Opteron Troy Core

stingerama

Junior Member
Jul 4, 2005
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I have made my final decisions on the type of components for my box, but I have just found out that AMD makes Opterons in Troy Core. From what I understand they are .90nm and also include SSE3 instruction sets, correct?

Am I to guess going with the Troy core (248 series, single core) is the way to go? The only thing is I haven't seen them in retail box, but my last proc was an OEM and it still runs solid today a year later (under heavy use as a gameserver). It's not too much of a concern.

Anyone have opterons w/ this core? Comments?
 

HDTVMan

Banned
Apr 28, 2005
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Troy? Interesting I never heard of this core?

Not exactly a good name. Why not Troy Invaders the greek. After all Troy doesnt have a happy ending.
 

RichUK

Lifer
Feb 14, 2005
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you are aware the Opteron is a 940 pin server proc aren't you ? and also the 2xx series is built to work in conjunction with another 2xx series proc, on a dual socket motherboard

EDIT: just realised you mentioned game server in the first post, so i guess you are aware .. :)
 

ssvegeta1010

Platinum Member
Nov 13, 2004
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I think the difference is just the 90nm and SSE3. They may consequently run cooler and use less power. Also, I dont think they really even hold a premium above Hammer core Opterons.

EDIT: $27 dollar difference on the 248s. Id say its worth it.
 

Vegitto

Diamond Member
May 3, 2005
5,234
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Worth it, but is 1 dual-core Opteron not cheaper than 2 single core Opterons? You can always add a second dual-core Opteron. Also, would it be possible to put one dual-core Opteron and one single-core Opteron (same clockspeed) on the same mobo?
 

Lord Banshee

Golden Member
Sep 8, 2004
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1-dual core is more than two single cores... don't ask it just is

And form my knowledge you can not have a 3-way SMP with opterons.. But i do not know if anyone has tried. I think the way the memory runs it would not work.
 

aka1nas

Diamond Member
Aug 30, 2001
4,335
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Is denmark out yet? I can't find any on newegg but that would probably be the better way to go for you. If you buy a dual core 2xx chip, they are basically assuming you are going to run two of them for a total of four cores and charge you more like you were getting an 8xx setup. Denmark would be the 1xx Opteron dual core chip which would be probably be cheaper than getting a pair of single core 2xx Opterons, especially considering you wouldn't need a dual CPU board.
 

Topweasel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2000
5,437
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I didn't think they were going to release a DC 1** for 940. I though they we going to wait till the 1** was moved to the Desktop Pinout (this would lower the cost of a entry level opteron setup).
 

aka1nas

Diamond Member
Aug 30, 2001
4,335
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Denmark is listed in their current roadmap along with Egypt and Italy as being out 2H05. I didn't hear anything about moving 1xx Opterons onto the desktop socket. That doesn't seem useful at all as socket 939 doesn't support ECC AFAIK and if you don't care about that then you might as well just get an A64 instead.
 

stingerama

Junior Member
Jul 4, 2005
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heh, I'm interested in the more upscale dual-core 2xx series in order to do the job and even one costs a lot of $$$$$$. Not looking to break the bank here. This setup is going to remain for a year (since it will be co-located) so what's the point of going all out on even higher-end SC opterons or perhaps one DC opteron?

With CPU tech changing so rapidly these days, how do we know something different won't be around (or in the near future) at this time next year? I would buy dual-core opterons later down the road when they are cheaper and when we have a better idea that they will be around for the long haul. This is for a gameserver and I update accordingly to my needs yearly. See also my earlier thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1630240&enterthread=y

Besides, can anyone here say with confidence and with personal knowledge that ONE dual-core opteron can handle what I want to throw at this thing (for example multiple UT2k4 ons servers, perhaps a BF2 32p server, etc)? Eventually UT2k7 but I will be upgrading before then anyways. I'm looking for serious hardware performance here, of course without spending more than the worth of my house. ;)

Another reason I'm going with the 248 is because I cannot see the reason to justify spending anymore on SC opterons like the 250 and 252 when they are already obsolete anyways. There is a big price difference between the 248 and the 250 and how much more performance do you get for the extra 220+?

Anyways, sorry for ranting. Thanks for the help, guys. I would like to see more opinions and I am sure everyone has one. :)

 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
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What mobo you getting? There's an Iwill out there that's just awesome.. No caps Digital VRM design low power design DK8EW should be at top of list.
 

Viditor

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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My suggestion would be to go with a single DC Opteron on a 2P board. That will let you add another one down the track when the prices drop.
A DC Opteron is slightly faster than 2 SC Opterons (~5%) of the same speed, so if you get one 270 DC (2 GHz) Opteron for now, it will be ~5% slower than 2x248 SC Opterons...but you can add a second 270 down the track when the prices drop for a 4 core system. That's what I would do at any rate...

The 270s use the cooler cores, draw less power, use SSE3, and have the upgraded memory controller.

 

Viditor

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Originally posted by: Lord Banshee
1-dual core is more than two single cores... don't ask it just is

And form my knowledge you can not have a 3-way SMP with opterons.. But i do not know if anyone has tried. I think the way the memory runs it would not work.

3-way works fine with 3 SC Opterons...remember that each CPU has it's own bank of memory which it shares with the other CPUs via HT links.
You can also do it with a 2xx SC and a 2xx DC combined...
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
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Originally posted by: Viditor
My suggestion would be to go with a single DC Opteron on a 2P board. That will let you add another one down the track when the prices drop.
A DC Opteron is slightly faster than 2 SC Opterons (~5%) of the same speed, so if you get one 270 DC (2 GHz) Opteron for now, it will be ~5% slower than 2x248 SC Opterons...but you can add a second 270 down the track when the prices drop for a 4 core system. That's what I would do at any rate...

The 270s use the cooler cores, draw less power, use SSE3, and have the upgraded memory controller.

Very good suggestion. (although they use same cores .. both e4 so your last paragraph is incorrect)
 

Sixtyfour

Banned
Jun 15, 2005
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Are you always going to run just 1 game server, or are you going to run more than that ?

I was thinking that if you run just 1 you do just fine with X2, or 100 series DC Opteron (when released) and 64bit OS.
But if you want to run multiple servers some day, then dual mobo is the way to go.
You can later update to dual cores and run virtual machines with multiple game servers (or just run more server apps if possible).
For 1 server 4cores would be overkill.
 

Viditor

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Originally posted by: Zebo
they use same cores .. both e4 so your last paragraph is incorrect)

I didn't realize the 248s use the E4s...thanks for the correction Zebo.
 

Viditor

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Originally posted by: Sixtyfour
Are you always going to run just 1 game server, or are you going to run more than that ?

I was thinking that if you run just 1 you do just fine with X2, or 100 series DC Opteron (when released) and 64bit OS.
But if you want to run multiple servers some day, then dual mobo is the way to go.
You can later update to dual cores and run virtual machines with multiple game servers (or just run more server apps if possible).
For 1 server 4cores would be overkill.

The advantage to leaving an upgrade to 4 cores is if it is used for multiple multithreaded games in the future...the price difference between 2 x 248s and 1 x 270 is ~$190...