Old 939 and newer 4890/5770?

[toyota]

Are you serious? You really think a Core2 is 40% faster clock for clock? That's ridiculous. The Athlon X2 line is nearly clock for clock comparable with Core2 duo's with 2mb or less cache. Opterons had more cache than the Athlons.

Realistically, the Opteron @ 2.8ghz is about a 2.6ghz Core2. You really underestimate why that CPU was so popular.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160_13.html#sect0

I dont think he was talking about the Pentium cpus or early E4xxx cpus. he was probably referring to the newer Core 2 Duos like the E8xxx and those are easily 40% faster clock for clock than the A64 X2 cpus in newer games.

 

[cbn]

Are you serious? You really think a Core2 is 40% faster clock for clock? That's ridiculous. The Athlon X2 line is nearly clock for clock comparable with Core2 duo's with 2mb or less cache. Opterons had more cache than the Athlons.

Realistically, the Opteron @ 2.8ghz is about a 2.6ghz Core2. You really underestimate why that CPU was so popular.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160_13.html#sect0

Take a look at these benchmarks here and here

 

[toyota]

Take a look at these benchmarks here and here

wow those are some old games. lol. yeah even back then the E6xxx Core 2 duos were 30-40% faster clock for clock than the A64 X2 cpus. overall the newer E8xxx cpus are easily 35-45% faster clock for clock than the A64 X2 cpus.

 

[StrangerGuy]

A 1.86GHz E6300 for the most part is head to head with a 2.4GHz X2. That makes C2D ~30% more efficient per clock even with a crippled L2 cache. E6300s are almost guaranteed to hit a 3GHz OC and it will take a 3.8GHz X2 to match it in performance...Pretty much impossible.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I dont think he was talking about the Pentium cpus or early E4xxx cpus. he was probably referring to the newer Core 2 Duos like the E8xxx and those are easily 40% faster clock for clock than the A64 X2 cpus in newer games.

Lol. I guess so.

I got that, but its not really useful information. When they sell a 2ghz E8xxx series CPU then the example makes sense.

 

[toyota]

Lol. I guess so.

I got that, but its not really useful information. When they sell a 2ghz E8xxx series CPU then the example makes sense.

well it was just a random number used as an example. 30-40% faster clock for clock with newer Core 2 Duos is about right. the E8xxx can even be over 40% faster clock for clock in some games.

 

[blanketyblank]

e4400 is at 2.0Ghz. Hard to say where it fits in exactly, but looks to be faster than an x2 4800(2.5) in a number of benchmarks.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-e6420_6.html#sect0

 

[CraigRT]

i don't know if it matters, but for this particular application, getting my opt 170 to 2.8ghz did not make much difference.

as for playability, the lack of stuttering was acceptable but the lack of detail made it hard to identify the tangos from the jaggy trees at any distance beyond a couple yards.

phatphoeater, just FWIW, I recently just retired my Opty 170 from main rig duty about a week ago. I went i7. Even with my ATI 4850 card, frames went up all across the board. I thought a new videocard would be in store for SURE when I upgraded to my i7 860, but it brought a lot of life to that 4850 I didn't think it had!

Mind you, I already made a deal to buy a used 4890, but still.

Anyways, the moral of the story.. The Opteron is a great CPU, but outdated for today's games. It's sad. That was probably my favorite all time CPU. 100% rock solid and blazing fast back in the day when it was new.

 

[phatphoeater]

The Opteron is a great CPU, but outdated for today's games. It's sad. That was probably my favorite all time CPU. 100% rock solid and blazing fast back in the day when it was new.

I've come around to decide that I will have to build a new rig. I played for a few more hours and think I will actually play this game enough to warrant the upgrade. I started another thread in the CPU forum. I'm seeing some phenom II x4 945 + mobo deals at fry's that I may jump on if they are still in stock. I'm leaning AMD so I can spend a little more on the GPU and go 5850. However, seeing as how I got a good 5 years out of my last build, i'm thinking maybe I just go i5 750 since I hope to get another 5 years out of it.

 

[RussianSensation]

I've come around to decide that I will have to build a new rig. I played for a few more hours and think I will actually play this game enough to warrant the upgrade. I started another thread in the CPU forum. I'm seeing some phenom II x4 945 + mobo deals at fry's that I may jump on if they are still in stock. I'm leaning AMD so I can spend a little more on the GPU and go 5850. However, seeing as how I got a good 5 years out of my last build, i'm thinking maybe I just go i5 750 since I hope to get another 5 years out of it.

If you keep your system for so long, it may make sense to periodically upgrade. For example, if you are really on a tight budget and say you save $75-100 with Phenom II system over Core i5 750, then in 2.5 years you could take that $100 and get a $200 GPU. That will bring back new life into the system. Having said that, a good 1156 mobo can be had for $130 or so (such as Gigabyte P55-UD3R). I think Fry's has that combo with 750 sometimes. Awesome overclocking board. Don't overspend on the DDR3 ram. Aim to get DDR3-1600 sticks with low voltage (such as G.Skill Eco Line with 1.35V). Even DDR3-1333 would work well as long as the timings are decent.

 

[CraigRT]

Agree with RussianSensation. Just get the AMD you want right now, and upgrade again, key here (IF you feel the need) again in future as opposed to stretching out the upgrade for so long like you and I have both done here I'll probably upgrade again in a couple years myself, but I may be able to just get away with a CPU/GPU upgrade instead of like this round being major with board/RAM/CPU/OS. (was using XP32)