'm not sure it would make all that huge a difference for you.

I think ideally you should wait until USB3 comes out, hopefully in the spring.
 

Kelvrick

Lifer
Feb 14, 2001
18,422
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I was in a similar situation.

Opteron 165 ~ 3.4
X1800xt
2gb pc3200 ocz platinum. forgot what timings, supposedly quick.

Things just sucked it up. Now running
intel 9550 ~ 3.5
GTX 260
Gigabyte UD3P
2x2gb mushkin 5-4-4-15
bfg es-800 power supply

Day to day operations, I don't see much difference, but gaming is a completely different experience as well as photo editing. Photoshop is so much more responsive. My power supply was also crapping out when I added that 4th 500gb hard drive to hang out with the raptor and 400gb ide so I used the excuse to do a complete overhaul. Total cost was ~ 650 after rebate and microsoft cashback. Got ~ 150 for the parts it replaced.
 

heyheybooboo

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2007
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^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Kinda apples and oranges - doubling ram with PS will show great gains (not that the overall upgrade wasn't spacticular).

If otherwise pretty happy I'd say go for the extra 8800gt and wait a year until i7/Phenom II prices come down and next gen video rolls out. DDR prices ain't so bad these days either (except IIRC s939 mobos would default to 333MHz if you populated all DIMM slots ???)
 

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
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Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
(except IIRC s939 mobos would default to 333MHz if you populated all DIMM slots ???)

Didn't happen with my Opteron 165 system, but I did have to drop from 1T to 2T, otherwise wouldn't load Windows.

 

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
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Originally posted by: poohbear
im wondering if my cpu (2.8ghz dual core opteron w/ 2mb cache) is also over the hill for gaming.

btw i game @ 1680x1050. Pretty sure this is GPU intensive territory, so not sure if the C2D would add that big a difference?

well, what is the Athlon X2 equivalent of your dualcore opty?


Then compare it to these 1650 x 1080 4xAA CPU benchmarks:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com...CPU_benchmarks/?page=2
 

Dravic

Senior member
May 18, 2000
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His opt @ 2.8 should slightly out perform a regular x2 @ 3.0ghz, so slight better then the 6000+ due to the extra cache. Similar to the larger cache 4800+ x2 i'm running at 2.9. This really is the final leg in the Phenom II waiting game. I was VERY close to a LGA775 upgrade not to long ago but decided to wait also. Think i'll prob end up with a sb750 amd mobo like the 790gx or 790fx and a phenom II.
 

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
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about as fast as a stock Intel E6600 in the games. That's an alright cpu, especially for its age.

 

poohbear

Platinum Member
Mar 11, 2003
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wow thanks for all the responses all! great info here!

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
I was in a similar situation.

Opteron 165 ~ 3.4
X1800xt
2gb pc3200 ocz platinum. forgot what timings, supposedly quick.

that's a crazy overclock for an opty 165, were u using some extreme cooling or what?!?

i figured doing the DDR & SLI upgrade would be my best bet for holding me over another year, neer even considered phenom 2 since phenom 1 got thoroughly trashed by up the C2Ds.:/ i'll wait and see what happens when they get released then!

However, im worried that 4x 1gb DDR sticks would mess up my overclock. I heard the NF4 mobos would act finicky w/ 4 dimms filled. anyone have experience w/ that? I know 2t and looser timings are a given, but do you guys think i can keep my 2.8ghz overclock still? I defenitely have the mobo for tweaking. Wish DFI street was still around so i could ask all the DFI owners, but it went down.:(

Thanks again all!
 

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
6,666
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Originally posted by: poohbear
wow thanks for all the responses all! great info here!

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
I was in a similar situation.

Opteron 165 ~ 3.4
X1800xt
2gb pc3200 ocz platinum. forgot what timings, supposedly quick.

that's a crazy overclock for an opty 165, were u using some extreme cooling or what?!?

That's pretty awesome. Mine would go to 2.8, but I ran at 2.5.

 

MadScientist

Platinum Member
Jul 15, 2001
2,169
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Originally posted by: Kelvrick
I was in a similar situation.

Opteron 165 ~ 3.4
3.4Ghz on an Opty 165. Either that's one hell of a chip or you are running on liquid N2. How about a CPUZ screenshot. The most I can get my Opty 170 up to on air cooling is 2.8Ghz