Questions about Opteron 165

[DarkManX4lf]

ok im thinking to buy a new processor, i currently have a AMD 64 3500+, but im thinking to buy a Opteron 165 dual core...and what i wanted to know is would i notice a huge difference in speed?

but then i heard about the new AM2 socket processors and motherboards to be released, so my other question is should i wait to buy the AM2 socket processor? (but then i would have to buy new ram/videocard/motherboard)

 

[Blain]

Waiting always pays off...

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
ok im thinking to buy a new processor, i currently have a AMD 64 3500+, but im thinking to buy a Opteron 165 dual core...and what i wanted to know is would i notice a huge difference in speed?

but then i heard about the new AM2 socket processors and motherboards to be released, so my other question is should i wait to buy the AM2 socket processor? (but then i would have to buy new ram/videocard/motherboard)

Well, the 3500+ is 2.2ghz with a 512kb cache and the 165 is a dual-core 1.8ghz with a 1mb cache. The cache does help a lot (2ghz P4 > 2.4ghz Celeron, for example). Technically you're losing 400mhz by going to a 165, but you get two cores so things run better when you're multitasking.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

 

[DarkManX4lf]

i forgot to add that i was goign to overclock this, i heard that some people got their Opteron 165's to 2.5GHz+

also i wanted to clear up something, if you overclock a dual core processor both cores get oc'ed right? (yeah i know its a stupid question)

another question: what is the chance of me getting this 165 Opteron to like 2.5 - 2.7 ghz range?

i'll give my setup just in case:

Asus A8V Deluxe mobo
3GB Kinston Value Ram DDR400 PC3200 (2 x 512, 2 x 1GB)
Rosewill 500W PSU

(Otherstuff that wont realy matter)
Geforce 6800GT
SB Audigy 2



and sorry for that empty post

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
i forgot to add that i was goign to overclock this, i heard that some people got their Opteron 165's to 2.5GHz+

also i wanted to clear up something, if you overclock a dual core processor both cores get oc'ed right? (yeah i know its a stupid question)

another question: what is the chance of me getting this 165 Opteron to like 2.5 - 2.7 ghz range?

i'll give my setup just in case:

Asus A8V Deluxe mobo
3GB Kinston Value Ram DDR400 PC3200 (2 x 512, 2 x 1GB)
Rosewill 500W PSU

(Otherstuff that wont realy matter)
Geforce 6800GT
SB Audigy 2



and sorry for that empty post

yes both cores get o/ced, not a stupid question

not sure what your chances of hitting 2.5-2.7 now. but you should get a decent o/c as even the 3800/4200 do ok.

as for what will you see performance wise, it really depends on what you are doing.

also, is there any benefit running that 3GB of ram vs 2GB? just out of curiosity, you will have to slow all the ram down to the lowest possible speed when you o/c (well you have to do that now, but when you o/c it is more important).

 

[WobbleWobble]

I went from a 3200+ @ 2.45GHz to a Opteron 165 @ 2.56GHz and nope, not worth it. I should have waited

 

[DarkManX4lf]

well now i'm pretty sure there is no real big difference between 3GB and 2GB ram, but at the time i was in the mode of "the more the better"
what do you mean i have to slow the ram to the lowest possible speed? i've seen a few posts where people have maintained their ram speeds and overclocked

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I went from a 3200+ @ 2.45GHz to a Opteron 165 @ 2.56GHz and nope, not worth it. I should have waited

now that 3200+ you are talking about thats not a AXP right? or is it a A64 ?
and why do you say its not worth it? (what are your reasons)

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
well now i'm pretty sure there is no real big difference between 3GB and 2GB ram, but at the time i was in the mode of "the more the better"
what do you mean i have to slow the ram to the lowest possible speed? i've seen a few posts where people have maintained their ram speeds and overclocked

to get to 2.5 you need to go 280 or 250MHz(can't remember if the 165 is a 9x multiplier...). you will have to adjust your ram timings to the slowest set. if your slowest set only does 215MHz, all will need to be set at 215MHz.

i was just wondering about the 3GB size because you need to run 4sticsk at 2T command rate. in a situatin where you need the extra ram it is better to enough ram and run at 2T than to have the machine hit the pagefile, but if you only need 2GB and can do it a 1T, then there is a slight performance increase. i would find out exactly how much ram you are using.

also, what do you use your computer for? you may or may not get a benenft.

as far as is the 3200@2.45 a axp or a64, it shouldn't matter since Wobble Wobble said he didn't notice a difference.

i went from a 2.8C P4 to the opty144 @ stock and only noticed a difference with video encoding, same thing when i o/ced to 2.5GHz, only benefitted me in encoding. gaming it didn't make a notiecable difference between the 2.8C P4 vs the 2.5GHz opty144 because i run @ 1280x1024, so i would be more gpu limited there. again, in the gaming i didn't benchmark but i cound't see a difference with my eyes, so either way i was over 40fps at the slowest.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

well i guess i should wait then, because currently with my A64 3500, 85% of the time im gaming and the rest im either wordprocessing, surfing etc...

