Opteron or Athlon

[MCochrane]

I am stumped between buying either an Athlon 64 +3200, or an Opteron 146. They are relatively the same price, give or take a few bucks. I am not an overclocker and don't plan to be but if it doesn't void the warranty and is easy to do with noticeable difference then I am all for it.

So, which to buy, Athlon 64 +3200 or Opteron 146?

 

[Jeffito123]

Opteron...but IF u decide not to OC, then it doesn't matter.

 

[buzzsaw13]

If you don't plan on overclocking, I'd recommend spending a little less and getting a 3000+

 

[MCochrane]

Would there be a noticeable difference in high performance demanding games such as F.E.A.R? Swapping to the +3000 that is. All I am really going to use this computer for is gaming, and since I already have a 7800 gt as well as a PSU that is sufficient for both the card and Processor, I would like to get settings on Ultra High.

Don't get me wrong, I love saving money, but if it is going to make a noticeable difference in games then I would rather stick with the +3200. BTW, thanks a bunch for all your guys' help here on the forums, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Serch]

naa.. pick something better, get a 3700 San Diego at least my man!

 

[Serch]

Just look at the cards you have, you cant put some 3000 there! It wont be enough I tell you. How about RAM? do you already have 2 Gb?

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: Serch
naa.. pick something better, get a 3700 San Diego at least my man!

:shocked: Better than an Opteron, on the most part no. Especially with a 146 you can usually reach 2.8Ghz+ at a cheaper price.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: MCochrane
Would there be a noticeable difference in high performance demanding games such as F.E.A.R? Swapping to the +3000 that is. All I am really going to use this computer for is gaming, and since I already have a 7800 gt as well as a PSU that is sufficient for both the card and Processor, I would like to get settings on Ultra High.

Don't get me wrong, I love saving money, but if it is going to make a noticeable difference in games then I would rather stick with the +3200. BTW, thanks a bunch for all your guys' help here on the forums, it is greatly appreciated!

I changed from a 3000+ Winchester to a 3800+ Newcastle, and there was no noticeable difference in gaming. Just get a 3000+ Venice chip and you can read up on how to overclock when CPU does make a difference in gaming.

 

[Mucker]

This is the best deal right now, $171: http://www.excaliberpc.com/AMD_Opteron_...ev/OSA146BNBOX/partinfo-id-560152.html

Even though you mention not overclocking, you may want to in the future, and without any serious effort, you should get 2.5 GHz easily. (better than a $330 A64 4000+) Load temperatures will be very low too. It's really a crime NOT to overclock these cpu's.

Edit: 2770 MHz @ 1.50v actual ----> OCCT

An Opteron will have better resale value also.....

 

[Serch]

Originally posted by: RichUK

Originally posted by: Serch
naa.. pick something better, get a 3700 San Diego at least my man!

:shocked: Better than an Opteron, on the most part no. Especially with a 146 you can usually reach 2.8Ghz+ at a cheaper price.

Not than an Opteron, hell of course not. he was about to get an AMD 3000+! What I said is at least. And he is not overclocking, remember.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: Serch

Originally posted by: RichUK

Originally posted by: Serch
naa.. pick something better, get a 3700 San Diego at least my man!

:shocked: Better than an Opteron, on the most part no. Especially with a 146 you can usually reach 2.8Ghz+ at a cheaper price.

Not than an Opteron, hell of course not. he was about to get an AMD 3000+! What I said is at least. And he is not overclocking, remember.

He asked the Question in the OP and i quote:

So, which to buy, Athlon 64 +3200 or Opteron 146?

Just making sure that the OP is aware that a 146 is a better buy than a 3700+, because that would be a bad choice in that scenario.

Also the OP didn?t say he wasn?t going to OC:

I am not an overclocker and don't plan to be but if it doesn't void the warranty and is easy to do with noticeable difference then I am all for it.

Apart from the voiding the warranty part, i would be correct in thinking he would try his hand at OCing, especially when it is a fairly simple task to bump the frequency upto 2.5Ghz or so on stock volts, and even more if he wants to push it (with regards to a 146)

 

[Serch]

Ok read carefully:

Originally posted by: MCochrane
Don't get me wrong, I love saving money, but if it is going to make a noticeable difference in games then I would rather stick with the +3200. BTW, thanks a bunch for all your guys' help here on the forums, it is greatly appreciated!

Thats is what I was talking about, man

Deciding between an Opteron and a 3000/3200 is not fair ! They almost not comparables IMO


Oh and MCochrane, overclocking does void the warranty, actually.. (that's why he wont overclock... see?)

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: Serch
Ok read carefully:

Originally posted by: MCochrane
Don't get me wrong, I love saving money, but if it is going to make a noticeable difference in games then I would rather stick with the +3200. BTW, thanks a bunch for all your guys' help here on the forums, it is greatly appreciated!

Thats is what I was talking about, man

Lol my mistake, that?s down to my thread skimming again, i do apologise.

Either way i think we can agree, that an opteron would probably be the better buy, and a 3200+ is probably not the best option in his scenario.

