Gaming: X2s better than Opterons?

[GTaudiophile]

Once again, I am getting scared reading reviews over at newegg. This comes from the Opteron 170 OEM review section:

Pros: You're going to laugh, but none. Get 2.2 single core Opty 148 instead.

Cons: Dual core for AMD is not even as good as hyperthreading for P4. I came from 3.2E and multitasking was better with that single core chip than this chip. HOWEVER, games run faster (slightly) WHEN they are not buggy. Only 2 games I know of take advantage of the dual core, some get buggy, and Warcraft III can't be fixed even with AMD patch. The time for dual core is not here, wish I would have gotten the Opty 148 instead -- or better yet, stayed with my 3.2E a while longer.

Other Thoughts: Why worry if you're game will get choppy? Why spend $$ only to get single core performance? If you have 3.2E or better, stay with what you have -- and if you multitask at ALL, deffo stick with Intel. HOWEVER, if all you do is game go AMD, but get single core as second core goes unused in games.

-----------------

Pros: *Stability
*Performance
*OC'able
*Better Sillicon then X2's

Cons: *Can become a gaming nightmare
*Can be very hot with standard HSF

Other Thoughts: Went with it because at the time it was alot cheaper then an X2 4200+ and almost the same specs. Unbeknownst to my knowledge at the time, dual core opterons seem to go buggers with games, 8/10 games I had installed CTD'd or BSOD'd at random intervals. After trying everything possible, I had to reinstall WXP, look up the microsoft patch (downloadable if you have the link, or else you need to email them about it); so installed the patch, rebooted, edited my registry, edit my start up, and rebooted again. Everything works great, if your not confortable following some editing instructions (steps done by microsft) then don't take your risk and spend the extra 100$ odd dollars for an X2.

So, is there truth to any of this, or are these guys just idiots?

 

[Zbox]

i d i o t s

edit:
to add, yes there are a few quirks with games, but nothing not easily resolved via a simple power management fix in XP or by setting affinity on processes. On the whole, dual core is surely for teh win, whether it is X2 or Opteron.

 

[darkdemyze]

Agreed, I havn't had any gaming issues with my X2, dunno how that compares to the opty..

 

[Wentelteefje]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Once again, I am getting scared reading reviews over at newegg. This comes from the Opteron 170 OEM review section:

Pros: You're going to laugh, but none. Get 2.2 single core Opty 148 instead.

Cons: Dual core for AMD is not even as good as hyperthreading for P4. I came from 3.2E and multitasking was better with that single core chip than this chip. HOWEVER, games run faster (slightly) WHEN they are not buggy. Only 2 games I know of take advantage of the dual core, some get buggy, and Warcraft III can't be fixed even with AMD patch. The time for dual core is not here, wish I would have gotten the Opty 148 instead -- or better yet, stayed with my 3.2E a while longer.

Other Thoughts: Why worry if you're game will get choppy? Why spend $$ only to get single core performance? If you have 3.2E or better, stay with what you have -- and if you multitask at ALL, deffo stick with Intel. HOWEVER, if all you do is game go AMD, but get single core as second core goes unused in games.

-----------------

Pros: *Stability
*Performance
*OC'able
*Better Sillicon then X2's

Cons: *Can become a gaming nightmare
*Can be very hot with standard HSF

Other Thoughts: Went with it because at the time it was alot cheaper then an X2 4200+ and almost the same specs. Unbeknownst to my knowledge at the time, dual core opterons seem to go buggers with games, 8/10 games I had installed CTD'd or BSOD'd at random intervals. After trying everything possible, I had to reinstall WXP, look up the microsoft patch (downloadable if you have the link, or else you need to email them about it); so installed the patch, rebooted, edited my registry, edit my start up, and rebooted again. Everything works great, if your not confortable following some editing instructions (steps done by microsft) then don't take your risk and spend the extra 100$ odd dollars for an X2.

So, is there truth to any of this, or are these guys just idiots?

QFT... For now... There is indeed no noticeable difference in gaming with a dual core, but that will come... Oblivion is said to take full advantage of DC already, and I wouldn't be surprised if the makers of ET: Quake Wars would come up with a dual core patch like they did with Quake 4... It's undoubtedly the future, but for now, I can imagine myself there being still some quirks...

For the rest, the guys are idiots indeed...

EDIT: GTaudiophile, don't be afraid, just buy your silent powerhouse... :thumbsup:

 

[kamranziadar]

I don;t know what they are thinking. This is the most stupidest thing i heard.

 

[rise]

i had a handful of gaming problems before the MSFT patch. its not a hardware problem, msft was the one who released the final patch that solved the all the issues i had, which was basically just ea sports games (madden) and serious sam2 (demo only).

i'm not sure if wow still has a problem but i don't see many threads about game bugginess since msft released their patch.

 

[stevty2889]

Even newegg says you shouldn't make decisions based on their reviews. I have had no trouble at all with my X2, not in gaming or anything else.

 

[Abix]

The title of this thread is misleading.

Since I own a 165, I took the headline to mean: "Dual-core X2s better than dual-core Opterons?"

Also, the AMD driver DOES fix the problem in Warcraft 3 for me. Additionally, while there may be no performance boost in games these days with dual core, what is more is important is the fact that there is no performance degredation as a result of other background programs running.

For example, I regularly run WoW/Warcraft 3 at the same time as Trillian, mIRC, Hamachi, Newsleecher, Firefox, Ventrilo, MBM, Steam and Daemon Tools. All without any performance degredation on the side of WoW/Warcraft 3. Also, having a near instant alt-tab from WoW/Warcraft 3 to any other program is very nice.

Also, once I forgot to log out of WoW and started up Warcraft 3 for some DotA while sitting in front of bank in IF. Performance loss? Denied.

 

[MoFoEd]

I have an Opty 170 and applied the AMD driver patch and my machine works great, esp at gaming. Been playing Quake 4 and Call of Duty 2 and AA even while doing some DVD burning and no hiccups.

 

[duke2106]

I know that City of Villains recognizes dual core systems, so I'm interested in seeing what happens. I have an x2 4200+ (stupid me, should've went for the 4400+ with the 1mb cache, but I digress) waiting for me at home for me to install tonight.

Can't wait to see what it's capable of.

 

[kamranziadar]

Originally posted by: duke2106
I know that City of Villains recognizes dual core systems, so I'm interested in seeing what happens. I have an x2 4200+ (stupid me, should've went for the 4400+ with the 1mb cache, but I digress) waiting for me at home for me to install tonight.

Can't wait to see what it's capable of.

Wow, now we have games who can support Dual Cores.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Newegg Reviews are >90% garbage

 

[MBrown]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Newegg Reviews are >90% garbage

 

[TSS]

somebody calling a opteron hot, with P4 in the same conversation, must be out of his mind.

 

[Quinton McLeod]

The best way to use Newegg's review section is to make sure the product has a lot of reviews. Over 50 is good... over 100 is even better.

A lot of these n00bs post several reviews at once all saying the same thing. If you check the reviews for the Opty 170 Retail, you'll notice the the reviews are the other way around.

Knowing the idiots on the OEM reviews, they prolly didn't put a freaking heatsink on them and complained it was running hot.