upgrade from Opty 170 to FX60

[tomwaddle]

I'm thinkin about upgrading my CPU to the FX60 but I see it is not sold by newegg or TigerDirect. Other than Ebay, is there a good website to purchase older CPU's?

 

[nightscope]

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__AMD_Athlon_64_FX_60_Dual_Core_Processor,__16020345/search=fx60

Why are you looking to buy one anyways? Its' price/performance ratio isn't the greatest.

 

[Cybercraig]

Nope. If the're not on Pricewatch then you're back at auction sites. You could try Anandtech or some other classifieds. You must have got some bad stepping in that 170, huh?

 

[tomwaddle]

I don't think it overclocks all that well compared to what other people have and I think I have a pretty good setup (no cheapy stuff).
I think the best I get is 2.4ghz with or without increasing the voltage. After that, my PC won't boot as soon as I save the bios settings.
Here's my hardware:

ABIT AN832x nForce4 SLIx16
mushkin extreme 2x1gb DDR500 (running at DDR400)
Opty 170
XFX Geforce 6800xt 256mb x 2 SLI
COOLMAX SLI 600w PSU

 

[runswindows95]

About the best Socket 939 CPU Newegg has is this. Considering the pricing of AM2 CPU's and the new AM2+ CPU's due out in less than 6 months, better off saving towards a new machine.

 

[tomwaddle]

I'm avoiding rebuilding a new system since this current setup is not even a year old and still runs great - even on Vista Ultimate. I can throw another 2 gig on the machine and upgrade the video cards and it'd still be a smokin machine. But thanks for the input on the CPU

 

[xaat_kil]

The opteron should easily clock as high or higher than the FX60. Do you use the memory divider/HTT divider to keep those 2 factors within spec? You shouldn't need any voltage increase to get 2.6 - 2.8 GHz. I've had an ASUS A8N-E mobo that wouldn't overclock worth crap, but 2 cheap boards (Asrock 939 dual sata and Biostar 6100) that get a 170 to 2.8 GHz easy.
If you really can't clock it up above 2.4 GHz, perhaps wait for next generation stuff as others said, though it is your money, after all. A socket 939 opteron @ 2.4GHz is still decent, if you have tight memory timings.

 

[tomwaddle]

Here's what I had - forgive me, as much as I'm a fan of AMD, the whole hyper transport thing still gets me. And I still use the stock heatsink but the thing is a monster compared to what they put on their previous CPU's.

K8<->NB HT Speed 5x
Item Help NB-->SB HT Speed 4x
NB<--SB HT Speed 4x
K8<->NB HT Width ↓16 ↑16
NB<->SB HT Width ↓16 ↑16

 

[sirrobin4ever]

Wow. Thats sad. My Opty 165 hits 2.8 without a voltage bump. Yeah, it sounds like your having a problem with the HTT speed. Reduce the NB value to 4x. I'm not really sure if that will work, as my HTT adjustment is rather primitive compared to that. I know that you have to lower the HTT speed to 4x at ~230 bus speed, and 3x at ~260. This should allow you to overclock higher....with any luck.

 

[tomwaddle]

Sounds like I'll hold off on replacing the CPU then and maybe spend the dough on more memory. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[sirheck]

Just keep your opty.

 

[dasickninja]

Nine out of ten voices in my head tell me to tell you to keep the Opteron.

 

[sirheck]

Which is the tenth voice in your head then? George Bush? :lol:

sorry but g.b. cant complete a full sentance.

 

[dasickninja]

The tenth voice likes playing with unlocked multipliers. He was the one that talked me into getting the X6800

 

[dasickninja]

*Political and diplomatic silence*

Lets stay on topic before the Justice Dept. finds another reason to make a late night visit to me.

 

[xaat_kil]

Another visit? That doesn't sound good. My mother lived through the german occupation in wwII. She still has nightmares.
p.s.-your mask is on crooked.

 

[dasickninja]

That I know....

 

[clue69less]

I don't think it overclocks all that well compared to what other people have and I think I have a pretty good setup (no cheapy stuff).
I think the best I get is 2.4ghz with or without increasing the voltage. After that, my PC won't boot as soon as I save the bios settings.
Here's my hardware:

ABIT AN832x nForce4 SLIx16
mushkin extreme 2x1gb DDR500 (running at DDR400)
Opty 170
XFX Geforce 6800xt 256mb x 2 SLI
COOLMAX SLI 600w PSU

Give Mushkin a call or email and get their BIOS recommendations. On my first Opty 170, I managed to get to 2.7GHz with OCZ Platinum DDR500. When I swapped in Mushkin Redline DDR500, I had trouble getting past 2.65 until talking to Mushkin tech support. I'd gotten OCZ hints off of the Bleeding Edge forum and the optimum for the Redline was significantly different. With the tweaks given by Mushkin, I got quickly up to 2.8 dual prime stable and eventually managed to get it to boot and run well at over 2.9 but it wouldn't render video stably there so I've backed it down to 2.6 and it's super stable.

 

[xaat_kil]

Just makin' sure, as you seem to have no pupils in your eyes these days either. Tres cool.
another p.s.-that fool who's been giving you the one star thing's still at it, I see.

 

[randomizer]

I gave you a 5 star to counter the one.

EDIT: make that 2 5 stars.

 

[dasickninja]

*Bows graciously to the kitty*

 

[randomizer]

Dont worry, as soon as i find out who is doing it, I'll pounce!

 

[dasickninja]

*Pets the kitty*

 

[Eviltwin17]

you might just want to save up for am2+, am2+ has the most steam out of any motherboard since it is backwards compatible with am2 and forwards compatible with am3, youll want to get some good ddr2 ram though since am3 is supposed to support ddr3 and ddr2, if you dont care about upgrading the mobo to am3 that is

 

[speedemon]

My x2 3800 939 manchester hits 2.6 @ 1.3 vcore.... cool