Should I upgrade my processor

[zikronix]

Ok so I have a opteron 146 @ 2.7GHZ with an xp-90 on an msi k8n neo4 platinium

My board supports and X2 so I was thinking I could upgrade to a x2 4400+ with the toledo core (89w) version. This chip is now sub 250.00 I was thinking its my last ditch effort to upgrade my box.

I will not go AM2 as it is a slap in the face to amd supporters. Additionally I just upgraded my box about 7 months ago.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

I guess the most important deciding factor would be if your current system is lagging in a specific application. What are you hoping to get out of the upgrade? What does the rest of your system look like (i.e. could that $250 be better used elsewhere)? And why the 4400+ when a 3800+ is a good $100 less and can offer just about as much performance?

 

[zikronix]

Well I have 2 gigs of ram, would like 4 but meh....Ati Radeon x850xt ( So Im ok there) Got pleanty of drive space. My sound is fine. I have a dvd burner. I have a 20.1 lcd, wireless network adapters, good power supply...i mean the box is in decent shape.

as far as the 3800+ vs the 4400+ the 4400+ has 2MB cache total vs 1MB. the 4400+ (89w version) runs cooler. Toledo core(4400+) vs manchester (3800+). I can probably get the 4400 up to 3.1GHZ with out much hassle.

 

[hennethannun]

I can probably get the 4400 up to 3.1GHZ with out much hassle.

I wouldn't bet on that. 3+ghz is a pretty serious overclock for X2 processors, and you have to get pretty lucky to get a chip that is capable of those speeds WITH excellent cooling.
you should be able to get 2.6 with your xp-90, and with any luck, more will be possible, but 3.1ghz as your baseline expectation seems a bit high to me.

 

[zikronix]

Originally posted by: hennethannun
I can probably get the 4400 up to 3.1GHZ with out much hassle.

I wouldn't bet on that. 3+ghz is a pretty serious overclock for X2 processors, and you have to get pretty lucky to get a chip that is capable of those speeds WITH excellent cooling.
you should be able to get 2.6 with your xp-90, and with any luck, more will be possible, but 3.1ghz as your baseline expectation seems a bit high to me.

The reviews I read said they have been hitting form 2.9 -3.1 on a normal basis with 3.2 being the high on one forum...but he is using some pretty crazy stuff.

With that low wattage and my xp-90 or the thermal take silent water I should be able to get at least the 3.0 is what i was shooting for. Hell even 2.8 is better than my opteron 146 at 2.7 and I got dual cores. I do alot of dvd encoding as I shoot videos. Im thinking the dual core at stock will out perform my opty 146.

I would ike to sell my opty 146 if I bought this chip. But Im just trying to determine if I should wait a little longe ti see if they drop even more.

DDR is going up in price. Im running I would like to get some faster ddr and bump it up to 4 gigs but im just not sure. but i was also thinking just keep it where its at and upgrade in another 3-5 years....(my typical upgrade time)

 

[aka1nas]

3.0Ghz is not realistic for most X2s on air. Anything over 2.6 is going to be luck of the draw unless you are doing some serious water cooling or phase.

 

[zikronix]

Even the low watt one? ok with that being said. Do you think my opty 146 @ 2.7 (On air) will out perform the x2 at stock or will the will the x2 smoke my opty

 

[hennethannun]

Originally posted by: zikronix
Even the low watt one? ok with that being said. Do you think my opty 146 @ 2.7 (On air) will out perform the x2 at stock or will the will the x2 smoke my opty

that depends. the otpy at 2.7 will outperform the X2 3800+ (or the 4400+ for that matter) in single threaded apps (ie older games). but throw some serious multithreading into the mix (photoshop, encoding, newer games, etc), and the X2s will be on top (even at stock).

So your opty might be faster for buring a cd OR playing a game, but you could do both simultaneously with the X2s.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: zikronix
Even the low watt one? ok with that being said. Do you think my opty 146 @ 2.7 (On air) will out perform the x2 at stock or will the will the x2 smoke my opty

From what I have read, the low wattage X2s weren't OCing any better than regular ones. Keep in mind that having two cores does statistically limit your max OC as one core might be stable at 3Ghz but the other might only be able to handle 2.6, which means you are stuck at 2.6.

 

[zikronix]

I under stand that.... so like i said

would an x2 4400+ at stock speeds smack around my opty at @2.7G ?

 

[Black Dragon]

In short no it wouldn't, but it all depends on what you use the rig for. If you're encoding etc then yes a dual core would be beneficiary but if you aren't and are simply using the machine for things like gaming then the machine you have is more than up to the task.

 

[Atheus]

The single core Opteron at high speeds is pretty much the best AMD system for single threded apps. Most apps are single threaded. This means that if you game, or do some other specific task a lot, the single core is better. I have my 146 at 3GHz every day and it kicks ass.

Some few tasks are multithreaded, like video editing or other (non game) graphics processing, so the dually would be better for this stuff. It will also help multitasking, like running word, winamp, browser, etc at the same time.

 

[Mucker]

Originally posted by: zikronix
I under stand that.... so like i said

would an x2 4400+ at stock speeds smack around my opty at @2.7G ?

You know you want one, just but the dam thing