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Opteron 180/185 ?

mrk

mrk

mrk

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Just wondering if anyone has any experience with an Opteron 180 or 185 ? I have an Asus A8N3-SLI deluxe mobo and would like to just have a quick 6-12 month stopgap upgrade over my x2 4200+ (stock) and feel for £125 (for the 185) the extra 1mb L2 cache and 400mhz increase in speed would be useful over the stock 4200+.

Are the Opterons as good as the x2 ? most notably the x2 4800+ as the Opteron 185 is cheaper than the 4800 whilst being the exact same spec from what I can see on paper ?

Or would it be best to just get a 180 for £80 as it sits at 2.4ghz with same spec everything else ?

Cheers!
 
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Hi

I upgraded from a single core AMD 4000+ to an Opteron 180 only a few weeks back and have been quite happy at the upgrade. Would have gone for the 185, but my mobo does not support it.

Though if I was you, I'd have a go at overclocking your current processor first. You might reach the same sort of speed anyway. Can't see you can loose trying. And it would then be a free upgrade!

PS. As far as I'm aware... Opterons "are" X2 processors but just put in a different box.
PPS. Mines paired with a BFG 8800 gts OC2 640 MB and plays Bioshock (retail game) at 1280x1024, High settings and Vsync on and runs at 60FPS most of the time. Lowest I've seen it get is around 45/50 FPS using FRAPS.
 
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Can I ask if you're on DDR2 ram ?

My RAM is really holding me back I have CL3 corsair twinX and it does not like to boot XP or Vista at above 215FSB which means I can get a cpu clock of 2.3 to 2.4ghz before the memory craps out - I wish to keep a silent and cool system too hence why I don't really want to OC the mainboard or cpu!

In Bioshock at 1680x1050 I get 30-40 fps average in DX10 mode with the 8800gts at 600/900 but I'd really like at least a constant 50fps!

In fact whilst writing this reply I did a quick price check on a C2D setup and found for an extra £10 over a proposed AM2 upgrade for DDR2 support I could have:

Abit IP-35E
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2
@ £264

I'm actually very tempted by this as my eventual goal is of course quad core and I change mobo very little so would be able to just drop in a quad in a years time saving the hassle of a mobo swap again.

Hmmmmmmm!

I know I've been musing about an upgrade on this forum for ages now, I still cannot decide!!


Edit* I see you have a Neo in your sig so DDR1 ram, you give me hope! I wonder if the 2x 1mb l2 cache really does make a difference as I see almost no fps difference going from 1680x1050 to something like 1280x800 leading me to believe I am CPU limited ?
 
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The extra 512kb L2 cache per core is meant to equal around a 200mhz increase in "real world" performance. And I agree with that :)

I know you like the keep the system quiet & cool, and that's fair enough, but the 4200+ X2s do clock really well. I'd put money on at least 2.6Ghz on stock voltage. Yes it will run a bit warmer, but that's a fair increase in core clock!

Another thing to keep in mind is that the 180/185 will run hotter than your current 4200+. Firstly because of the higher clock speed and also because of the extra L2 cache generating more heat. 180s/185s are "ADA" chips - ie. 110W, whilst the Manchesters (4200+) are "ADV" chips - 89W.

The 180s are great chips. As mikeo mentions, then 185s were not as widely supported. So if you're thinking of one, make sure that either your Mobo/BIOS supports it, or that there is a newer BIOS available for your mobo which will support it.

As far as the 180s are concerned, the E4 revision ones were the best So939 chips ever produced in my opinion. Reasonably high stock core clock, ran cool, 2x1mb L2 cache, and the E4 silicone meant they clocked like you wouldn't believe! Obviously these do have a downside: the E4s', to be frank, fairly useless memory controller.

Jon
 
Thanks for the info, looks like 1MB L2 x2 is the way forward then and I can save over £100 by not going the whole way and changing mobo etc until absolutely neede dlater down the line!

All the 180/185 chips I have seen are E6 revision too and I know what you mean by the AMDs running warm, my 4200 runs at 39-40 idle and 51 under load (on an AC freezer64 pro lapped) but it has never crashed or become unstable - I put this partly on the A8N32-SLI mobo which to be frank is the most stable mobo I have ever owned even on the latest BETA bios (support for 185 opteron)

I think I will go for it! many thanks!
 
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Yeh 51C under load is nothing to worry about at all. I would say 60C max for these chips. That was just a note to make you aware that the Opty 180/185 will most probably run hotter than your 4200+.

And I agree with you on the comment about the A8N mobo. I'm using the A8N-SLi Premium and it's been fantastic. Can't fault the thing at all :cool:

Which one have you decided on then?

