Opteron 165 vs X2 3800 and Mobo Question

[QuestorJones]

Hello,

I am totally new here, and I did some searching, but did not find a definitive answer (although I am sure that it is out there somewhere in the archives).

Anyway, I have a ECS KV2 Lite Mobo that accepts AMD Athlon, X2, and FX processors, but it doesn't say anything about Opteron...and most MOBO sites I visit don't specifically list Opteron in compatibility charts....I think I recall that the Opteron is really based on Athlon 64, but I am unusre.

Anyway, my questions are:

1) Would the KV2 Lite accept a Opteron 165 (both are socket 939) if it lists Athlon x2 64, and FX as compatible processors or does it need to say Opteron specifically?

2) I was tossed between getting a x2 3800 or an Opteron 165....but NewEgg is selling the Opteron 165 Retail kit (with fan/HS, which I need anyway) for just $105 and I have read that they are (both) very OC-able...and the KV2 mobo has a decent amount of OC features. I could probably get an x2 3800 for about the same price, and I am wondering which is the best performer when overclocked (not just stock, but overclocked)?

The Opteron in question is here:
AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail

Thanks in advance for any help.

PS(I know ECS mobos are not considered the best, but it is one I happen to have gotten for free, so I want to put it to work).

 

[KIAman]

1. There is essentially no difference between the x2 3800 and the Opteron 165 except the Opteron has double the L2 cache (faster in some apps that use l2 cache) and supposedly the Opteron line is binned to higher quality for use in server environments.

2. Go with the Opteron if they are the same price. An Opteron will typically perform a higher overclock and will perform slightly faster clock per clock than an x2 3800.

 

[QuestorJones]

Thank you very much for the quick response and the completely addressing all my concerns succinctly.


I will definately go with the Opteron 165.

 

[Noubourne]

Good luck on your Opty lottery!

 

[GeezerMan]

I own the Opty 165 overclocked to 2.6GHZ. I have also set up 2 other rigs using the Newegg Toledo core 3800+ X2 for others. Both of these 3800+ X2 have been very easy overclocks to 2.6GHz. I saw really no difference in performance myself. I did try playing BF2 on all of them. I'm sure that's not a definitive answer to the importance of a larger L2 cache, but I have read that a larger L2 is not a big deal. One of the 3800+ X2 actually could go to 3GHz on higher volts, but we did not want to use water cooling. Either way, nice chips and nice overclocks.