Worth it to upgrade from an X2 4200+?

[DasSmoof]

I've been trying to figure out if it would be worth it to upgrade from my current processor, the one listed in the subject. What I'd likely go for is the Opteron 165 so I could overclock it and get a few more years out of my current motherboard/cpu/ram. Would I see a substantial increase in performance, at least, enough to justify purchasing a new processor? As well, I'm wondering if my motherboard is good enough to really overclock an Opteron as it's decent enough to lightly overclock my current processor. My specs:
Abit KN8 SLI Motherboard
Athlon X2 4200+ 512k L2 cache
2 Gig Patriot Signature ram DDR400
Antec 550W PSU
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640meg

Would it be worth it to grab the new processor?

 

[BlueWeasel]

Why not just overclock the X2? You should be able to hit at least 2.4-2.5Ghz at a reasonable voltage and that closes the gap between an overclocked Opteron.

 

[Uppsala9496]

I would say no, it isn't worth it.

Then again, I just upgraded to an X2 4200+ (had a A64 1800+ -socket 754 mobo died).

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Save your cash IMHO.

 

[DasSmoof]

It's probably for the better anyway, I'm not sure my current system handles overclocking all that well. I can't seem to get my current CPU beyond 210FSB. 215 and it'll post, but windows will error. Plus, admittedly, I don't know all that much about messing with anything beyond the FSB and voltage. Out of curiosity, are the Core 2's as much of a pain to overclock? As in, messing with the ram timings and whatnot, or are they relatively simple by comparison?

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: DasSmoof
It's probably for the better anyway, I'm not sure my current system handles overclocking all that well. I can't seem to get my current CPU beyond 210FSB. 215 and it'll post, but windows will error. Plus, admittedly, I don't know all that much about messing with anything beyond the FSB and voltage. Out of curiosity, are the Core 2's as much of a pain to overclock? As in, messing with the ram timings and whatnot, or are they relatively simple by comparison?

Overclocking is always trial and error, you are always going to have to mess with settings and do testing to see how your chip does. Just cause timings and settings work for one person doesnt mean they will work for you since chips are gonna do what they wanna do. When you raise your FSB you are now raising how fast the memory is running, so thats why you have to mess with ram timings etc etc, cause even tho the chip may O/C really well you then need to figure out the best settings so that the memory is stable at the higher FSB being used.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Overclocking an Opty 165 to its max requires a fairly decent mobo, one that will do 300Mhz FSB and preferably beyond. (300 x 9 = 2.7Ghz). I bought a 165 intending to OC, and then found out the board that I'm using only reliably goes to 250-260Mhz FSB, so I'm probably selling the chip to a friend that recently picked up an OCing S939 board, to max out its potential.

Btw, OCing a 4000+ is much easier, due to the 14x multi. Can get to 2.89Ghz easily with a FSB of 241, the max that my chip will handle (@ 1.4v).

 

[mithrandir2001]

No.

It sounds like you are after "paper performance" rather than saying you are unable to accomplish computing tasks with your 4200+.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Do you play Supreme Commander, if the answer is yes, then it might be worth upgrading the 4200. If not, then I am not aware of anything else (gamewise at least) where you're going to need that extra power. (encoding, etc, will be quicker, but probably not worth the cost)

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: DasSmoof
It's probably for the better anyway, I'm not sure my current system handles overclocking all that well. I can't seem to get my current CPU beyond 210FSB. 215 and it'll post, but windows will error. Plus, admittedly, I don't know all that much about messing with anything beyond the FSB and voltage. Out of curiosity, are the Core 2's as much of a pain to overclock? As in, messing with the ram timings and whatnot, or are they relatively simple by comparison?

They're about as hard to oveclock, just in a different way. It sounds to me like you need to read this: how to overclock an Athlon 64.