Jon
 
GeForce said:
Yeh 51C under load is nothing to worry about at all. I would say 60C max for these chips. That was just a note to make you aware that the Opty 180/185 will most probably run hotter than your 4200+.

And I agree with you on the comment about the A8N mobo. I'm using the A8N-SLi Premium and it's been fantastic. Can't fault the thing at all :cool:

Which one have you decided on then?

Jon
Click to expand...

185 :D - just deciding on which method of payment to use now :D

Now at least I'll be ready for Crysis a bit better than before :p

BTW the 4200 runs at around 30 idle and 40 load if the freezer64 is on full speed but then it's one noisy bugger so I dropped it down to 65% fanspeed (6400rpm~) so it's much quieter but a bit warmer - just remembered this as Speedfan is just sitting in the systray.
 
mrk said:
185 :D - just deciding on which method of payment to use now :D

Now at least I'll be ready for Crysis a bit better than before :p

BTW the 4200 runs at around 30 idle and 40 load if the freezer64 is on full speed but then it's one noisy bugger so I dropped it down to 65% fanspeed (6400rpm~) so it's much quieter but a bit warmer - just remembered this as Speedfan is just sitting in the systray.
Click to expand...
I think Speedfan is telling you porkies, as the AF64 Pro only has a max fan speed of 2,200RPM.
 
I have an Opteron 185, very happy with it. I upgraded from an X2 3800+
Basically, I was after the fastest socket 939 CPU I could find which would then see out this system to the end of it's life in a few years time. It was a very useful upgrade, and one I'd certainly recommend. I guess I could have got an ASRock 775 board and a cheap Core 2, to work with my DDR400 RAM, but that would have also meant replacing the OEM Windows at £80+ or whatever, so in the end the CPU replacement was most cost effective, and was a 10 minute drop-in upgrade, delightfully simple. That was perhaps the best part :)
 
Tuvoc said:
I have an Opteron 185, very happy with it. I upgraded from an X2 3800+
Basically, I was after the fastest socket 939 CPU I could find which would then see out this system to the end of it's life in a few years time. It was a very useful upgrade, and one I'd certainly recommend. I guess I could have got an ASRock 775 board and a cheap Core 2, to work with my DDR400 RAM, but that would have also meant replacing the OEM Windows at £80+ or whatever, so in the end the CPU replacement was most cost effective, and was a 10 minute drop-in upgrade, delightfully simple. That was perhaps the best part :)
Click to expand...
nice performance boost? :)
 
Tuvoc said:
I have an Opteron 185, very happy with it. I upgraded from an X2 3800+
Basically, I was after the fastest socket 939 CPU I could find which would then see out this system to the end of it's life in a few years time. It was a very useful upgrade, and one I'd certainly recommend. I guess I could have got an ASRock 775 board and a cheap Core 2, to work with my DDR400 RAM, but that would have also meant replacing the OEM Windows at £80+ or whatever, so in the end the CPU replacement was most cost effective, and was a 10 minute drop-in upgrade, delightfully simple. That was perhaps the best part :)
Click to expand...
If you're talking about XP, the most you'd have had to do is ring Microsoft for a new key due to the hardware changes...
 
Well the Opty is in! - it certainly does run hotter, 50-51 idle or maybe this is because the thermal paste has yet to reach optimum efficiency?

Anyway, in HL2 Lost Coast bench the average FPS was 84 and now it's 96 which is good, Bioshock runs better now too, a better average fps now at 40-60 at 1680x1050. I can see the 320MB of gfx ram being the holdback in game slike this now :p
 
Was it the 185 you went for in the end?

50C sounds a little high (mines around 30C idle and that was from day one fitting) though obviously depends on room temp and case ventilation. But they do say it's the temps under pressure that mater. Try running SP2004-ORTHOS for an hour and see what it hits.
 
The 185 yep - I think I have a bad Freezer64 Pro as well, the case ventilation seems fine as my hdds are running at 37 degrees and the top section of my p182 has its own airflow.

Can anyone recommend a good 939 cooler that is not too loud at all ? I will also have to buy a tube of AS I think as I'm using CoolerMaster paste atm.

Either that or my BIOS has innacurate diodes (possibly due to running a beta BIOS) - it's rock stable though so maybe I will just leave it until I find a better HSF.
 
Also what compound and cooler you are using mate if your idle temps are considerably lower than mine!

I also have the cpu fan set to 65-70% power as it's too noisy at 100% - I think I'll just buy a better cooler with a 120MM fam though as the freezer's fa is only 92mm
 
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