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What's better? Opteron or XP (AMD only leave the Intels out)

Discussion in 'Processors and Motherboards' started by XtremeEX, May 7, 2003.

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  1. XtremeEX

    Um, I'm hearing about this nForce 3 chip thats coming out. I've already got down what I want to buy and am ready to buy it. I'm shooting for an Athlon XP but I'm hearing all this good stuff about Opteron.

    So, should I wait? If so, exactly why and how long?
    XtremeEX, May 7, 2003
    #1

  2. Justin Newcomer, in training

    The opteron is a cpu created specifically for SMP operation. Unless you can afford the platform and two more cpus I think you are wasting your time. The Athlon 64 however is the version of the opteron without SMP capability that is intended for desktop platforms. In terms of performance they are one and the same, as invididual CPUs.

    THG did an excellent review of the opteron, and compared it to many other intel/amd chips.

    Take a look here:

    http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030422/index.html
    Justin, May 7, 2003
    #2

  3. Arris TechSpot Evangelist

    Until applications are optimised for 64bit processors (like Windows XP 64bit) then I don't see that a 1.8Ghz Athlon 64 (current highest clock achieved) is any better than a faster Barton core XP for general home use.
    Arris, May 8, 2003
    #3

  4. Strakian Newcomer, in training

    I'd go with a Barton. Athlon XP's with a 333mhz FSB for that little extra oomph outta the box. I got a Barton XP 2500 and I love it. QUick and perky.

    The other guys are right about the Opteron and 64, the ideas are novel, but not practical at this stage in the game.
    Strakian, May 19, 2003
    #4

  5. Didou Bowtie extraordinair!

    The Athlon64 should be a much better CPU then an AthlonXP when it comes out. The On-Die memory controller is very efficient & uses PC3200 ram much better then a 200FSB Barton ( the memory controller has a 96% efficiency according to Sisoft Sandra ). It is reported to have much more L2 cache as well ( 1mb for the High-end version & 256k for the low-end ).

    The only mistery is the launch speed. So far the Opteron has been announced & benchmarked at 1.8GHZ max. I hope they'll have better yields for September & introduce the Athlon64 above 2.2GHZ at least.
    Didou, May 19, 2003
    #5

  6. Steg Newcomer, in training

    the nForce 3 to is built to work with Athlon 64s and therefore only support socket 768(i think its 768) as opposed to the Athlon XP socket which is 468 or something - so if u are going for an Athlon 64 (which will thrash the arses of everything else avalable atm) u need an nForce 3 otherwise u want an nForce 2
    Steg, May 21, 2003
    #6
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