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X2-3800, X2-4400, Opteron 170 or P4-930

sprognak

sprognak

sprognak

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27 Jan 2006
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481
Alright, spent the weekend catching up on X2's, Dual Cores and what have you. Despite my initial plans for an 805, I've now been talked out of it ;)

My current considerations for CPU's are:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) (512Kb Cache) @£190.29
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) (1Mb Cache) @£311.32
(or AM2 versions of above???)
AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) @£293.69
Intel Pentium 4 930 Dual Core "LGA775 Presler" 3.0GHz (800FSB) @£135

My considerations are:
The system will be well cooled, probably water cooled. I'm aiming for a high stable overclock primarily used for gaming (Everquest 2 is what I play mostly with occasional CoD2, HL2 etc).
The system should be quiet although this has little bearing at this stage for CPU selection.

So can anyone offer a fair comparison of the above CPU's. I can't really wait for a conroe as my current system is on it's deathbed. I'm also torn between an ATI 1900XT or a GeForce 7900GT or GX2 so at this stage SLI/Crossfire compatibility is up in the air.
 
For better iQ feel, get the x1900xt and perhaps clock/flash it to the x1900xt-x speed. It'll run games like HL2 better compared to Nividia's. But Quake4/ OpenGL games will run "better" on Nividia cards.

Depends on your budget.
7900's are AFAIK quieter than x1900 series but the HiS IceQueen3 recieve a lot of good reviews from forum users here for being quiet/inaudiable. (Avoid Anandtech's review, it claims it to be "Very Loud".)

I wouldn't go Crossfire or SLi - because I don't see real benefits unless you play on REALLY high resolutions on a Big/wide screen.

If you can't wait, I'd suggest S939 CPUs, or for future upgrade ability, the AM2 (ready for the 60nm chips) or if you can wait, Conroe.
 
Thanks, I'm looking seriously at the HIS IceQ 1900XT right now. I'm not impressed by ATI Crossfire to be honest, it's restriction of 'downgrading the faster card to the slower one seems a bit silly.

SLI on the other hand looks good and has come a long way but I still probably wouldn't take that route. The 7900's are very nice cards but seem to give random problems on Everquest 2 - the main game I'll be playing. I could be tempted for a well priced GX2 but at £350 I could save around £100 on the IceQ ATI.

So probably going to forget dual cards and head for the 1900XT on the premise that it's the single fastest card out there right now and it looks stable with the games I play. A big swap for someone who's been an Nvidia fan since the GeForce 2's....

Back to CPU's =) Anyone offer any input? Specifically what's the difference between the Opteron 170 and the X2 4400 because all I can see on the list is the Opteron is cheaper and has 2Mb Cache as opposed to 1Mb...

And finally (!) the Pentium 940 looks very nice with good potential for overclocking and gives me DDR2 and a Conroe motherboard which offers potential in a years time. While the 4400 may have the performance edge (??) I'd couldn't afford the more expensive CPU *and* the AM2 Mainboard DDR2 RAM. The 940 lets me save money on the CPU that can go to future proofing the rest of the system.

Long post I know but trying to get my thoughts organised.
 
Oh and on the Conroe note, I currently have a Duo Centrino T2400 laptop and let me tell you one thing - it's insane! 16619 MIPS on SiSoft Sandra puts it just ahead of a 3800 dual core - and this Intel beastie has a 1.8GHz clock rate! And the cache benchmarks? Well they're just damned silly, nothing can touch it.
 
Opteron 170 is 2x1Mb like the 4400+, they're just described differently, the 170 is 2000Mhz and the 4400+ is 2200Mhz as it has the higher 11x multiplier. The 3800+ is 2x512Kb.

Out of all those CPUs I'd go for the 3800 and put the £100 towards more RAM or the GFX card, with the 3800s clocking so well at the moment, the 4400 or 170 aren't worth the 50% premium you'd pay.