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I went from a 3200+ @ 2.45GHz to a Opteron 165 @ 2.56GHz and nope, not worth it. I should have waited

now that 3200+ you are talking about thats not a AXP right? or is it a A64 ?
and why do you say its not worth it? (what are your reasons)

Yes, A64 3200+ (Venice core). When I upgrade, I expect a noticable difference. Aside from encoding videos, I really couldn't tell that I had really upgraded. I consider myself a heavy multi-tasker, regularly working with large archives and running many apps in the background.

The rest of my specs are decent, 2GB RAM, A8N-E nForce4 mobo, 2x250GB Samsung P120 SATA RAID-0. I don't really game much, so I won't tell you what video card I have

 

[silverpig]

I noticed a huge increase going from a 3200+ Venice to a 165. It's mainly because I spend a lot of cpu time encoding HDTV to x264 though.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Originally posted by: silverpig
I noticed a huge increase going from a 3200+ Venice to a 165. It's mainly because I spend a lot of cpu time encoding HDTV to x264 though.

ok so for doing video editing, sound editing and other multitasking...it would be good to go from a A64 3500 to a 165 but if all im doing is gaming and word processing i should just wait ?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
well i guess i should wait then, because currently with my A64 3500, 85% of the time im gaming and the rest im either wordprocessing, surfing etc...

to be honest for what you are doing i would o/c your 3500 as it will last some time. when you need to upgrade for gaming i would just get a pci-e skt939 board and put it whatever is the best bang for the buck at the time.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf

Originally posted by: silverpig
I noticed a huge increase going from a 3200+ Venice to a 165. It's mainly because I spend a lot of cpu time encoding HDTV to x264 though.

ok so for doing video editing, sound editing and other multitasking...it would be good to go from a A64 3500 to a 165 but if all im doing is gaming and word processing i should just wait ?

you also have to verify that the software you are using takes advantage of dual processors, make sure the software says "Supports SMP"

if it doesn't take advantage of the 2 cores, then one will be used at 100% and the other will be doing ther background stuff for ~5% or so.

 

[w00t]

what is your current setup

the opteron 165 would be dual core and at 1.8ghz which is slower than your current processor as for multi-tasking it would be alot faster considering it has two cores. If you were to get the opteron 165 and oc it to a good speed above the 3500+ than it'd be better. If you weren't to oc it the 3500+ would be better in gaming. AM2 is crap new ddr-2 support and support for a new socket. IMO not worth it

 

[Spike]

The 165 will be better for gaming if it is at the same speed (clock frequency) as the A64 cpu. If the 165 is running slower then it will also be slower in gaming as the dual core optimizations in current games does not give it that much of a boost.

That being said I love my 165 @ 2.52 and would not trade it for anything. It was a huge upgrade from my AXP 2500+ @ 3200+ and zips along with any task. I am ashamed to say that I have yet to use it for video encoding so it has not been truely stressed yet.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
i forgot to add that i was goign to overclock this, i heard that some people got their Opteron 165's to 2.5GHz+

also i wanted to clear up something, if you overclock a dual core processor both cores get oc'ed right? (yeah i know its a stupid question)

another question: what is the chance of me getting this 165 Opteron to like 2.5 - 2.7 ghz range?

i'll give my setup just in case:

Asus A8V Deluxe mobo
3GB Kinston Value Ram DDR400 PC3200 (2 x 512, 2 x 1GB)
Rosewill 500W PSU

I just wanted to point out that you're not going to be able to overclock any chip very far with value RAM. You'll be able to use a divider to get some OC out of it, but I don't understand how you'd get 700-900Mhz. I don't know much about the motherboard you have either, but I have noticed that folks getting those huge overclocks generally use DFI or Epox boards nowadays, combined with DDR500 memory.

Also, your power supply can factor into it, and Rosewill is considered a very bargain-type brand and there's no way you're getting sustained levels out of that PSU. A stable overclock requires stable power. An overclocking system kind of has to be designed holistically and not just from a "i'm getting an opteron" point of view.

All that said, I think for gaming you'll be stoked with your 3500+ for a while yet. If you start getting into the overclocking, you should get plenty out of that chip. As others have stated, there is no pressing need for dual-core in a gaming rig until developers start releasing more SMP-supported titles.