Are the X2 processors worth the $$$$?

[KDOG]

I chickened out at the price and cancelled. So now I'm asking what single core A64 is good for OC on that ASRock ULI mobo, Looking for a good SATA HDD too - Hitatchi Deskstar?

 

[Ricemarine]

With that mobo IMO, get a 3700 san diego...

Or at least a x2 3800+ manchester.

 

[KDOG]

Really I'm thinking about getting a 3000+ Venice, and just OCing the snot out of it....thoughts?

 

[AMDPwred]

I was wondering the same thing, whether the 3000+ Venice is "nice enough", or should I dish out the extra cash for an X2.

 

[Pabster]

Yes, they are. Worth every penny. If you can afford it, go for it.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Pabster
Yes, they are. Worth every penny. If you can afford it, go for it.

But aren't they habit-forming? :Q

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Pabster
Yes, they are. Worth every penny. If you can afford it, go for it.

But aren't they habit-forming? :Q

Yes, indeed. But in a very good way.

I'm now disgusted using single-core machines because even the speediest seems like a real dog in comparison.

 

[ElTorrente]

Everyone that uses X2's LOVES them.

The only people that recommend getting a single core instead are those who don't own dual cores. Believe me- get the dual core and you will love it.

 

[KDOG]

Hmmmm, more and more tempting - and I have Newegg account! Bad combination!

 

[Pabster]

I'd call that dangerous

 

[Polish3d]

As El Torrente will tell you, an X2, especially at high speeds is fantastic.

Windows doesn't even pass a single bar before loading

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Frackal
As El Torrente will tell you, an X2, especially at high speeds is fantastic.

Windows doesn't even pass a single bar before loading

omfg are you serious? i ordered an x2 3800+ last night...i cant wait

 

[mechBgon]

i ordered an x2 3800+ last night...i cant wait

Me neither! :Q If FedEx is their usual early selves, it should arrive around 1:30PM Monday at the office, and then it's goin' straight into the A8N-E! :evil:

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

i ordered an x2 3800+ last night...i cant wait

Me neither! :Q If FedEx is their usual early selves, it should arrive around 1:30PM Monday at the office, and then it's goin' straight into the A8N-E! :evil:

you lucky dog i have to wait until middle to end of next week.

 

[Polish3d]

Originally posted by: Bigsm00th

Originally posted by: Frackal
As El Torrente will tell you, an X2, especially at high speeds is fantastic.

Windows doesn't even pass a single bar before loading

omfg are you serious? i ordered an x2 3800+ last night...i cant wait

Absolutely, it's one of the coolest indicators of speed (Raptor plays a role too of course but I had one in my P4 3.4 and it did not load in < 2-4 passes)

When there are no device drivers to load, it literally flashes on the screen and you just see the bar begin to move before its done.

With everything loaded, the bar touches the edge of the other side and its finished. I susepct it will be even faster after I reformat.

Also, I highly recommend the big typhoon. The 3800+ should overclock fantastic assuming you get a decent chip.

 

[silverpig]

/me wants
/me shouldn't spend any more money
/me

 

[Hacp]

Well I have to say that the x2 is not worth it at all. Sry but the difference is not noticable at all for me. I just traded mine away.
If I were you, I would save the 230 bucks and go with a 3000+ oem venice and oc it to 2.4. It is pretty fast, and will generally meet your gaming needs.

If you generally want windows to load faster, either hibernate or buy a 36 gig raptor. Having an x2 will not help much with faster windows loading.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Well I have to say that the x2 is not worth it at all. Sry but the difference is not noticable at all for me. I just traded mine away.
If I were you, I would save the 230 bucks and go with a 3000+ oem venice and oc it to 2.4. It is pretty fast, and will generally meet your gaming needs.

If you generally want windows to load faster, either hibernate or buy a 36 gig raptor. Having an x2 will not help much with faster windows loading.

Eveyone is entitled to an opinion, but when everyone but you loves them, it must be worth something ! I agree with the majority here, I will never buy another single core processor for myself. The 3800+ with a mild OC on an XP90 is just great ! Sorry I spent the extra $300 (at the time) for my 4400+. I really can;t see a difference. And they absolutely smoke the Intel dual-cores in every way, performance, heat, power, even bang/buck !!!!

