S939 upgrade

[Death-Dealer]

I want to do one last upgrade in the socket 939 segment.
With such interesting prizes
But should i buy an X2 or an opteron single/dual core.

Who can give me a hint

 

[melarcky]

I would go with the.... X2 , But also what is wrong with your Cpu now?

 

[CompuTronix]

The Opterons are more stringently fabricated, tested and binned as server / workstation class processors, than are the X2 desktop CPU's, and as such, will run cooler at a lower voltage than the X2's. The 2.0Ghz Opteron 170 is statistically the best selection, often achieving a 50% overclock at ~3Ghz. The 1.8Ghz 165 is the best value OC'ing at ~ 2.7Ghz, but the 170 will typically scale up highest. I had a 170 in my previous rig, (running my present Zalman 9500 cooler), and it was an excellent CPU. I ran it at 3.0 and when gaming, and 2.8 for typical use.

The 170 is a Toledo core with 1Mb cache per core, and is essentially a dual core San Diego, which is an excellent core, and probably the best 939 core AMD has produced. The 3700 that you have is an outstanding performer, and would be my only choice, as well as many other overclockers, for an AMD single core. The only X2's I would consider are the 4400 & 4800, as they are also Toledo cores with 1Mb cache per core. I highly recommend the 170 as a cost effective FX-62 equivalent. You can't go wrong with it.

 

[digitaldoc]

Nice setup. I'm in a similar situation running an Athlon 64 3800+, and feeling more than a little left out of the dual core party. I'm thinking about the X2 4200+ or 4600+. It's too bad that AMD moved on the the AM2 socket.

 

[sirheck]

if you want to upgrade to a dualcore , now is the time.
they are dissapearing fast.

as said before the 3700 is great but an x2 or opty would be the
way to go for future proofing your computer.

new egg is just about completly out of x2,s but have a good listing
of opty,s.

 

[gm0n3y]

Ditto w/ 3700.

 

[gOJDO]

If you are going to overclock your system, go after Opteron. If not go after X2 with 512kB of L2.

 

[gOJDO]

If you are going to overclock your system, go after Opteron. If not go after X2 with 512kB of L2.

 

[gm0n3y]

I think if he needed a gaming upgrade a new video card would help a lot more than another gig of ram.

For the price of an opty 170 you could pick up a Asus x1950pro.

 

[caamsa]

Stick with what you have dude!

 

[sailer]

I wouldn't invest in a single core at this time. More applications and games will be coming out which will make good use of a dual core. Also, a dual core helps out at times when you are trying to do multiple things at once.

I've had my X2 4400+ up to 2860 in air with only a slight heat problem. I have a new cooler on the way to fix that. I've read that some people have gotten very close to 3 gig on it. That said, if you get a high enough Opty dual core, I think you can do better yet. Sure beats getting a FX at the price they cost.

 

[gm0n3y]

Yeah, I've had my 3700+ up to a little over 3.0 (3050 or something was my highest I think). I want to go for a dual core opty, but I think if I was going to upgrade I would go for a full C2D system.

 

[gudodayn]

Upgrading to a dual core will have different effects depending on what you do mostly on your PC ~

I upgraded from a highly overclockable A64 - 3200 (2.0 > 2.9GHz watercooled) to a 4200 X2 (not overclocked) and I've experienced performance gains. As I do more video editing (Premiere / TMPGEncoder), Photoshop and 3DMax, the performance gain was expected.

In the gaming area, I play a lot of Need4Speed Underground / Carbon, Half Life, Serious Sam 2, Call of Duty, etc. and I see no improvements or degradation with a dual core CPU, probably more video card dependent.

However, I'd still recommend upgrading to a dual core for your S939 platform, I already had trouble getting a dual core S939 CPU in September and it is likely that AMD will start to phase out production on these S939 CPUs. At these prices, you cant really complain!!!

In regards to a X2 or a dualie Opteron, the 165s and 170s have both dropped in price, they are good options if you can get your hands on them. Otherwise, X2s will perform just as well at the same clock speeds so you cant go wrong with either option!!!

Good luck ~~~

 

[dasickninja]

I'd invest in single core chips if one: I was on a spartan budget, or two: I was a cheap bastard. But thats just me.

 

[sailer]

I'd invest in single core chips if one: I was on a spartan budget, or two: I was a cheap bastard. But thats just me.

Ond: I don't have a spartan budget, and two: I'm not a cheap type. But that's just me. I am looking forward to the FX76 with the 3.2 gig speed though. Oh, but that's just me. Besides, it good for my AMD stock.

 

[caamsa]

I really think he should just wait another year before deciding on an upgrade. His current system is not that bad. A new video card would breathe some life back into it.

In a year dual core will be well established/supported, we will see what quad core will do, Vista will be out, and the new DX10 cards will be out in full force. And the best part is the prices will probably be lower.

 

[donnagual]

I also have the Athlon64 3700+ and was considering going to dual core.

Instead, I upgraded to 2Gb of ram, and overclocked my CPU to 3.75Ghz (almost a FX57). HUGE performance difference.

 

[sirheck]

I upgraded to 2Gb of ram, and overclocked my CPU to 3.75Ghz (almost a FX57). HUGE performance difference.

damn 3.75ghz is pretty good 8O

 

[sailer]

As far as the video card goes, you're right in that it would help. As far as the cpu goes, in a year there might not be very many choices to make for a 939 socket. Its a toss up of sorts, but he asked about upgrading the cpu as one last upgrade to his present machine. Of the choices he listed, I think that either the X2 or a dual core Opty would be best. Video cards and ram will be there for a long time.

As for prices in the future, they could just as well be higher. Only the future knows that for certain.

 

[sailer]

I also have the Athlon64 3700+ and was considering going to dual core.

Instead, I upgraded to 2Gb of ram, and overclocked my CPU to 3.75Ghz (almost a FX57). HUGE performance difference.

If comparing to a FX57, did you mean 2.75 Ghx? If you do mean 3.75GHZ, you outdid anybody else that I ever heard of.

 

[caamsa]

Ditto! He must have meant 2.7



Yea if the guy is a hard core gamer he should upgrade, if not he should wait. I can't imagine that single core cpu's will be obsolete in a year. A lot of people are still using their old pentiums and AMD Athlon XP's and keeping it Krunk

I have my LAN party machine (my main rig stays home) It is an athlon 1700+ overclocked to 1.8 with one gig ram and a 6600GT agp card. That is more than enough to play BF2 at 1280x1024 on medium to high settings once a month at a LAN.

And if I drop it and it breaks................who cares!

 

[donnagual]

8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O OOOOPS!!!!!!!! 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O

You guys are (of course) correct in that I typo'd there. I did not OC my 3700+ to 3.75Ghz. It is 2.75Ghz.

 

[sirheck]

still good oc though.

i got mine to 2710mhz. no vlt bump though.

 

[donnagual]

Kind of going off topic here, but you could probably go higher if you get different ram, or use a divider so your ram is not being overstressed. These 3700+ cpus are great overclockers. Mine is stable at 30c (45c full load) on stock cooling. I am sure I could go even higher with 3rd party cooling but I am happy with 2.75Ghz.

 

[sirheck]

for ram i have corsair xms.