Need your help selecting an AMD processor

For that money, the AMD Opteron 165 Denmark core comes to mind. Seems like the best bang for the buck in that price range. Its 325 I believe nowadays.

I recently built my system (see sig for specs).

I decided to go with the Athlon 64 3200+ with the intentions of upgrading to a fast dual-core processor later on when the prices come down. This way I get the best of both worlds:

NOW:
A low price on a decent single core (most games aren't written for dual core)

LATER:
A low price on a awesome dual-core (at which time most games WILL be written for dual core)


I also bought an SLI motherboard with the intention of going SLI when I upgrade to dual core.

AMD 3200+ is an INCREDIBLE overclocker and runs $150...by far the biggest bang for the buck.

as long as you get an E3 core, you are guaranteed 2.7+ basically...i got 2.9 =D

SLi is a blatant waste of money, but dual core is totally guaranteed on all 939 boards...great deal if ya ask me.

uhh..?

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Dual Core sounds pretty nice for around $ 300!!!!

3800 is good and fits great with $300 price tag...but the 3200 has better bang for the buck since it really is half price and since the 3800 won't be able to use its dual core processing in many applications yet since games that really benifit from it are rare.

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

"leetest"? I have never heard of that word...

but I know it is a sorry program...although it can be fun for little kids.

"grueling seconds"
ROFL!
you've never heard of 1337 omgwtfbbqnub! anyway, MSpaint pwns. it never fails, does all the basic photo editing options and is easy to use. by far some of the best M$ stuff =)

I suppose you have very basic needs then if you think paint is good.

1337? leetest? what the heck are you talking about?

just looked it up...I see, whew that terminology was almost over my head

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

"leetest"? I have never heard of that word...

but I know it is a sorry program...although it can be fun for little kids.

"grueling seconds"
ROFL!
you've never heard of 1337 omgwtfbbqnub! anyway, MSpaint pwns. it never fails, does all the basic photo editing options and is easy to use. by far some of the best M$ stuff =)

I suppose you have very basic needs then if you think paint is good.

1337? leetest? what the heck are you talking about?
Yup, my needs are basic. However, 1337 means "elite", it was basically branded most likely by Counter-Strike players sometime in 1999 or so.

the highest real overclock you can get on a 3800 (2.7, more realistically 2.6) versus the highest 3200 (2.9, more realistically 2.8), I think the 3200 would win since it generates a lot less heat and is easier to manage I suppose. The manchester is, after all, just 2 venice cores =D

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

"leetest"? I have never heard of that word...

but I know it is a sorry program...although it can be fun for little kids.

"grueling seconds"
ROFL!
you've never heard of 1337 omgwtfbbqnub! anyway, MSpaint pwns. it never fails, does all the basic photo editing options and is easy to use. by far some of the best M$ stuff =)

I suppose you have very basic needs then if you think paint is good.

1337? leetest? what the heck are you talking about?
Yup, my needs are basic. However, 1337 means "elite", it was basically branded most likely by Counter-Strike players sometime in 1999 or so.

Ok (I don't play CS), why did you exclude the rest of my post? I said I looked it up, found out what it meant.

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

"leetest"? I have never heard of that word...

but I know it is a sorry program...although it can be fun for little kids.

"grueling seconds"
ROFL!
you've never heard of 1337 omgwtfbbqnub! anyway, MSpaint pwns. it never fails, does all the basic photo editing options and is easy to use. by far some of the best M$ stuff =)

I suppose you have very basic needs then if you think paint is good.

1337? leetest? what the heck are you talking about?
Yup, my needs are basic. However, 1337 means "elite", it was basically branded most likely by Counter-Strike players sometime in 1999 or so.

Ok (I don't play CS), why did you exclude the rest of my post? I said I looked it up, found out what it meant.



Why is is that 3800 (2.7, more realistically 2.6)Can Overclock much higher than 3200 (2.9, more realistically)They both have Exactly the Same Specs Only difference is the Multiplyer.

Oh, I was not aware of that? Wait...then why is the 3200 cheaper?

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

"leetest"? I have never heard of that word...

but I know it is a sorry program...although it can be fun for little kids.

"grueling seconds"
ROFL!
you've never heard of 1337 omgwtfbbqnub! anyway, MSpaint pwns. it never fails, does all the basic photo editing options and is easy to use. by far some of the best M$ stuff =)

I suppose you have very basic needs then if you think paint is good.

1337? leetest? what the heck are you talking about?
Yup, my needs are basic. However, 1337 means "elite", it was basically branded most likely by Counter-Strike players sometime in 1999 or so.

Ok (I don't play CS), why did you exclude the rest of my post? I said I looked it up, found out what it meant.



