Opteron, or X2 is there any real difference

Why do people buy opterons over X2, are X2s not designed for the purpose of home or gaming computers, opterons are meant to be server CPU's? I have no opinion on this by the way im just interested as to which is best for gaming, overclocking etc as im looking to replace most of my PC in the near future

Basically they are the same chip. The opterons tend to overclock better as jaguar has stated. They only build one dual core chip and depending on how it turns out decides what it will be labeled. Sometimes they underclock to fill a specific need for lower end chips. In short the Opterons are the cream of the crop and have been conservatively clocked and put thru additional test to insure maximum reliability for servers and workstations. If you didn't overclock and were comparing same clock speed and cache, performance should be the same.

If your going to overclock the Opty 165 or 170 is the way to go. I personally like the 170 because the multipler is locked at 10 versus 9 on the 165. X2s are fine all purpose CPUs and overclock almost as well. In the X2 I would go for the 4400+ a little more expensive but it has the 1mb L2 cache. The 3800+ overclockes almost as well as the 165 but it has a smaller cache.

Calm down StrangeStranger, it's a legit question and it's hard to find another thread that addresses what you want to know sometimes. I don't mind when people ask questions and it's not my server space this question is taking up. It's easier to just ask sometimes.

To answer the question, cisco and jaguarskx answered it well. So I will just add my two cents. I went with an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ because it has the 2 x 1MB Cache (over the 3800+ which has 2 x 512KB Cache). I didn't get an Opteron because I am not a big overclocker (the 200MHz I have my 4400+ overclocked, on stock cooling might I add, is enough to please me) and the Opteron was like $60 more. So the bottom line is they are the same chips, but the Opterons are held to a higher standard so you can push them further when overclocking, so they cost a little more. You need to look at how much you intend to overclock and make your decision on one or the other after weighing your options.

Whoa, calm down. Have a Macallan 18yr.

Hmm... That sounds like a good idea. I think I'll pour myself one.

Thanks for all your help guys very much appreciated
Shame that stranger decided to get all het up....
In response to you stranger, my specialty is networking not hardware, if a newbie for networks has an issue with his setup are you likely to find him trawling through MSDN or technet? unlikely becasue he would have a bloody clue what the hell is going on. The case is the same for me and CPU I come here to a place were (mosly decent) people can put answers in simple english. If you dont like repetitive question posts.... THEN DONT BLOODY LOOK AT THEM! easy.

thanks again to decent people who gave decent replies