Having said that, Conroe is going to beat all of the CPUs mentioned soundly.
 
If noise is an issue then get a 7900 GTX this will be silent even under full load.


The opteron 170 and the x2 4400 have the same amount of cache.
1mb on each core,

The opteron's are more stringently tested and generally overclock better than the x2.They are server chips so require less voltage than the x2 range.

Mines running at FX 62 speeds at 1.36v

awsome chip :D
 
Hmm so Opterons and X2's are pretty much the same under the hood, just the testing and branding or does the X2 pack some extra optimisations?

If they are the same then Opteron 170 may be the way forward. While the 3800 is a nice chip, I presume the 1Mb cache may give it an extra kick. On that note, the 940D is still very tempting as it leaves a very nice upgrade path.

Going to do some pricing of the options...
 
sprognak said:
Hmm so Opterons and X2's are pretty much the same under the hood, just the testing and branding or does the X2 pack some extra optimisations?
Click to expand...

They're identical, though the Opterons are tested differently (though I've never actually seen this proved, they do seem to clock better).

The lack of cache on the 3800 seems to make very little difference iirc, and its a bargain price.

The 930 isn't a bad chip when pushed hard, but if you go that way I'd make sure you have a Conroe compatible motherboard if you can get your hands on one to make upgrading simple.
 
sprognak said:
Hmm so Opterons and X2's are pretty much the same under the hood, just the testing and branding or does the X2 pack some extra optimisations?

If they are the same then Opteron 170 may be the way forward. While the 3800 is a nice chip, I presume the 1Mb cache may give it an extra kick. On that note, the 940D is still very tempting as it leaves a very nice upgrade path.

Going to do some pricing of the options...
Click to expand...

The x2 does not pack extra optimisations.
The extra cache is seen to usally provide around 200mhz performance gain

so a 4400 at 2.2ghz would be around the same performance as a x3800@ 2.4ghz because of the 512k cache.
 
Ok, the two main paths seem to be:

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3500LL Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2
AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939)

£519.85

Asus P5WD2-E Premium Intel 975X (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-8000 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000PHU2-2GBHZ)
Intel Pentium 4 930 Dual Core "LGA775 Presler" 3.0GHz (800FSB) - Retail

£539.85



The system will be Swiftech Watercooled.
 
sprognak said:
Ok, the two main paths seem to be:

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3500LL Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2
AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939)

£519.85

Asus P5WD2-E Premium Intel 975X (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-8000 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000PHU2-2GBHZ)
Intel Pentium 4 930 Dual Core "LGA775 Presler" 3.0GHz (800FSB) - Retail

£539.85



The system will be Swiftech Watercooled.
Click to expand...

I'd be tempted by the latter, as it seems that mobo has Conroe supprt (to what extent I don't know) and you won't be stuck with DDR RAM which would have to be replaced if you upgrade.
 
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3500LL Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2
AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939)

£519.85

But I would change that mobo for the best s939 mobo in existence.

The DFI expert

I would choose this system.And with water 3ghz dual core opty will be within reach.

That intel mobo does not support conroe too.
 
Minstadave said:
I'd be tempted by the latter, as it seems that mobo has Conroe supprt (to what extent I don't know) and you won't be stuck with DDR RAM which would have to be replaced if you upgrade.
Click to expand...

NA !

:p
 
Just to be difficult - add this AN2 system in for comparison...

CP-166-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-8000 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000PHU2-2GBHZ)
Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboad

£594.85

Will the swiftech fit an AM2?
 
sprognak said:
So it does support Conroe:

P5WD2-E Premium rev 1.3 (not 100% sure) - ATX - Available but not rev 1.3
Click to expand...


Well you will have to make sure its the revision.

If it was me I would just use my laptop until conroe's release :)
 
I wouldn't bother with S939 or AM2 at the moment, S939 is limited upgrade wise, AM2 looks very unexciting at the moment, and Conroe looks a fair bit better in comparison, especially if you're into high clocks :)
 
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