Originally posted by: Serch
Deciding between an Opteron and a 3000/3200 is not fair ! They almost not comparables IMO

Oh and MCochrane, overclocking does void the warranty, actually.. (that's why he wont overclock... see?)

Exactly, its bias for a reason. For the money you pay the returns are large, overclocking or not, because the 3700+ is rated at 2.2 and the price reflects this, where as a 146 is rated at 2Ghz and can OC quite high on stock volts, at a fairly low price.

 

[Serch]

Yea its ok. Tell me that to me! Opteron 175 (2.2)=637 USD (in Argentina)
Opteron 170 (2.0)=501 USD


I have another post in the "general hardware" section telling my story, look for it.

C ya

 

[5t3v0]

Originally posted by: MCochrane
I am stumped between buying either an Athlon 64 +3200, or an Opteron 146. They are relatively the same price, give or take a few bucks. I am not an overclocker and don't plan to be but if it doesn't void the warranty and is easy to do with noticeable difference then I am all for it.

So, which to buy, Athlon 64 +3200 or Opteron 146?

Opteron has 1Mb L2 cache and should therefore have a slight performance advantage over the A64 of the equivalent speed (which has 512K cache). Remeber tho that Opterons are not officially supported on desktop mobos by manufacturers so if support is important to you, go for the A64.

 

[LumbergTech]

opteron..runs on lower voltage

 

[5t3v0]

All 90nm A64s run on same volts as opteron, i.e. 1.35-1.4v. E4 steppings run on 1.35v. Check the amd comparison chart for model specifics.

 

[anandtechrocks]

I'd go for what's cheapest. (3000+ if you can find it...)

 

[unparagon]

Opterons apparently "go off like a frog in a sock" according to PCPowerPlay, also they reckon its good for a bit of the ol' oc. Might be a complete laod though...

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0

Originally posted by: MCochrane
I am stumped between buying either an Athlon 64 +3200, or an Opteron 146. They are relatively the same price, give or take a few bucks. I am not an overclocker and don't plan to be but if it doesn't void the warranty and is easy to do with noticeable difference then I am all for it.

So, which to buy, Athlon 64 +3200 or Opteron 146?

Opteron has 1Mb L2 cache and should therefore have a slight performance advantage over the A64 of the equivalent speed (which has 512K cache). Remeber tho that Opterons are not officially supported on desktop mobos by manufacturers so if support is important to you, go for the A64.

depends on the m/b, my gigabyte m/b specifically supports the opterons....

 

[Zebo]

146 opteron

Lower power - Faster due to 1 MB L2 cache - much higher resale value - among other things (hello OCing) over a 3200.

 

[5t3v0]

Zebo, how do Opterons consume less power?? The 146 has exactly the same wattage as the 3200 venice, i.e. 67W. Check the AMD quick reference guide if you dont believe me. I think you are comparing to the Newcastle which consumed 89W but who's buying those these days?

MCochrane, if overclocking is really not important to you, then get the Athlon. These Opterons are getting harder to come by (in the UK certainly) so you could be denying some poor overclocker of his dream processor. As Mucker has already said, it is a crime not to overclock the Opteron

Ignore all the advice to go cheap. Its good advice if you are overclocking as the biggest bang for buck is achieved on the cheapest processors like the Opteron 144 or A64 3000. As you are not overclocking, buy the fastest processor you can afford as this will future-proof your system for longer.

As warranty is an important concern for you, choose your mobo carefully if you go for the Opteron because many mfrs wont give technical support. Gigabyte do apparently.

 

[Mucker]

I think what Zebo means is that clock for clock, the Opteron will require less voltage compared to a regular A64. I have confirmed that with the 5 Opteron's that I have owned. My best Opteron (146) ran 2870 MHz with just 1.375 volts. My worst is my current one (146), 2800 MHz at 1.525 volts. Remember that a 146 starts at 2000 MHz. A San Diego 3700 I once had needed 1.55v to get 2750 MHz and that's coming from 2200 MHz....

m

 

[5t3v0]

You mean when overclocking? But I thought we were comparing cpus at stock here since the thread owner specifically states he is not an overclocker. At stock, both Opty 146 & A64 3200 are 2GHz with a 1.35-1.4v / 67W rating (bar a couple of stepping variations). The only difference is the cache size which skews the choice in favour of the Opteron. But after the massive price hike (here in the UK anyway), the extra cache is probably not worth paying the extra for. Even when overclocking there's no guarantees. Look at my Opteron voltage to achieve a lowly 2.5GHz.

 

[Mucker]

Well, at stock it's pretty obvious huh? You have a 720 MHz gain on your cpu, not the greatest for an Opty, but certainly not bad. It's not about our individual cpu's, if you were to take the averages of all Opterons and A64's, you will find that the Opty's require less voltage for higher clocks. Take a look at these databases and you can see why the Opty stomps the vanilla A64.

http://monsterprozi.mo.funpic.de/opt144html.htm
http://monsterprozi.mo.funpic.de/opt146html.htm

I still believe a 146 Opteron under $200 is a great deal....