Opteron 180/185 ?

[mrk]

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!

 

[mrk]

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 ?

 

[mrk]

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!

 

[mrk]

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

Which one have you decided on then?

Jon

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

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

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]

Hmmmmm I think you may be right about fanspeed 0rpm isn't good

 

[mrk]

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

nice performance boost?

 

[mrk]

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

 

[mrk]

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.

 

[mrk]

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

 

[mrk]

I may have found the problem!

The Freezer64 Pro is fairly heavy and tall and uses the mobo retention clips to fit - It could be that it is bending slightly in the plastic mobo retention base causing the top surface contact area on the CPU to lose contact so heat isn't really transferring efficiently.

I think what I will do is buy a Zalman CNPS9500 cooler tomorrow on the way home from work and install that -it's going to mean I need to remove the mobo to fit the backplate but this also means no more bending and uneven contact!

 

[mrk]

Let me stop you there . . . . . . . . . its simply the Arctic Freezer 64 Pro is a £13 heatsink that has no chance of living up to the hype.

Have a look at the Thermalright range of coolers, will cost you more but consider it an investment as you will be able to re-use it in the future.

What about the Zalman? I had a flower back in the Socket A days but never got a newer model!

 

[mrk]

Reviews all look good for it but I will post in the cpu section about anyone who might have one, unless someone reading this has one ?

 

[mrk]

Well the Zalman is in, the base is a mirror finish and it is a nice cooler too - had to use Speedfan to limit the speed as it's very noisy just like the Freezer at full speed.

Anyway my temps are really no different but I will leave it a week for the thermal paste to settle in. The surrounding NBHS and heatpipe system gets VERY VERY hot though after touching it - I guess its is why it's a heatpipe as this board gets very hot by default even though remains stable.

The Zalman is able to cool the cpu down quicker than the Freezer though, from 57 it quickly drops to 50-52. It also does not go above 59 degrees under 3DMark06 testing which is also good.

I will just leave it like this I think the hdds are running cool which is the most important thing, they're idling at 25-27 degrees which is nice

Shiny !

 

[mrk]

Looks nice, what a sharp photo, what camera lol?

Canon 350D with 17-55 IS USM lens


Also I gained over 1k in 3dmarks compared to when I had the x2 4200+ !

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=2891694

For the system I think it's good!?

 

[mrk]

What mem do you have btw ?

 

[mrk]

My RAM is @ 254 (DDR 508) which is underclocked should be DDR550. But my CPU score is still almost 200 point higher.

Clock it

Cannot do that any more because:

(yep this was taken before I turned off C1E and Speedstep in the bios )

*melts in awesome performancingness*

 

[mrk]

I never had a 180 I had a 185 !

The 185 already sold though, I did request to have access to MM again as I was denied it 3 years ago for having more than 3 open threads at any one time which was against the rules at the time but nobody has confirmed access to me on my latest request.

I didn't expect much response though as nobody ever responds with an answer anytime I do ask :/

I sold it on another popular forum for £100 with a mobo too