BF2S Forums Opteron

I dont know if should get an opteron or and Amd x2. Any ideas?

the opteron is made for the overclocker.  as long as you have a decent board and some good ram you should be able to make it fly.

i've got an opteron 170 oc to 250x10 @ stock voltages, 1.65 and more (no time to validiate 1.7) at 1.4 (+0.05V). Runs like a dream, only that i have to set affinity or bf2 gets all weird. So now i get high end performance (better than fx-60) with an ok price. Unless you want to buy an x2 3800+ i would always go opteron.

Last edited by max (2006-06-05 04:30:19)

Jeez you lucky sonza-bitches
Opteron processors are way cheap in NZ/Aussie but the boards are either hard to come by or DAMNABLEY expensive - $400 for a typical Opteron board

jaymz9350 wrote:

-101-InvaderZim wrote:

Jeez you lucky sonza-bitches
Opteron processors are way cheap in NZ/Aussie but the boards are either hard to come by or DAMNABLEY expensive - $400 for a typical Opteron board

they are talking about 939 opterons.  they run on the same boards as regular A64's, just none (that i've seen) of them come out and say they officially support them

This is correct.
The 1 series are all 939 chips and the 2 series are all 940 chips... so a 144 is a 1.8ghz 939, a 244 is a 1.8ghz 940, 246 is a 2.0ghz 940 while the 146 is a 2.0ghz 939.

happy Opteron 146 owner here

3Ghz so far

50% overclock, faster than FX57, not bad for £160

137[CSi] wrote:

Timelord_ wrote:

You have to go with an Opteron.  WAY cheaper, and way more performance.  If you have the overclocking bug, then the decision makes itself.  All that onboard cache rocks.

I wouldnt say way cheaper, they're initial purpose is server operation, you will see the ones with the awesome steppings are a bitch to get a hold of because of the fact AMD doesnt want these cheaper products to take the shine away from their X2 line. Granted they're great overclockers I have yet to see anyone with an opteron clocked up to 3.0Mhz beat my stock clocked 4400+X2 in PC Mark.

So its all a matter of personal preference. Granted I also run a 64 bit OS now since the 32 bit version of XP professional was actually holding back the potential of my computer.

Funny you should say that.  Many of the "benchmark" tools simply add the 2 processors power together for their single "cpu" speed mark.  I noticed it in the syssoft sandra when I ran it.  BF2 only takes advantage of 1 processor, so you can cut that # in half for a "real world"speed comparison.
I'm sure your 4400 (at stock speed) performs VERY well, but even an opteron 165 with a bad stepping, in the hands of someone with a little skill, will probably smoke it.  I'm also sure my 146 running at 2.85Ghz (summer heat is getting to me) will out perform your 4400, that's only running 2.2Ghz, in any game out there.

-101-InvaderZim wrote:

Forgive my ignorance of things Opteron. So what Opteron processor will run on my Albatron K8 SLi board?

any of the 1XX series

137[CSi] wrote:

slo5oh wrote:

I'm also sure my 146 running at 2.85Ghz (summer heat is getting to me) will out perform your 4400, that's only running 2.2Ghz, in any game out there.

I'm sure the difference is slightly marginal granted you're most likely assuming I was swinging around my non existant e penis which I wasnt. So I would just like to clarify the difference. The Opteron clocked to 2.95 on air will produce 2-3 marks over my stock clocked 4400+ x2 and if overclocked to 2.65 on air will match the opteron at 3.2 on water.

Either I'm missing a key word or that entire statement makes NO SENCE.  Other than subtle differences in the exact core models a dual core opteron will score the same (roughly) as it's = x2 a64.  The single core opterons will score roughly the same as a single core A64 (yes the opties have 1mb of cache also).  The major difference is that the opties are OCing KINGS.   There are lots of guys running opty 144s (stock 1.8Ghz) up in the 320Mhz FSB range to acheve 3Ghz on GREAT air cooling.  Even the bad steppings seem to be able to run around 2.7Ghz.  My 146 when running 2.9Ghz scored a hair higher than an FX-57.  Not bad when a $30 HSF and a $160 CPU can keep up with an $800 CPU.
I wasn't trying to start a pissing contest.  I was just addressing your "I have yet to see anyone with an opteron clocked up to 3.0Mhz beat my stock clocked 4400+X2 in PC Mark." statement.  In Sandra even the lowest x2 was toasting my scores for CPU performance.  This is due to the 2 cores doubling the numbers in a performance analizing program.  For those that own a dual core CPU now, you simply need to know that most programs only use 1 core at a time so factor that into your calculations when running a game.  I'm not saying your 4400 isn't a sweet chip, it is.  I'm just saying that in BF2 you're running a single 2.2Ghz processor.  Next year when the new hot games out are using both cores, that's when you'll be SMOKING me just like your PC Mark is showing you should be.

MorbidFetus wrote:

Am I the only one who doesn't know what the hell is going on here?

What's your question?

So which one is the best for price / performace over clocking ability?  Is the 170 the best if you don't plan on hard core over clocking or the 146 because it's cheaper? 

170 - $396.00
165 - $327.00
146 - $223.00
144 - $170.99

acdc wrote:

So which one is the best for price / performace over clocking ability?  Is the 170 the best if you don't plan on hard core over clocking or the 146 because it's cheaper? 

170 - $396.00
165 - $327.00
146 - $223.00
144 - $170.99

You have to SEARCH for deals!  From fatwallet.com:

AMD Opteron 175 Dual-Core 2.2GHz 1MB (per core) 64/32-Bit (939) $516.00 minus $40 = $476
$40 Coupon Code:
60206-120343

AMD Opteron 170 Dual-Core 2.0GHz 1MB (per core) 64/32-Bit (939) $401.00 minus $38 = $363
$38 Coupon Code:
60206-120341

AMD Opteron 165 Dual-Core 1.8GHz 1MB (per core) 64/32-Bit (939) $337.67 minus $66 = $271.67
$66 Coupon Code:
60206-120339 (Confirmed 11:50am PST 6/3)

AMD Opteron 148 2.2GHz 1MB 64/32-Bit (939) $261.00 minus $51 = $210
$51 Coupon Code:
60206-120333

AMD Opteron 146 2.0GHz 1MB 64/32-Bit (939) $227.00 minus $66 = $161
$66 Coupon Code:
60206-120331

All these deals are from monarchcomputer.com
I recommend you stick with either the 144/146 for single core or the 165/170 for dual core.  Since not many places sell the 144 anymore it's obvious to go with the 146.  The reason I recommend you stick with the lower speed processors is because they all seem to OC the same.  So if you pay $200 or $400 more for a higher speed CPU to start it's doubtful you'll be able to OC any higher than the lowest end opteron.  The 165 is the best bang for your buck if you want to go dual core.  The last guy to purchase on fatwallet has reported getting a CCBBE 0610DPMW.  That exact stepping is reported good to 3Ghz, but as always with OCing YMMV.