WHAT TO DO DUAL OPTERON VS Dual CORE???

[Darkstar757]

Ok here is my problem.


I have orderd the server bundle from the amd tech tour. However I am confused as if I should cancel my order and buy a dual core setup instead. The tech tour bundle will cost me 500 bucks and Im not sure if the dual opterons will be faster. I plan on making either system a workstation so I will have to purchase a new monther board for either setup. The problem is which setup will be better less costly etc.


Thanks

 

[theMan]

what are the specs on the stuff u bought?

 

[Darkstar757]

Originally posted by: theman
what are the specs on the stuff u bought?

Server Bundle - Price = $500
? 2 - AMD Opteron? 246 CPUs
? Tyan Thunder K8SD Pro (S2882-D) motherboard
? Microsoft Server 2003 x64 Edition


My current system is a athlon socket 754 3400+ at 2.5gz on water
geforce 5200 agp
1gig ram
400gig segate
74gig raptor


I plan on selling my athlon 3400+ to contribute to my new rig.


Darkstar

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Have you looked at the prices of Opteron dualcore? Expensive. I would check to make sure your motherboard is dualcore compatible for future upgrade. What are you doing with the computer? Singled threaded applications will actually be slower than your 2.5 computer.

 

[Darkstar757]

well i will be doing gamming programming some encoding HDTV viewing

 

[Markfw]

The 4200+ at stock will be faster than the 246's. The only thing that board gets you is the PCI-X, and that only helps if you get a SCSI card for it with a caching raid controller, and several SCSI drives that would use the bandwidth. I get 200mbit/sec on mine vs 40 mbit/sec on the fastest IDE drive on the same system. SATA drive in my system is virtually the same speed as the IDE. The other thing it gets you is the ability to run 2-dual-core opterons for 4 cores total ! For saome applications, that would rock, but wou will pay for it.

 

[Viditor]

Are you telling us that you bought
2 x 246 Opterons (retail $300 each)
1 Tyan Thunder K8SD Pro (retail $400)(and yes it's dualcore capable)
1 Server 2k3 license (retail $26)

All for $500???????

You suck! :-(

Tell ya what, if you need to get rid of it, just give me a shout!

 

[peleejosh]

dont cancel your order. just sell it on the forums and use the profit to pay for part of the dual core system

 

[imported_Technomancer]

Just wait for quad-processor mobos supporting quad-cores... ooh yeah...

 

[Darkstar757]

some other insight folks

 

[Darkstar757]

up for more discussion

 

[exar333]

i really dont see how you can wrong with what you have already ordered....you got it for a steal and it will be very fast...if you want to go 2xdual core later (when prices have dropped due to more production) then go for it...the benches dont seem to indicate a huge difference either way...plus you already have a great board for what you are looking to do...and once again, for an AMAZING price

 

[jose]

Darkstar757,

How do you get this bundle ?? Can anyone get in on this ??

BTW you will have to get some memory (reg/ecc) for the Opteron mobo.. Also there's no video slot either...

Regards,
Jose

 

[sandorski]

$500 for all that sounds great. Probably will be able to upgrade to 2 dual core in the future. Hmm, I think I'd stick it out, if one could use that expression.

 

[imported_Kensai]

The bundle is from the AMD Tech Tour 2005. They're sold out right now though.

 

[biostud]

Keep it and upgrade it to dual core opterons once you need the extra juice.

 

[Zebo]

@ $500 the dual opteron setup is a no brainer... It costs $1700 retail for a reason.

That mobo alone will work for 15 years on 24/7. It's built with super high quality caps, mosfets, chipsets etc.. "professional grade" OS is $700. Chips are $350 ea. Mobo is $400.

Speed wise it be will just a tad slower, like 0-5% at same speed X2 due to ECC and higher latency between cores somewaht negated by double bandwidth but not totally.. No biggie nothing you'll notice.

Only problem is no AGP or PCIe.. so if you 3D game it's not even an option.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: Darkstar757
well i will be doing gamming programming some encoding HDTV viewing

You do realize that the K8SD has no PCI-e or AGP slots for a 3d video card right? You're going to be having lots of fun playing games with that on-board video.

 

[Markfw]

Yes, sell it to me for $500, I won;t game on it.

 

[iwearnosox]

Originally posted by: Concillian

Originally posted by: Darkstar757
well i will be doing gamming programming some encoding HDTV viewing

You do realize that the K8SD has no PCI-e or AGP slots for a 3d video card right? You're going to be having lots of fun playing games with that on-board video.

Actually he's in good shape now, the tech tour is handing out k8se's instead. He gets two PCIe slots on it.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I thought there was something that a dual Opteron board was capable of when running an OS like XP64 or Server 2003 Enterprise. I read something in a Tyan manual, but didn't focus on it since I was only using one. Something runs at 128Bit or something, I thought it said.

 

[iwearnosox]

Originally posted by: iwearnosox

Originally posted by: Concillian

Originally posted by: Darkstar757
well i will be doing gamming programming some encoding HDTV viewing

You do realize that the K8SD has no PCI-e or AGP slots for a 3d video card right? You're going to be having lots of fun playing games with that on-board video.

Actually he's in good shape now, the tech tour is handing out k8se's instead. He gets two PCIe slots on it.

Now that I look at it this thing is a big as a house. No way it could fit in my case.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I'm struggling with the same decision. I use a multitrack sequencer that is optimized for multiple cores, so I can't wait to go dual.

Going dual dual-core some day is the only real incentive for keeping the dual opterons. Right now that would cost you $2000 for the processors. I can't see an M2 quad core upgrade in Q1 2006 costing any more than that.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Here are some benches with comparisons between dual opterons and x2.

http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/athlon64-x2/index.x?pg=3

One thing to note is the slower memory used on the opteron rig. When you take into account the memory latency differences, the dual opterons and X2's look about the same clock speed for clock speed.

 

[imported_KenRico]

Hey Darkstar757

I was lucky enough to get in on this bundle also...but received TYAN S2892 Thunder K8SE. This board came with nFORCE Pro2200, so it does have a PCI-ex x16. Also the bundle recieved came with x64 Server 2003 ENTERPRISE.

Just got it fired up tonight with the pair of 246's, 2GB of Patriot PDC1G3200ERLLK, pair of 74GB Raptors RAID-0 & WD2500KS, and a LIAN-LI PC-V1200B. Have a loaned XFX 6800 Ultra in it at the moment. x64 XP zipped right on.

I was NOT going to buy the EATX case, 12VEPS PS, pair of Zalman CNPS-7000CU and ECCR, and wait for X2 3800+. My friend called me to source a pair of Opteron 270s for his K8WE as his expensive pair of MATROX for 8 displays was not working on std SLI board. Before the purchase MATROX said they had tested on SLI board and he bought them. Well MATROX either LIED or only tested one. I told him not to buy anything without seeing the both cards work. So jammed over with my 246s. Anyway...worked qreat, even loaded under x64 Pro.

I liked the platform, was not blazing fast...but snappy and smooth. 40 Internet Exploder pages popped up as fast as I could hit cntl-n 40 times. Since I had my basic Dual Core ( 2 processors) paid for, went ahead and invested in Professional Workstation platform. Am giving up 1000HT for 800HT and taking the s940 ECC slight performance hit. I know the X2 will be faster than this, but maybe next Feb when Intel has their dual core Xeons out...AMD with 9-monthes head start to get their yields up will drop price of 270s to undercut, the way Intel is undercutting on their 820 Pentium D against X2.

So will have some real performance feedback soon..I really like how this box came together.