Opti 170 or 4400+ For a Gaming Rig

[Xionic]

ok im buying a new upgrade heres what im looking at:

Opti 170 or 4400+
2Gb Mushkin PC 4000 Xtreme Performance RAM
Saphire 1900XT

im intending to clock the system (only on air) to around 2.4-2.6ghz and from what ive been told the Opti is better in that aspect, but the machine is intended for serious gaming (and a little dvd watching/ripping) which from what ive read is more suited to the 4400+

advise please

 

[kbc]

but the machine is intended for serious gaming (and a little dvd watching/ripping) which from what ive read is more suited to the 4400+

advise please

From what source was that from?

I'm led to believe they will perform equally as well, if overclocking get the Opteron 170, believe it would take less volts to hit higher clock speeds than the 4400+. I'm using a 4400+ myself and it's working nicely. Gaming performance depends on numerous things... the graphics card listed will do exceptionally well tagged with a nice big LCD.

 

[Xionic]

ive read on various forums that the 4400+ was better for games than the opti.. will try find a link

atm imy LCD is an old 17" (10ms) Iiyama.. but am intending on upgrading asap

 

[kbc]

ive read on various forums that the 4400+ was better for games than the opti.. will try find a link

atm imy LCD is an old 17" (10ms) Iiyama.. but am intending on upgrading asap

It may be the case that the 4400+ is better in games when we're talking about stock speeds. The Athlon X2 4400+ has 2.2GHz core speed whilst the Opteron 170 has 2.0GHz to its name. Though both are capable of overclocking and perhaps the Opteron runs a little cooler, it's a server chip nevertheless, so stability with Opterons is not something to contemplate on.

You'd probably like a nice big screen to make use of a nice X1900XT.

 

[Xionic]

yea a new LCD next on my shopping lost, any recomendations...

 

[w3bbo]

Both chips are the same core (toledo) with 2x1meg l2cache. The only difference between them is there stock speed. Optys do tend to clock higher with less volts but both chips will serve you well for a gaming machine, especially as you intend to overclock and I would be surprised if either failed to reach 2.6ghz with a little tweaking.

As for a LCD screen..19" is quickly becomming the 'norm', pay attention to the response time of the screen when looking for one though as some 'cheap' large lcd's have very bad ghosting.

 

[Agent WD40]

ok, my opty rocks for gaming, simple really. I'm at 2.8ghz with very few volts indeed.

The general rule of thumb is if you can get good stepping on a 170, then 2.8ghz is pretty much in the bag. As for a 4400+ then your loking at about 2.5ghz - 2.6ghz.

Simple really.

Agent

 

[PinkPig]

Optys do tend to clock higher with less volts

By vague anecdotal evidence only, no one's tried to conduct a proper survey of user experiences. Basically both chips are more or less the same - with the Opteron 170 no longer being cheaper than the 4400+ I really wouldn't worry at all about which you choose.

 

[Xionic]

ok im very tempted to go with the 170. but what happends if i get bad stepping... or aint that likely to happen

 

[easyrider]

By vague anecdotal evidence only, no one's tried to conduct a proper survey of user experiences. Basically both chips are more or less the same - with the Opteron 170 no longer being cheaper than the 4400+ I really wouldn't worry at all about which you choose.

Nope there a many reports on the opty 170 on many forums dotted around the internet.

People are achieving 2.6ghz - 2.7ghz on stock vcore of 1.3 !

now you tell me that a 4400 X2 can do that. It has a higher vcore to start with.

optys need lower vcore because they are server chips and run cool

If you get a decent stepping opty then they are fantastic chips

 

[easyrider]

ok im very tempted to go with the 170. but what happends if i get bad stepping... or aint that likely to happen

if you get a "bad stepping" then you may only get 2.6ghz and will need a higher vcore to achieve this.

but hey with Overclocking its luck of the draw