xp-m2600 to Opteron 146

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 11:24

hi all, my current xp-m is running at 2.5ghz, was wondering if i can overclock the opteron i have on order to 2.5ghz as well then will there be much difference between the 2 setups?

Mul · 2 Apr 2006 at 12:33

yes I'd certainly think so.

Mul

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 12:57

top stuff.

Minstadave · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:02

Yeah they'll be a pretty serious difference, plus most 146s will hit 2.8ish.

So you'll have twice the cache, an higher clock and a better architecture (clock for the clock the San Diego is miles ahead of the older Athlons) on your side

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:12

thats good stuff. so do you A64 users use windows 64bit?

Minstadave · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:13

Nope nearly everyone is using 32bit XP, its not worth the hassle of changing.

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:23

how come? why have a 64bit cpu and only run it in 32bit mode?

since i am going to be doing a fresh install would it be best for me to get windows x64 on the case?

Minstadave · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:28

Cyber-Mav said:
how come? why have a 64bit cpu and only run it in 32bit mode?

since i am going to be doing a fresh install would it be best for me to get windows x64 on the case?

I haven't really experimented so I'm not the best person to ask, there's a few problems with windows 64bit, you need to find new drivers for all your hardware, don't think thats too hard with major vendors, but more obscure printers and things can be a problem.

Also there's not a huge performance gain to be had, so running in 64bit doesn't bring you much of a benefit, the real benefit of an A64 CPU is its raw power, be it in 32bit or 64bit

smids · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:37

Minstadave said:
I haven't really experimented so I'm not the best person to ask, there's a few problems with windows 64bit, you need to find new drivers for all your hardware, don't think thats too hard with major vendors, but more obscure printers and things can be a problem.

Also there's not a huge performance gain to be had, so running in 64bit doesn't bring you much of a benefit, the real benefit of an A64 CPU is its raw power, be it in 32bit or 64bit

So true. I've got XP64 3 month trial which can be downloaded from Microsoft but haven't even bothered to install it yet. Maybe after my finals are over I will experiment but for now, it runs fine.

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:44

ahh, thats interesting.

i have no printers directly hooked up to my machine since the server pc i have does all the printing.

would my external usb hard drive and memory stick work on x64 or do they need special drivers too?

i see on asrock website that they have 64 bit drivers for the board and nvidia have 64bit drivers for my gfx card.

so is there anything else i would need to go 64bit or would i be good to go when my hardware arrives?

my hard drive is a seagate sata drive, not sure if it has 64bit drivers though :confused:

smids · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:49

A lot of things e.g. USB sticks, HDU's etc all run on Microsoft's drivers. It is only the things that require specific drivers in XP32 which also require it in 64.

Common needs:

Printer driver
Sound driver
Graphics driver
Mouse driver (although it should have support natively for just using the mouse, though there might not be any utility if you have something like a laser mouse etc)
Keyboard driver (once again, only utilities etc, as the keyboard will function normally but may lose certain special functions).

Minstadave · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:49

You shouldn't need drivers for your external drive or memory stick, and your SATA drive won't need drivers either.

Should be ok to give it a try

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:11

sounds like im good to go. iv downloaded all the xp64 drivers from the asrock website and it has drivers for everything on the board including sound and lan. all i need now is the hardware to arrive.

i have a microsoft multimedia keyboard that has special buttons on the top row to start media player and alter the volume etc. wonder if there is a 64bit driver for it?

Minstadave · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:12

The buttons on the Microsoft keyboards work natively without drivers

smids · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:20

Minstadave said:
The buttons on the Microsoft keyboards work natively without drivers

Yup - you may well lose the use of the utility to customise it though - Intellitype Pro? Then again, microsoft have probably got a 64bit version out.

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:40

hmm, strange without the drivers i don't get the on screen display for the volume settings etc. let me check MS site for a 64bit driver.

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:49

excellent, microsoft does have X64 driver for intellitype.
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/m...ng=en&driverVersion=IntelliType Pro 5.5 - 64B

brilliant.

MikeTimbers · 2 Apr 2006 at 17:28

Cyber-Mav said:
hi all, my current xp-m is running at 2.5ghz, was wondering if i can overclock the opteron i have on order to 2.5ghz as well then will there be much difference between the 2 setups?

Went from NF2/XP-M2600@2500/ATA to NF3/Opty146@2780/SATA and I can honestly say that only benchmarks showed any difference in day-to-day usage. I am however not a gamer - beyond my kids playing Age of Mythology. The one massive difference was Folding@Home which was almost 50% quicker.

Cyber-Mav · 2 Apr 2006 at 17:35

thought there would not be a lot in it. probably in games is where it will really shine.

most noticable upgrade would be getting a raptor hard drive. instantly notice the increase in speed.

Minstadave · 2 Apr 2006 at 17:38

Cyber-Mav said:
thought there would not be a lot in it. probably in games is where it will really shine.

most noticable upgrade would be getting a raptor hard drive. instantly notice the increase in speed.

You're only going to see it in things that push the CPU, for word/IE/powerpoint etc an old P3 is pretty good, so gaming and encoding are where you'll notice the benefits.