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: Hacp
Well I have to say that the x2 is not worth it at all. Sry but the difference is not noticable at all for me. I just traded mine away.
If I were you, I would save the 230 bucks and go with a 3000+ oem venice and oc it to 2.4. It is pretty fast, and will generally meet your gaming needs.

If you generally want windows to load faster, either hibernate or buy a 36 gig raptor. Having an x2 will not help much with faster windows loading.

Eveyone is entitled to an opinion, but when everyone but you loves them, it must be worth something ! I agree with the majority here, I will never buy another single core processor for myself. The 3800+ with a mild OC on an XP90 is just great ! Sorry I spent the extra $300 (at the time) for my 4400+. I really can;t see a difference. And they absolutely smoke the Intel dual-cores in every way, performance, heat, power, even bang/buck !!!!

Depends on how you use it. If your using it for multimedia applications, such as video capturing, or encoding, or editing then sure the X2 is right for you. But if your a strict gamer, who surfs the web and Dls stuff from bittorent, and sometimes encodes/captures one or two movies/videos, then the X2 is not worth it. The latter describes me perfectly. So...

Cliff notes:
1) If you do video encoding/capturing/editing or use some other multi threaded program constantly, the the x2 is for you.
2) If you just game/surf the web/ encode/capture three or four times a month/DL from BT, then a single core processor is for you.

 

[KDOG]

I think I'll go with the ASRock mobo and the 3000+ Venice. Later on, I'll get 2 SATA hdds in RAID as my boot/Windows drive, and use my current Maxtor 160GB IDE HDD as a storage drive. Any opinions on decent, "economical" 7200RPM SATA150 drives, I was looking at a couple of Seagates' and Hitatchi Deskstars.....

 

[eXx08]

dude just go X2.....

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: KDOG
I think I'll go with the ASRock mobo and the 3000+ Venice. Later on, I'll get 2 SATA hdds in RAID as my boot/Windows drive, and use my current Maxtor 160GB IDE HDD as a storage drive. Any opinions on decent, "economical" 7200RPM SATA150 drives, I was looking at a couple of Seagates' and Hitatchi Deskstars.....

Nice choice with the venice. If you don't need it don't purge . Also, I would suggest a raptor + your IDe drive .

 

[Chopstick217]

Originally posted by: thekillerjks
dude just go X2.....

:thumbsup:

 

[ElTorrente]

X2s do everything faster than a single core at the same clock speed.

If you look at benchmarks in games, single core and dual core are pretty close- BUT that is only in benchmarks- NOT in the real world. Make no mistake, dual core is the way to go for online gaming.

If you play games online- get dual core!

Benchmarks on review sites are done under perfect conditions, on clean installs, with nothing at all running in the background. They certainly aren't online hooked up to a 64 person server sending hundreds of TCP packets every second, and moving the mouse around and mashing buttons- and of course antispyware, antivirus, firewall, VOIP, team speak, IM, IE, high quality sounds, Controller Software for joysticks and such, and blah blah blah... THIS is real world gaming that you never see benchmarks for on review sites. This is the reason that dual core STOMPS single core in REAL-WORLD gaming!

Ever benchmark your computer using Sandra software? when you run a bench, it says "don't move your mouse- benchmarking!" haha how lame- you don't want to move your mouse around because it'll affect your benchmark negatively.. Well, last time I checked- I use my mouse when I play games.

The point is that with dual core you never have to wait for CPU time to accomplish a given task. With single core, you often do - especially when you are playing games and the CPU is maxed out.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: KDOG
I think I'll go with the ASRock mobo and the 3000+ Venice. Later on, I'll get 2 SATA hdds in RAID as my boot/Windows drive, and use my current Maxtor 160GB IDE HDD as a storage drive. Any opinions on decent, "economical" 7200RPM SATA150 drives, I was looking at a couple of Seagates' and Hitatchi Deskstars.....

That mobo has some nifty features, but if overclocking is most important to you, it's not really a good choice. It will overclock, but is quite limited and you'll never acheive the max overclock from a good overclocking cpu.

That said, I'm getting the same mobo, but for the AGP/PCI-e and M2 socket. I don't plan on overclocking.