Opty + Overclocking

amx · 7 Mar 2006 at 08:12

If you're going to be overclocking, is the Opty 170 worth the extra over the Opty 165?

The only difference I know of is that the 170 has a 10x multiplyer where the 165 has a 9x?

james.miller · 7 Mar 2006 at 08:18

it's only worth it if you know your gonna be held back by the fsb of the motherboard, inm which case that extra multi will come in handy. otherwise they are identical

amx · 7 Mar 2006 at 08:29

My brother is upgrading his machine, and i'm gonna go for the MSI Neo4 Platinum, but nobody seems to have any info on it.

The DFi puts him over budget, and i've been reading bad things about the asus A8-MVP crossfire board at the moment.

Are there any other options to consider? Ideally i'd like to get to 285Mhz FSB (2.55Ghz), but depends on the luck of the draw with the chip :/

w3bbo · 7 Mar 2006 at 11:55

Difference between the 165 and 170 is not just the multi. The stock speed of the 165 is 1.8 and the 170 is 2.0. I take it you want a crossfire board because you have ATI x-fire setup?

easyrider · 7 Mar 2006 at 12:21

If you are not overclocking just get the fastest cpu you can afford.

james.miller · 7 Mar 2006 at 12:49

w3bbo said:
Difference between the 165 and 170 is not just the multi. The stock speed of the 165 is 1.8 and the 170 is 2.0. I take it you want a crossfire board because you have ATI x-fire setup?

well obviously the speed is different but he knows that.

mattup · 7 Mar 2006 at 14:17

w3bbo said:
Difference between the 165 and 170 is not just the multi. The stock speed of the 165 is 1.8 and the 170 is 2.0. I take it you want a crossfire board because you have ATI x-fire setup?

The only difference is the multi. Thats what makes the speed different

amx · 7 Mar 2006 at 14:19

Hehe, i gathered the clock speed was different as 9x200 and 10x200 is 1.8Ghz and 2.0Ghz respectively

I plan to overclock it for him (or try

), so I want to get as much out of the CPU as possible.

It will only be a single card setup (an ATi X1800XT), and the budget is the deciding factor, so the motherboard has to be around £70ish, hence the MSI Neo4 Platinum or the Asus A8-MVP. Unfortunately, he can't stretch to the DFI ultra.

ajgoodfellow · 7 Mar 2006 at 16:19

I'd consider an Epox nForce 4 board. Second only to DFI in terms of overclocking and can sustain 300+ HTT speeds

The MSI though is still a good board

amx · 7 Mar 2006 at 18:52

Where do i find the Epox boards on the site, as they no longer have a section under 'motherboards'

ajgoodfellow · 7 Mar 2006 at 19:05

Unfortunately they've stopped selling them so you'll have to get them else where

Look for the 9NPA or 9NPA+ (IIRC - the latter has the nForce 4 Ultra chipset which offers SATA II and firewire over the standard nForce 4). The nForce 4 Ultra has a few other improvements but those are the main two

amx · 7 Mar 2006 at 20:18

thanks for the info

Dirk · 7 Mar 2006 at 20:53

Have you considered the DFI Infinity? That'd come in under budget and clocks real well

Davey D · 7 Mar 2006 at 21:34

if you are planning on overclocking then don't go for the msi k8n neo4 platinum. I have just posted a thread in the oc & cooling section. I could only get mediorce overclocks with it. swapped to an asus a8n sli premium, and its MUCH better

amx · 8 Mar 2006 at 16:15

My brother managed to con me out of the £20 extra for the DFI board, so i'm hoping I can get his Opty 165 to 290x9 with some a 2Gb G-Skill ZX kit and a thermaltake big typhoon.

He's also conned some money out of my mum to get a Lian Li PC7+ and a Enermax 400 Watt modular PSU.

If i don't get good clocks though, I will cry.

A lot of people have said that the 3800 X2 clocks well, so I may save some cash and get that instead although I realise he'll lose 1mb of cache (512kb per core)

amx · 8 Mar 2006 at 16:16

PS: thanks for the warning on the NEO4

KizZ · 8 Mar 2006 at 16:29

Like ajgoodfellow said the Epox 9NPA boards are great, I have one myself. The 9NPA+ Ultra can be picked up from a competitor for £66 inc. VAT if you look hard enough

ajgoodfellow · 8 Mar 2006 at 18:03

amx said:
My brother managed to con me out of the £20 extra for the DFI board, so i'm hoping I can get his Opty 165 to 290x9 with some a 2Gb G-Skill ZX kit and a thermaltake big typhoon.

He's also conned some money out of my mum to get a Lian Li PC7+ and a Enermax 400 Watt modular PSU.

If i don't get good clocks though, I will cry.

A lot of people have said that the 3800 X2 clocks well, so I may save some cash and get that instead although I realise he'll lose 1mb of cache (512kb per core)

It does, but not as well as the Opterons. They tend to clock a little higher and they have double the cache

Psymonkee · 8 Mar 2006 at 21:33

I'm just gonna butt in here and check something:

Opty 165 + DFi Ultra-D + G.Skill 2GB DDR HZ PC4000 should hang together nicely?

Squidge · 8 Mar 2006 at 21:36

Sounds good to me.

Opty 165 is the badger

(Well, unless you can afford the 170...)

GSkill RAM doesn't seem to like tight memory timings though, so make sure you can clock it until it purrs.