What overclocked processor performces better in games

[k2000k]

Which processor performs better in computer games? The Opteron dual core or the Athlon dual core? Assume that they are overclocked to the same speed.

 

[RichPLS]

Similar speed = Similar performance...
Tho the Opty should have more headroom and run a tad cooler...

 

[ShortyNumber45]

a single-core athlon64 FX will beat any dual cores at the same clockspeed on games.

 

[RichPLS]

Really, by how many fps?
Is that if you are running background services and torrent downloading in the background also?
Does the multi-threaded graphic drivers hurt gaming performance also?

 

[k2000k]

But I do not know if that is entirely true. For instance, the Opteron has a L1 Cache of 64kb+64kb while the Athlon X2 3800 has a L1 Cache of 128kb+128kb. Doesnt the cache effect the speed of the processer, since, it affects how much information can be accessed in a short amount of time. So theoretically a processor running at 2.4 Ghz with a cache of 128x128 should run faster/more efficiently than a processor with a cache of 64x64 overclocked to the same speed. So should that not equate into different gaming performance?

 

[sleepdeprived82]

Your not compairing like for like though:

The dual core opterons have 128KB+128KB L1 and 2mb L2
The 3800 has 128KB+128KB but only 1mb L2

So the dual opterons have the same L1 but more L2

Yes single core opterons have 64KB L1 but they are different to dual cores.

A single core will out perform the dual core in games (with some exceptions like where dual optimisation patch has been made which is rare).

I would go opteron if the price is right just because I love my opty

 

[RichPLS]

A single core will out perform the dual core in games (with some exceptions like where dual optimization patch has been made which is rare).

Not true if running background services ie. NIS and NAV or the like, plus torrent downloads, or system monitoring, since the OS XP is multi-threaded it can offload these on other core, as is your current video drivers, more freeing one dedicated for the game.
either way, if not optimized, the max difference is only a couple of FPS either way, but if game is optimized, it can be up to 25% better and that will grow as game programming gets more proficient.

Here are some games supporting dual-cores...
Call of Duty 2
City of Villains
F.E.A.R.
World of Warcraft
Age of Empires III
Black & White 2
Peter Jackson’s King Kong
The Movies
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2: Special Forces
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
Quake 4
Vangauard Saga of Heros


and quite a bunch more are supported or fixing to get supported... the list is growing, and any popular game in the planning is sure to have dual-core support upon release.

Not to mention ATI's graphic drivers are multi-threaded giving an additional boost to dual core performance.

If you run anti-virus or software firewalls, folding@home or torrents as a background service, this is not so much an impact on speed, since they are multi-threaded and benefit from multi-threading also...