I know this topic has been discussed before, but I need some last minute insight on a new build for me. I just purchased the Biostar Tforce6100-939 motherboard and from what I understand it has the maximum FSB of 300 MHz. This being the case here's what my maximum theoretical overclocks for each chip. This is best case scenario.
Opteron 165 (2x1MB cache)= 300Mhz x 9 = 2700Mhz
x2 3800+ (2x512MB cache) = 3000Mhz x 10 = 30000Mhz
Here's the question, which chip has the better chance of hitting the maximum over clock (300FSB) considering my motherboard. Right now I would buy the X2 if I was confident that if would overclock past 2.7 GHz. On the other hand if I knew the X2 rarely hits 2700, but the Opteron frequently does, I would but the Opteron in a heartbeat for its cache.
One last thing, I would be overclocking with the stock cooler for the first 3-6 months, then upgrading to a BT, Ninja or Zalman around tax time. Thanks for your input!
Opteron 165 (2x1MB cache)= 300Mhz x 9 = 2700Mhz
x2 3800+ (2x512MB cache) = 3000Mhz x 10 = 30000Mhz
Here's the question, which chip has the better chance of hitting the maximum over clock (300FSB) considering my motherboard. Right now I would buy the X2 if I was confident that if would overclock past 2.7 GHz. On the other hand if I knew the X2 rarely hits 2700, but the Opteron frequently does, I would but the Opteron in a heartbeat for its cache.
One last thing, I would be overclocking with the stock cooler for the first 3-6 months, then upgrading to a BT, Ninja or Zalman around tax time. Thanks for your input!