Wtd: CPU for Asus A8N Deluxe

[JamieLee2k]

I am looking for a CPU and my m8's have told me that a opteron is the best to get for gaming and so I have been looking around a found a few that I like but there are so many different models and steppings I am just so confused.

I can afford a 146 opteron on the site but the less I pay and the quicker my new computer is the better.

As it stands I have a GA-K8NSPro 754, AMD 64bit 3200+ 754 and a GeForce 6600GT AGP that doesn't like games but everything else is fine.

I have just bought an ASUS A8N Deluxe Sli from somewhere else at £86 new and now I am looking for a CPU cheap but fast. £150 max.

What I am confused about is all the models I see like CACJB, CCBWE, CCB1E, CBAEC et....... I am not sure what they mean and picking one out is hard enough, please help me

Thanks
JamieLee2k

 

[farooqm]

I am looking for a CPU and my m8's have told me that a opteron is the best to get for gaming and so I have been looking around a found a few on ebay that I like but there are so many different models and steppings I am just so confused.

I can afford a 146 opteron on the site but the less I pay and the quicker my new computer is the better.

As it stands I have a GA-K8NSPro 754, AMD 64bit 3200+ 754 and a GeForce 6600GT AGP that doesn't like games but everything else is fine.

I have just bought an ASUS A8N Deluxe Sli from ebay at £86 new and now I am looking for a CPU cheap but fast. £150 max.

What I am confused about is all the models I see like CACJB, CCBWE, CCB1E, CBAEC et....... I am not sure what they mean and picking one out on ebay or any site is hard enough, please help me

Thanks
JamieLee2k

Price/Performace wise I would go for the Opteron 146.
The current lot of Opteron 146's should be OK to give you at least 2.5Ghz and will work fine in your Asus A8N.. (I should know as I've got an A8N with a Opty 146 chugging away at 2.8Ghz)

The A8N only has a PCI-E Slot so you'll need to look at getting a new Graphics card (your AGP just won't fit)

 

[JamieLee2k]

I have been looking and found different steppings in which I know nothing about, can anyone help with this please, maybe a link to differences in steppings and whats good/bad

 

[Dreadi]

144's are on sale here

 

[nikebee]

I am looking for a CPU and my m8's have told me that a opteron is the best to get for gaming and so I have been looking around a found a few that I like but there are so many different models and steppings I am just so confused.

I can afford a 146 opteron on the site but the less I pay and the quicker my new computer is the better.

As it stands I have a GA-K8NSPro 754, AMD 64bit 3200+ 754 and a GeForce 6600GT AGP that doesn't like games but everything else is fine.

I have just bought an ASUS A8N Deluxe Sli from ebay at £86 new and now I am looking for a CPU cheap but fast. £150 max.

What I am confused about is all the models I see like CACJB, CCBWE, CCB1E, CBAEC et....... I am not sure what they mean and picking one out is hard enough, please help me

Thanks
JamieLee2k

welcome to the forums
first, i can't see how you can say you 6600GT doesn't like games? 6600GT's are still known as a very respectible mid-range card...

anyway, since nobody has replied about the steppings...

ones to look out for
CABNE
CABYE
CAB2E

try and avoid CABGE steppings, they'll still overclock but not as much as CABNE and CABYE's

haven't used any of the new 939 Opterons though, so i can't help on the newer steppings (i mainly kept up with the Opterons when they originally came out on socket 939 in the UK back in September).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_Opteron.html
OcUK sell Opteron's
only thing i can suggest is to be 100% sure that you're buying a socket 939 Opteron and not a socket 940 Opteron.

as pointed out above, you'll also need a new graphics card the ASUS A8N SLi uses PCIe graphics cards not AGP.

also worth noting to stop hinting at competitors

 

[Otacon]

also worth noting to stop hinting at competitors

Indeed. Referring to any place other than OcUK for computer hardware is forbidden by the rules, please go and read them in the FAQ.

 

[JamieLee2k]

Thanks for all the steppings, I am looking to go as high as possible for about £150 and somewhere else are selling them new for about £90-£100 for a 146

I know I need a 939 and a PCI-E graphics card and as for my 6600GT my card is broken and doesn't like games I get Artifacts and I ain't sure why, wonder if there is any way to fix it

 

[nikebee]

Thanks for all the steppings, I am looking to go as high as possible for about £150 and COUGH are selling them new for about £90-£100 for a 146

Indeed. Referring to any place other than OcUK for computer hardware is forbidden by the rules, please go and read them in the FAQ.

I know I need a 939 and a PCI-E graphics card and as for my 6600GT my card is broken and doesn't like games I get Artifacts and I ain't sure why, wonder if there is any way to fix it

anyway just making sure, 6600GT's were... and still are good cards for their price. you seem to have your heart set on a Opty 146 and for £100 you can't really argue as that is what they basically sold for back in September when the Opteron fad really started

what are you looking to spend on a graphics card replacement?

 

[JamieLee2k]

I am looking to get a 7800GT or a 7900GT if I can afford it, I got about £200 if I can get a CPU cheap, so I think the OCuK's opteron 144 might be the option.

 

[nikebee]

you'll be pleased with the nice speed increase from the 6600GT to the 7800GT, as i made the same transition myself when i last updated my pc.

perhaps stretch for the 7900GT though, they're not that much more expensive than the 7800 and seem to be a fair bit quicker.

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Definitely agree with trying to stretch to the 7900GT over the 7800GT

What about the X1800XT? This is just as quick as the 7900GT and it's on special this week. The 256MB version is in fact cheaper than the 7800GT!

 

[JamieLee2k]

After reading stuff on the internet I heard the ATI isn't as good as Nvidia espicially when it comes to gaming, the ATI cards might have bigger pipelines and more of them but Nvidia uses them to full advantage.

I have never had an ATI card.

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Huh?

That's a huge sweeping statement there

ATI cards are great at gaming, just as nVidia cards are too

It's swings and roundabouts. nVidia will be quicker (7800) then ATI launch a slighly quicker card (X1800), then nVidia launches a faster card (7800 512MB) etc

Have a look at benchmarks from reputable sources such as Anandtech

Are you sure you're not getting confused with Matrox?