Why is is that 3800 (2.7, more realistically 2.6)Can Overclock much higher than 3200 (2.9, more realistically)They both have Exactly the Same Specs Only difference is the Multiplyer.

Oh, I was not aware of that? Wait...then why is the 3200 cheaper?

Is Ak47is1337 even there, hello??? Did'nt you state that 3200+ clocks much further than 3800+??

you should make your avatar move (hammer coming down).....it would be so much better.

Oh, ok, there is logic behind it.....lol.

Yes, it took many grueling seconds using a high-end graphics program called mspaint.exe!
Dude, MSpaint is the leetest program made by M$ ever, rivaled only by textpad.

"leetest"? I have never heard of that word...

but I know it is a sorry program...although it can be fun for little kids.

"grueling seconds"
ROFL!
you've never heard of 1337 omgwtfbbqnub! anyway, MSpaint pwns. it never fails, does all the basic photo editing options and is easy to use. by far some of the best M$ stuff =)

I suppose you have very basic needs then if you think paint is good.

1337? leetest? what the heck are you talking about?
Yup, my needs are basic. However, 1337 means "elite", it was basically branded most likely by Counter-Strike players sometime in 1999 or so.

Ok (I don't play CS), why did you exclude the rest of my post? I said I looked it up, found out what it meant.



Why is is that 3800 (2.7, more realistically 2.6)Can Overclock much higher than 3200 (2.9, more realistically)They both have Exactly the Same Specs Only difference is the Multiplyer.

Oh, I was not aware of that? Wait...then why is the 3200 cheaper?

Is Ak47is1337 even there, hello??? Did'nt you state that 3200+ clocks much further than 3800+??
When I stated the 3800 overclocks to a maximum lower frequency than a 3200, I was referring to the X2 3800, NOT the A64 3800. Sorry for any confusion.

oh, ok.

Until dual core becomes mainstream, it is an utter waste of money. I used my friend's Opty 165 @ 2.7 and it was actually a little bit slower than a processor that costs less than half as much.

To say dual core is a waste of money right now is not accurate. I upgraded to an Opteron 165 from a 3000+, both were overclocked, and the Opteron is many times more responsive than the single core, especially when multitasking.

The software doesn't necessarily have to be written for multi threaded processors, though when it is it's much faster. Windows itself does a good job of relegating the threads, enough to make a more pleasurable computing experience if you run more than 1 program at a time.

Now, if the machine is STRICTLY used for gaming purposes, other questions arise. Then, unless the game is written taking advantage of multiple threads, it doesn't matter how many cores you have available, then it's all about raw processing speed. Then I would advise someone to get a single core. To be honest, I don't know anyone who STRICTLY uses their PC's for gaming, so to me a few fps is worth the smoother experience that a dual core provides.

In the future (very NEAR future), ALL software will be written for multi-core chips, so that alone makes a dual core a good investment for someone who doesn't upgrade processors every year.

I didn't notice any real fluidity in Windows =/ I could care less about dual core really, since I'm a gamer and nothing but (not to say I never overclocked). But the fact is, for 2x the price you don't get 2x the performance anyway, so in the end it's really a better deal for the 3200 venice.

Well, I definitely do notice a dramatic difference in having a second core. I admittedly multitask a lot, using processor intensive programs. This is when the benefits of dual core becomes apparent. Sure, just poking around on a machine you likely won't notice it, but when you put it to work, you will. Just running Windows and a couple of programs that aren't processor-intensive (like IE) you could never tell the difference. Try repairing a 9GB rar file using Quick Par while you're trying to do anything else on a PC, web-surfing included. You'll quickly praise dual core.

I can't recall a time where 2X the money meant 2X the performance, not in the computer world anyway. Ever hear of SLI? That, to me, is a waste. 2X the money for about 30% performance increase in FPS only. I do play games, but that still doesn't justify the cost to me.

Sure, the 3200 is a great chip thats at an awesome price point now, but to buy one now only to upgrade to dual core within a year's time would make it a waste to me. Certainly the 3200 is an awesome value. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a processor under $200. I chose to spend the extra money to future-proof my machine for another year or so, and I feel my money was well spent.

while w/ single programs not many support dual procs/cores if you multitask and have many single programs open at a given time then you still see massive improvements over single proc/core. I just went to x2 4200 and is night and day. playing games is rockin. loads are so much faster cause windows no longer has to remove stuff from cache and ram to load them, it just uses the other core and bam! game unloads and alt-tab to desktop is quicker too. If you run music in background w/ games that is nice.

between the opty and the x2 it really comes down to if you want to oc. If you do, then go w/ the opty... it does oc better. If not, go w/ the x2.

I noticed no difference at all from load times.