Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 + Opteron 185 // Possible?

[neonxgenesis]

Hello out there,

I plan to upgrade my existing system;
Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939
Athlon 64 3500+
2gig DDR400 Infineon (DDR400)

with AMDs best 939-based Opteron, the 185 (2x2,6ghz, 1000mhz HT). The
mainboard itself has the nforce3 ultra 250gb chipset.

The official Gigabyte website states that the Opteron 185 is not supported by
the mainboard, though the FX-60 is supported. As far as I found out by myself,
the FX-60 and the Opteron 185 are the same processors with the difference of
an unlocked overclocking capability within the FX-60, but not within the
Opteron 185.

The official compatibility list also states that the latest supported
processor would be the Opteron 170 with the latest BIOS revision (F13) for
this specific mainboard.

According to some other threads I found on the internet, the mainboard
"Gigabyte K8 NS-939 Ultra", which is almost identical in construction to the
"K8 NSNXP-939" (besides the dual power system DPS), also does NOT support the
opteron 185, but many people on the net wrote about their experience that it
works well anyway.

Therefore I conclude that my mainboard will also work with the Opteron 185
and want to give it a try. But nevertheless, I am cautios. If someone ever
tried this before, please tell me if it worked well for you, since I dont
want to spend that much money for just a blank screen...

Thanks,
Michael

 

[General Schvantzkoph]

Hello out there,

I plan to upgrade my existing system; Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939
Athlon 64 3500+
2gig DDR400 Infineon (DDR400)

with AMDs best 939-based Opteron, the 185 (2x2,6ghz, 1000mhz HT). The
mainboard itself has the nforce3 ultra 250gb chipset.

The official Gigabyte website states that the Opteron 185 is not
supported by the mainboard, though the FX-60 is supported. As far as I
found out by myself, the FX-60 and the Opteron 185 are the same
processors with the difference of an unlocked overclocking capability
within the FX-60, but not within the Opteron 185.

The official compatibility list also states that the latest supported
processor would be the Opteron 170 with the latest BIOS revision (F13)
for this specific mainboard.

According to some other threads I found on the internet, the mainboard
"Gigabyte K8 NS-939 Ultra", which is almost identical in construction to
the "K8 NSNXP-939" (besides the dual power system DPS), also does NOT
support the opteron 185, but many people on the net wrote about their
experience that it works well anyway.

Therefore I conclude that my mainboard will also work with the Opteron
185 and want to give it a try. But nevertheless, I am cautios. If
someone ever tried this before, please tell me if it worked well for
you, since I dont want to spend that much money for just a blank
screen...

Thanks,
Michael

It's not a direct answer but I've been considering something similar and
my conclusion is that it's not really worth it. I have an MSI KN8-Neo2
Platinum with a single core 3800+ on it. The problem with the 939 pin
Opterons is that they are fairly pricey relative to a modern processor.
DDR RAM is also much more expensive then DDR2 RAM. I've decided to wait a
few months until the Penryns come out and then replace the Motherboard
and the RAM along with the processor on my single core system.

Just to give you the numbers,

An Opteron 185 is $245

As of the 22nd a Core2 @ 2.66GHz is $183, @3GHz $266, and a Quad core
@2.4Ghz is also $266.

So for practically the same price you can have either a 2.4GHz Quad Core
or a 3GHz Core2 Duo. The Core2 core is about 25% faster on a clock for
clock basis relative to the A64 core so there really is a big difference.
On top of that Core2s are very overclockable, the A64s aren't.

What's even more important is that there are 2G DDR2 DIMMs so you can put
8G on a Core2 or an AM2 but the old 939 pin parts can only take 4G. Even
if you are happy with 4G there is a huge price difference between DDR and
DDR2. 2G of DDR2 is $65, 2G of DDR is $99. Altogether I think it's better
to spend a little more money and upgrade the motherboard too.

 

[Guest]

It's not a direct answer but I've been considering something similar and
my conclusion is that it's not really worth it. I have an MSI KN8-Neo2
Platinum with a single core 3800+ on it. The problem with the 939 pin
Opterons is that they are fairly pricey relative to a modern processor.
DDR RAM is also much more expensive then DDR2 RAM. I've decided to wait a
few months until the Penryns come out and then replace the Motherboard
and the RAM along with the processor on my single core system.

Just to give you the numbers,

An Opteron 185 is $245

As of the 22nd a Core2 @ 2.66GHz is $183, @3GHz $266, and a Quad core
@2.4Ghz is also $266.

So for practically the same price you can have either a 2.4GHz Quad Core
or a 3GHz Core2 Duo. The Core2 core is about 25% faster on a clock for
clock basis relative to the A64 core so there really is a big difference.
On top of that Core2s are very overclockable, the A64s aren't.

What's even more important is that there are 2G DDR2 DIMMs so you can put
8G on a Core2 or an AM2 but the old 939 pin parts can only take 4G. Even
if you are happy with 4G there is a huge price difference between DDR and
DDR2. 2G of DDR2 is $65, 2G of DDR is $99. Altogether I think it's better
to spend a little more money and upgrade the motherboard too.

If the OP is looking to upgrade his existing s939 system then I couldn't
recommend the opterons enough. They are quality chips. With price per $/£
in mind I would probably get the opteron 170 as most, but not all, will hit
the same ceiling - prob around 2.8GHz on air.

At the time I was building my DFI based system they flatly refused to
support the Opterons but they were way the best chips. I am currently
running a 4200+ @2.65GHz but am having a 170 delivered and will plonk the
4200 on ebay.

Chri$

 

[Bob M]

If the OP is looking to upgrade his existing s939 system then I couldn't
recommend the opterons enough. They are quality chips. With price per $/£
in mind I would probably get the opteron 170 as most, but not all, will hit
the same ceiling - prob around 2.8GHz on air.

At the time I was building my DFI based system they flatly refused to
support the Opterons but they were way the best chips. I am currently
running a 4200+ @2.65GHz but am having a 170 delivered and will plonk the
4200 on ebay.

Chri$

I second the Opteron. I'm running an Opteron 170 OC to 2.8 in Windows
XP and it runs fine on air cooling. Not even hot. In Vista I can only OC
to 2.5 before I start getting reboots. Another reason to stay away from
Vista for now. But go for the Opteron.

Bob

 

[Guest]

I second the Opteron. I'm running an Opteron 170 OC to 2.8 in Windows XP
and it runs fine on air cooling. Not even hot. In Vista I can only OC to
2.5 before I start getting reboots. Another reason to stay away from Vista
for now. But go for the Opteron.

Bob

Excellent results with the opty 170. Now running at a stable 2.75GHz,
275fsb x10 multi with 180 mem divider so mem at exactly ddr500. 1.45v. Not
bad at all a 750MHz overclock on air. Love the opty's and cant recommend
dfi nf4 mobo's enough! 4200+ now on ebay. The 4200+ are seriously cheap
atm, £50 for oem chip new. Using an ocz 620 powerstream psu btw.

Chri$