[Katana]

I have an AMD 3200 on Socket 939, and was thinking of getting a Core 2 Duo. I know they're the best processors out, but I was wondering if I could get a decent enough upgrade in my current socket (because it'd be a real freaking hassle to swap out motherboard, especially seeing as I still use DDR1)
I want to be able to run Crysis, and I know their minimum is a 3000, but I want to know what people's recommendations are. I just spent $280 on my new 8800GTS so I don't want to spend too much. (chances are, I won't even get a new processor for a while anyway)

 

[whe3ls]

a dual core opteron would be a good choice

 

[Katana]

Sounds good to me I guess. Should I care from the fact that Newegg seems to say it's made for servers?

 

[DorsalFin89]

It is made for servers but the fact that it has 1mb cache, dual core and high overclockability make it good for games too. I don't know too much other than that but this should be a good upgrade: AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103588

 

[waqasr]

Opty 165 would be your best bet..im hoping to get one soon aswell to suck the last drops of life left in my skt 939.

 

[The Duke]

165 is a great option... but you may appreciate the extra flexability of a 10x multiplier the 170 offers.

Keep an eye open in the For Sale section, some good deals pop up there !

 

[Katana]

I may actually wait for the Crysis demo anyway; when I saw the Cascades demo, they said "Yeah, by the way, all the physics is on the GPU as well..."

Until then I had been worried when I saw that 'landslide' shot on the highway in Crysis. (Anyone know what I'm referring to?)

 

[Katana]

165 eh?...Is there any reason not to bump up to a 180 or something? I mean, I would actually be going DOWN in clock speed, so I'd have to count entirely on dual-core optimization.
I have a $14/hr job for a month so I can certainly afford something more.

 

[txtmstrjoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katana 165 eh?...Is there any reason not to bump up to a 180 or something? I mean, I would actually be going DOWN in clock speed, so I'd have to count entirely on dual-core optimization. I have a $14/hr job for a month so I can certainly afford something more.

Opteron 165 for the price.

More expensive models of Opteron aren't different from the 165 except for the CPU multiplier maximums (assuming all other things being equal). The more expensive the chip, the higher the CPU multiplier.

The 165 has a 9x multiplier; the 185, in contrast, has a 13x multiplier. Higher multipliers are great for motherboards that have poor scalability in their HT bus ("FSB").

As far as potential top speed, though, there's no difference between the least expensive and the most expensive chips within the same architecture/chip family. In other words, potentially all dual-core Opterons have similar top speeds. The only difference would be that, using the stock top CPU multiplier, the most expensive CPUs have less headroom (because they're closer to that maximum potential speed) compared to the least expensive.

Hope this helps!

 

[Katana]

So you're basically saying the others are just overclocked?
OK then. I'll just need to be sure I can successfully overclock the 165 without screwing something up. (In all my time here, I have yet to successfully overclock something...)

 

[turmionkatilot88]

Thats pretty much what hes saying...... its just that the higher stock clocked chips are overclocked from the factory.... they are warrantied.... but what fun are warranties anyway.

 

[txtmstrjoe]

In point of fact, anything at stock frequency is NOT overclocked.

But I do understand the gist of what Katana said: Compared to the Opteron 165, the 185 is quite a bit faster. But this does not mean the 185 is overclocked compared to the 165. It only means that, at stock frequencies, the more expensive 185 is faster.

To sum up: Overclocking = boosting the speed of a chip beyond its stock setting.

Hope this helps!

 

[rx7i2]

It shouldn't be too hard to overclock with that mobo you have there, it's a good one. I say get the Opteron 165 or the X2 3800 - 4200. Don't forget a cooler too if you don't already have one drop about 20-30 bucks for a Gigabyte G-Power or Freezer 64 pro

 

[The Fury]

Opty 165 are great overclockers. My one is stable at 2.8ghz using stock volts and 3ghz using 1.5v

 

[iampoor]

opty 165

'nuff said

 

[Choggs396]

Well, I guess it's all dependent on your budget. If you don't have much to spend, I'd go for the Opty 165 per iampoor's advice. If you have more to spend, keep your video card (obviously, it's primo) and get a new CPU (Core 2 Duo of some sort, depending on budget), RAM (DDR2) and a decent 775 motherboard.

So, what exactly is your budget then?

 

[Katana]

I have an order placed for the Opteron 165, and it should actually be arriving today. I'm going to be needing a lot of help figuring out how to overclock it...
I'd like to just not bother with a new cooler, but it all depends...how far can I get with the stock cooling?

Choggs: I just wanted to know whether the change to an Intel CPU would actually be worth the price needed for a new motherboard and RAM. From the way things are sounding...AMD is probably fine for now.

 

[Firestorm252]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katana I have an order placed for the Opteron 165, and it should actually be arriving today. I'm going to be needing a lot of help figuring out how to overclock it... I'd like to just not bother with a new cooler, but it all depends...how far can I get with the stock cooling? Choggs: I just wanted to know whether the change to an Intel CPU would actually be worth the price needed for a new motherboard and RAM. From the way things are sounding...AMD is probably fine for now.

if i remember right, the Opty heatsinks are beasts as far as stock goes. quite a few people here use them in lieu of getting other aftermarket ones

 

[laboitenoire]

You should be able to get a few hundred MHz over stock with the stock cooler. However, something like the Tuniq Tower or Thermalright Ultra-120 will definitely be required to really goose it up there.

 

[Nevaziah]

NOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. ...

I wish I had gotten here sooner! Oh well..

Gaming wise, I can be very honest with you, the CPU does NOT pull a lot of weight. Since you already had an 8800GTS, upgrading in the same socket, unless you're coming from "budget" like Celeron and sempron to highend, like extreme, there is no benefit from gaming. I can tell you right now, I upgraded CPUS from an Athlon X2 3800 to an E6300, with the same video card, and ATI X800XL, and there was NO DIFFERENCE IN GAMING. I could only game in the same resolutions!!

the only small difference I noticed is when I had something like 10 windows of firefox open, or if I burned a CD and say played a game at the same time, or downloaded 3 huge files with bittorrent at the same time as playing a game.
For gaming, say what you will but upgrading in the same socket is never a good idea unless you're going to extremes. (E6300 to QX6800 or athlon 3200 to FX-60) even then, DURING the game itself, the video card and the memory is the one that maxes the difference, and the cpu takes care of the other stuff running in the background.

the problem is always that you run the same ram, the same video card and the same motherboard, which is why you cannot really compare such an upgrade "fairly" say from athlon 3200 to E6300 because it's different motherboards, different ram, but I can tell ya right now, if it were the same video card, you wouldnt see much of a difference to warrant the upgrade.

Dont believe me? run the CPU benchmark on 3dmark06....