Whats with the AMD Opteron/940 vs AMD64/754?

[NaveDrahcir]

I am curious specifically about the AMD opteron model 146, I havent really heard much about it and/or the difference between it and the AMD 64 3200+ ...

They are very close in price (on newegg) and it seems like it would be better idea to buy into socket 940 technology, instead of the 754 which i heard might not last long...

But ive only been hearing suggestions to buy the AMD64 3200+ and ASUS K8T800 "K8V" (side question, whats better deal, k8v, k8v deluxe, or k8v SE Deluxe?)

But looking to build a new machine pretty soon... is the AMD Opteron any good, probably paired with a K8T800 "SK8V" ? (yeah a little pricier)
and correct me if im wrong, the 940 is capable of dual channel memory? and/or is that significant?

Thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

The Opteron requires Registered memory, instead of standard unbuffered memory like you'd use with an Athlon64. Are you OK with that? What is it going to get used for, heavy workstation apps or just typical home-enthusiast stuff?

 

[NaveDrahcir]

No, I dont know the difference between registered and unbuffered memory.

And mainly going to be used for home computing/ heavy gaming....

 

[l3ored]

i noticed the similar prices and was wondering how they compared too. registered memory is more expensive for one thing, but it may be worth it if it performs better. also, i was thinking that opterons *should* represent athlon 64 socket 939 performance cause its almost the same nuber of pins. yea....

 

[mechBgon]

My 2¢ worth: for gaming, the video card takes precedence over the CPU if you want high performance in upcoming games at mid-to-high resolutions with the eye candy turned on. The Opteron/Registered-ECC memory/SK8V combo would take a bite out of your video-card budget. Granted, it leaves the door open for up to four memory modules at PC3200 speed (current A64's can only manage two) and there are some situations where the dual memory controllers will offer more performance, but I'd personally be looking at the A64 3000+, two 512MB PC3200 modules or faster, and a killer gaming card.

Socket 754 won't have a tremendous upgrade path from what I can see, but hey... you can always sell the mobo and CPU later when you see something you like better, right?