Vista 64: Athlon? Opteron?

D

DP

I realize this is more of a hardware question, but since I'm familiar with
"the work" of many respondents on these two groups, I thought I'd tap into
the wisdom of these crowds.

I'm using Vista Ultimate 64 on a socket 939 board. I'm thinking of upgrading
CPU before all the 939-compatibles are gone. I'm using an Athlon 64X2 3800+.
I can get an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or else an Opteron dual core (one of several
models, like the 170, 175, 180, etc).
Opteron would seem to be the more muscular chip, but I'm wondering if
there's anything in an Opteron that limits its functionality for general
computing (which might even include a little gaming, but just a little).
Obviously, I know what an Athlon can do. Is there something an Athlon does
that an Opteron won't?
I mean since it's more designed for servers than general desktop use, I was
wondering if there was something there I was missing. Like, is it designed
for "strictly business" instead of some business and some fun? I guess I'm
just a little confused by what it means to say a chip is designed for
servers.
Price is not a concern here, even though the Opteron might cost me $80 or
more than the Athlon. Any thoughts?
 
J

Juergen Kluth

Hi,
you have to consult your mainboard / manual / manufacturer
for compatibility of your mobo with cpu

mostly opterons have bigger cache (but depends)

jk
 
D

Dale M. White

I have a co-worker who uses the Opty over the regular chips. Outside of the
cost, he likes them better, because they are faster and overclock higher. He
plays a fair numbers of games and is also using a Cross-fire config. If
you're motherboard doesn't have a problem with the chip, I don't think
you'll have a problem with the Opty

If you post this question over in the forums at Tomshardware, I can almost
assure you everyone is going to tell you to go with the Opty. I think the
185 is the highest for the 939s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103002
 
G

Guest

In additon to Dale's comments, I would also suggest looking at the various
components of the Vista rating of your system and check which subsystem is
dragging your score down.
Maybe what you need is not a processor upgrade but rather a better graphic
card.
I am also on the socket 939 bandwagon.
My last uP upgrade was from Athlon 3500+ to Athlonx2 4200+ taking the
processor score to 4.9.
Now it is turn to upgrade my graphic card (7600GT) which is scoring a "low"
4.6 making that number my system rating (it is the lowest).
My mobo (ASUS A8N-SLI) only supports Athlons (regular and x2) and AthlonsFX
(no "Optys").
Carlos
 
D

DP

Oh, my graphics card is definitely my weakest link. But right now I'm
focusing on CPU (4.8 performance index) since they won't be available much
longer. Trying to hold out to see if prices drop one more time (and that
they don't get sold out before then).
I have another 939-board computer my kids use which has a single Athlon 64
in it. So I can put my X2 in that machine if I buy a new CPU for my Vista
machine. (That will still leave me with a used single-core Athlon, but ya
gotta break some eggs to make an omelet, ya know.)
Thanks, Carlos.
 
?

=?iso-8859-1?Q?Scotty=A9?=

DP said:
I realize this is more of a hardware question, but since I'm familiar with
"the work" of many respondents on these two groups, I thought I'd tap into
the wisdom of these crowds.

I'm using Vista Ultimate 64 on a socket 939 board. I'm thinking of
upgrading CPU before all the 939-compatibles are gone. I'm using an Athlon
64X2 3800+.
I can get an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or else an Opteron dual core (one of
several models, like the 170, 175, 180, etc).
Opteron would seem to be the more muscular chip, but I'm wondering if
there's anything in an Opteron that limits its functionality for general
computing (which might even include a little gaming, but just a little).
Obviously, I know what an Athlon can do. Is there something an Athlon does
that an Opteron won't?
I mean since it's more designed for servers than general desktop use, I
was wondering if there was something there I was missing. Like, is it
designed for "strictly business" instead of some business and some fun? I
guess I'm just a little confused by what it means to say a chip is
designed for servers.
Price is not a concern here, even though the Opteron might cost me $80 or
more than the Athlon. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

do what I did if you can afford it..bin the 939 get a FX-62 and a DFI
Lanparty mobo setup..plus a couple of Gainward Bliss 8800 GTX..ram change
too, so 4 gig of Corsair XMS pro 800 (vista 32 only reads 3651 tho) job
done
 
J

John Barnes

Interesting, Carlos. I, too, have a 7600GT and my scores are 5.9 graphics
5.4 gaming. My 5200+ x2 only gets a 5.1 my lowest score.
 
G

Guest

John:
Not all 7600GT's are created equal.
Amount of RAM (256 megs in my case) and type of memory (GDDR2 or 3) usually
make a difference.
My 7600GT scores are 4.6 and 4.9
RAID0 HD's is 5.9
Memory (2 gigs of "old" DDR400) is 4.6

Carlos
 
G

Guest

Funny we have the same expression in Spanish about the "objective" of
breaking some eggs.
:)
Carlos
 
D

Dale M. White

That's a bit odd. I have the 4800+ and it scores a 5.2. Though I thought the
PI had it at 5.1 the first time,then I overclocked it from 2.4Ghz to 2.70
and it stayed the same.

The 7600GT doesn't seem like a 5.4 card. I have the X1900XTX and it scores a
5.8. I wouldn't expect the 7600GT to score more than a 5. Though maybe it's
just the time of time I run it, my hard drive did go from a 5.3 to a 5.4.

But then again, the whole PI thing seems a bit screwy to me.
 
G

Guest

My opty 175 gets a 5 on the cpu score and my 7800gt co gets a 5.9 and a 5.8.
I would get the fasted clocked cpu with a 1mb cashe per core that I could
find if I were upgrading a socket 939 mb as long as it would support it. I'm
in the process of upgrading to lga775 and a c2d e6400 as my ram is dying and
I refuse to buy more ddr.
 
D

DP

Puffnstuff said:
I would get the fasted clocked cpu with a 1mb cashe per core that I could
find if I were upgrading a socket 939 mb as long as it would support it.
Click to expand...

Is there a reason to think a 939 motherboard wouldnt support a 939 Opteron?

(BTW: I have ASUS A8N-E if that matters to anyone.)
 
D

DP

That's funny. I thought it was just the opposite. The 170 and 175 are both
under $300.
I guess I better buy fast!
 
D

DP

Can't afford it. Throw into that another $200 for the OS, since I bought the
OEM version, which shouldn't be able to work with a new motherboard.
 
C

Charlie Russel - MVP

If you're a heavy multitasker, go with the Opteron. If you're an
overclocker, same answer. If you're a "normal" user, stick with the Athlon
and save the $$.

I recently upgraded one of my 939 boards for the same reason - getting hard
to find the chips. I went with an Opteron at a slightly faster clock speed
than my old chip, and the difference for my type of use (heavy multitasking)
was far more than the difference of clock speed alone.
 

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