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worth changing Opteron 146 to 3800?

Fantastic results from these recent So939 upgrades! Glad it's looking good for everyone :)

For temps, I recommend CoreTemp. However there's been some speculation about v0.95 crashing computers; even so it's still worth a shot. Otherwise try v0.94 ;)

speedy2004 said:
Thanks GeForce for all your help.
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You're more than welcome :)

Jon
 
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Just clocking up another X2 3800+, this time I'm using the *Blend* test to check stability. This is a replacement chip and a newer batch (0719).

I had to RMA three (yes I said three!) X2 chips for having a faulty memory controller. I could kick myself for not doing a *blend* test straight away with the old chips but from now on its gonna be standard practice for me.

Anyway as you can see the chip is nice and stable running at 2600MHz using stock 1.3500vCore. Bumped it up to 2700MHz using stock 1.3500vCore and is now an hour into priming, still using the stock Opteron 170 cooler.

I see no reason to pay out any more money, the current price of £38.76 inc VAT is a real steal for anyone looking to spice up an older socket 939 system.

As I mentioned before though I did have a nightmare with a faulty batch of these X2 3800+ chips, its made me think more carefully about buying OEM Processors!

I've never had a faulty processor before but I wouldn't wish the trouble-shooting process on anyone else, thank god I had a few spare CPUs knocking about otherwise it would have been game over. . .
 
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Speedy, they're very good! Nothing to worry about there. On the other hand, idle temps mean nothing. It's load temps that count ;)

Jon
 
GeForce said:
Speedy, they're very good! Nothing to worry about there. On the other hand, idle temps mean nothing. It's load temps that count ;)

Jon
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Been using prime 95 for 10mins and this is the highest reading, but its up and down like a yoyo, my fx55 kept a constant temp. Is this normal?

LCU24uF_9392.jpg
 
Nothing to worry about I wouldn't have thought. 58C load is fine as well, no problems there.

Were you also using CoreTemp to measure your FX55's temp?

Jon
 
No SiSoftware Sandra, but you have to refresh that yourself. But the opty with coretemp, 1 sec it could be on 58 and another sec 55, so the temp never stays the same for a sec,, even when its idel, the temp is jumping around in coretemp. In the bios its constant tho.
 
Yep CoreTemp updates very frequently which is why the temps jump around so much.

They're a bit more constant in BIOS because when you're in the BIOS the CPU hasn't got much (if any) load on it, so it's sitting at "true" idle if you like.

Jon
 
I am really thinking of going for one of these now instead of an Opteron. Are there any real world performance differences between an x2 at, say, 2.7 and an opteron at the same speed. Also how do they tend to differ in terms of temps.

I am trying to justify what I reckon would be an extra 40 quid expenditure, but to be honest am on tending towards picking up one of OCUK's 3800s.

Cheers
 
The real world performance differences between the two will mainly be down to the Opteron's extra 512kb cache per core. This will help it perform better (about equal to a 200mhz clock speed increase), especially in apps that are memory intensive or involve moving a lot of data in and out of the CPU/RAM.

The Opty will run cool, after all that's exactly why a core is designated and becomes an Opteron. On the other hand, the Opty has that extra cache which obviously will use more power than the 3800+ and so produce more heat.

Jon
 
GeForce said:
The real world performance differences between the two will mainly be down to the Opteron's extra 512kb cache per core. This will help it perform better (about equal to a 200mhz clock speed increase), especially in apps that are memory intensive or involve moving a lot of data in and out of the CPU/RAM.

The Opty will run cool, after all that's exactly why a core is designated and becomes an Opteron. On the other hand, the Opty has that extra cache which obviously will use more power than the 3800+ and so produce more heat.

Jon
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Cheers

I really can't decide which way to go. :confused: I will look around for a week or two to try to find a well priced opty with a good stepping and see what happens.
 
As soon As I put in my opty I overclocked it to 2.81, without any probs. I should have tested it with prime95 as soon as I overclocked it, but I didnt until a day later for about 30-45mins and it was fine. So I havent used my opty on the stock speeds at all, Probably wrong way of doing it but hey, I dont like messing about.:D:D:D
 
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i think overall although im having teething problems getting it stable i am impressed as even at stock encoding a DVD took about 15mins as opposed to about 25-30mins before on my 2.8 opty.
 
Using my fx55 at 2.78, it took about 1hr encoding a dvd using "FairUse Wizard 2", havent tried it with my opty yet, but im guessing it sut cut the time by half, thats if fairuse wizard can use multi cores.?
 
speedy2004 said:
Using my fx55 at 2.78, it took about 1hr encoding a dvd using "FairUse Wizard 2", havent tried it with my opty yet, but im guessing it sut cut the time by half, thats if fairuse wizard can use multi cores.?
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i was using dvdshrink but i cant go into details on why. ;)
 
GeForce, Ive just built a x2 4400+@ 2.3 for my mate and just run coretemp, idel temps are 21c and after running prime 95 for 5-10 mins its 31c. Ive never seen temps as low as this, it puts my temps on my pc to shame.

Its running xp without the dualcore patch cos it seems to be running fine, 2gb memory, 6800gt card, and all in a dirt cheap case.:confused::confused::confused:
 
Unless he lives in a fridge, that's definitely wrong. I assume it's air cooled? If so, the temps can't be lower than ambient temps.

Might be a dodgy DTS(s) in the chip. What does Speedfan/Everest report (as they don't use the DTS reading)?

Jon
 
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