Opteron question

[Acidwinter]

My Mobo crapped the bed, and I was going to replace it but since I hate replacing and would much rather upgrade (from a celeron D 2.93ghz) I was thinking about going AMD Athalon 64 3000+ then overclocking it just a tad. But for $5 more I found this deal on an AMD Opteron 3000+:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103397R

Now I know its refurbished, but if it lasts me a year, it would be worth it because I plan on building a new rig within a year anyway. I know Opteron is mostly used for Servers, but would it be better then the Athalon gaming wise? I mean the only difference I see between the two is Athalon has 512kb cache, and the Opteron has 1mb. But maybe im not seeing something. Input?

 

[Didou]

There are Athlons with 1MB cache. They're based off the San Diego core for single-core or Toledo for dual-core parts.

That Opteron you linked is designed for dual-socket motherboards. It'll work with single-socket boards (provided they're socket-940) but you pay extra for a feature you won't use. Furthermore, socket-940 Opterons require registered (more expensive) memory. You might stick with an Athlon64.

 

[vnf4ultra]

You could get an opteron 144 for socket 939, they use just regular ddr memory, and are fairly cheap, and typically oc well.
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=120344
It's oem though, so you still need a heatsink/fan + thermal paste, which should be around $20-30usd for a decent one.

 

[Acidwinter]

Cool cool

I think this was the one I was thinking of, I didnt realize that the Newegg one was 930. I just ordered a 939 mobo a few hours ago, and I have finally come down to the Opteron or the Athalon 64. Both at 3000+. Now since they are both the same price, which one would be the better deal? I have win xp pro 64 that I got through school for free, and I have 3200 ram (1.5gb). I just want to know which one would be A.More stable, and B.Faster. I plan on buying a water cooling kit in the future and am interested in overclocking at LEAST 500mhz (Ive heard stories of overclocking this to 2.8ghz...the Athalon that is) Ive also heard that if you can Super overclock the Opteron, it could potentially be as fast as the FX.


CURRENT RIG:
x800xt PE (stock)
1.5gb 3200 400mhz DDR
80gb WD
Celeron D 2.93ghz <--- (You see my need to upgrade now)
windows xp PRO sp 2 (I have a LEGAL version of the x64 edition)

 

[vnf4ultra]

I'd take the opteron, since it has 1mb l2 cache(vs. a 3000+'s 512mb). The opterons also potentially overclock better, I've seen some at 3ghz, although that is definitly not the "norm."
From here
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=888001
The lowest 144 oc on that list is a crazy 900mhz!
The venice 3000+'s have some good oc's as well though.

Opterons go through more testing and are designed to be very stable, and also use lower voltages to get similar speeds.

What motherboard are you getting? Hopefully it can support oc'ing if that's what you want to do.

 

[Acidwinter]

This one

I already ordered this one.

http://3btech.net/chs1so939mow.html

Even if its not a good Oc'r, I still will probably get the opteron since its literlly $5 more then the 3000+ if its refurbished. Also I plan on watercooling relatively soon so I may even build a PCI-E system in the near future.

 

[CrossFire851]

The opteron is for networking not really intened on gamming (not saying you can't game or anything) also I think that for more of gammer get the athlon and if you like running backround severices get the opteron.


:bounce: :bounce:

 

[Acidwinter]

funfun

Well the way I figure, if its as good as the athalon, haha which is what im deciding, then ill probably just get the opteron just to be different. It does have a 1mb cache, and you can overclock the crap out of them so when I get a water cooling kit for my computer I can have a field day. If I ever upgraded, and I got this CPU, I would upgrade it again LAST, I would spend most my money on a GPU.

Back to the point, Ill probably go opteron, unless it would be WORSE. If it wouldn't make much of a difference, at least I can screw around with something new.