what's better athlon 3200+ or 3700+?

[ssjsongoku03]

Alright heres the deal guys, i want to build a budget gaming rig, with either an athlon 64 3200 or 3700 on newegg. i recently asked a computer store owner, which 1 holds better she said that the 3200 is fast and so is the 3700, but the 3700 beats the 3200 by only a thread and the 50 something extra dollars is just not worth spending on the 3700 for a slight speed increase. Can anyone give me some more info or advice, about which 1 should i buy, i mean does the 3700 overclock better, or is the 1mb l2 cache worth the extra cash?

 

[ssjsongoku03]

umm anyone please post. thx.

 

[coldpower27]

If that extra 50 dollars can be put into a better video card then yeah, I would agree the 3200+ is plenty of performance.

 

[kb3edk]

Originally posted by: ssjsongoku03
Alright heres the deal guys, i want to build a budget gaming rig, with either an athlon 64 3200 or 3700 on newegg. i recently asked a computer store owner, which 1 holds better she said that the 3200 is fast and so is the 3700, but the 3700 beats the 3200 by only a thread and the 50 something extra dollars is just not worth spending on the 3700 for a slight speed increase. Can anyone give me some more info or advice, about which 1 should i buy, i mean does the 3700 overclock better, or is the 1mb l2 cache worth the extra cash?

Welcome to the AnandTech forums!

No, the 3700 will not overclock better than the 3200. It's mainly for people who want better performance without *having* to overclock.

Cache on the other hand, is worth a little extra money, but mostly for non gaming stuff like media encoding, for example.

If you're a gamer on a budget you will probably be better served putting the $50 you save on the CPU into a better graphics card

 

[ssjsongoku03]

th alot guys, im getting a 7900 gt, so the use for the 3700+ 1mb cacha wont help my gamin performance.

p.s. its great to be here

 

[compgeek89]

El Contrare, 3700+ sandiego will mutilate a 3200+ in OCing capability.

 

[ssjsongoku03]

Originally posted by: compgeek89
El Contrare, 3700+ sandiego will mutilate a 3200+ in OCing capability.

wait so is 3700 a better overclocker, or?? cuz i know its 10% faster then the 3200 from the start.

 

[kb3edk]

Originally posted by: ssjsongoku03

Originally posted by: compgeek89
El Contrare, 3700+ sandiego will mutilate a 3200+ in OCing capability.

wait so is 3700 a better overclocker, or?? cuz i know its 10% faster then the 3200 from the start.

It really all depends... if you take a 3200 from a really good batch and a 3700 from a really bad batch you will probably get a better overclock on the 3200. compgeek89 is probably well aware that there have been a lot of really excellent batches of 3700s lately but there is no guarantee you will get one of those when you order one! (unless you buy from an enthusiast boutique vendor like TankGuys who sort their CPUs by batches... but they are the exception to the rule).

I'm speaking from experience here - I have an X2 4400+ that will barely overclock from 2.2 to 2.4 GHz but when I yank it out and put my X2 3800+ into the same system I can hit 2.6 GHz easily. Yet I paid hundreds of dollars more for my 4400!

 

[ssjsongoku03]

Originally posted by: kb3edk

Originally posted by: ssjsongoku03

Originally posted by: compgeek89
El Contrare, 3700+ sandiego will mutilate a 3200+ in OCing capability.

wait so is 3700 a better overclocker, or?? cuz i know its 10% faster then the 3200 from the start.

It really all depends... if you take a 3200 from a really good batch and a 3700 from a really bad batch you will probably get a better overclock on the 3200. compgeek89 is probably well aware that there have been a lot of really excellent batches of 3700s lately but there is no guarantee you will get one of those when you order one! (unless you buy from an enthusiast boutique vendor like TankGuys who sort their CPUs by batches... but they are the exception to the rule).

I'm speaking from experience here - I have an X2 4400+ that will barely overclock from 2.2 to 2.4 GHz but when I yank it out and put my X2 3800+ into the same system I can hit 2.6 GHz easily. Yet I paid hundreds of dollars more for my 4400!

thx 4 the info

 

[compgeek89]

Basically, a 3200+ rarely gets very high, a 3700+ has a much better chance of hitting 2.7-2.8ghz

Honestly, if you are going to OC get an Opteron, either 144 or 146, even 148 depending on what it will cost you, a 146 should hit the spot. All new 146 steppings seem to do at least 2.8ghz

 

[Azndude2190]

Dude the 3700 smokes the 3200...see sig below.And thats on stock heatsink.I got to 2.8GHz but prime failed after 22 hours or so.I so I brought the frequency down.