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3200+ to x2-3800 or Op. 165

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iLLestOne

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
Location
San Jose, Cali
From what I've seen so far, it looks like I probably won't see any sort of improvement in games if I upgrade, right?! My current cpu tops out at 2.4ghz (maybe more, RAM is in RMA process at the moment), and most x2's hit 2.5-2.8ghz on air from what I've seen.

Is an upgrade (after the prices cuts, of course) even worth it? Or should I want for Conroe or the next AMD cpu's to come up and jump ship to ddr2 and PCI-E?
 
after the pricecuts you might want to upgrade to a dual core 3800+ (or 3600+ if they ever exist) and you should be able to get at least 2.7 out of it. You would see a good increase from your 3200+ at a small cost of increase. Figuring you can sell your 3200+ for around 80 bucks or so.
 
iirc the opty's will not get a price cut... so it will be $169 vs $230.
 
FOR PERFORMANCE!!! 165's with the right stepping can easily hit 3ghz and out perform the 3800-X2 by more than "5%".

If I wanted to start a debate about price I would've stated that he should hook up with an FX proc.
 
So the 165 would be $60 more bucks, and has 1mb of cache compaired to the x2 3800's 512kb.....will this really make any difference in games (the only thing I care about is games :) )

Also, I might have another option. I am RMA'ing my Mushkin lvl2 3500 ram and if they don't have any left to send me, they said we can work something out. They don't really have any compairable ram now, but I'd take 2x1gb of the redline pc4000 (runs faster, but with slower timings). BUT, I might be able to get some DDR2 instead (probably with a little cash involved). So would it be a wiser choice to instead get the REDLINE pc8000 ddr2 (2x512mb) abd buy a DFI nf4 board (or another board if you have a suggestion, maybe crossfire one), and a 1900xt?!

I was looking to get a new case ($200) and a new CPU ($200). So I figured, since I game, maybe I should go with a new PCI-E videocard since most games are still bottlenecked by the videocard (with all the eye candy turned on, of course).

Would this be a wise decision? Or should I just wait for more money and wait to go to AM2? (since I'll have to ALSO buy a new CPU on top of the videocard and MB).

Thanks in advance for the help :)
 
That was my delimma... upgrade my videocard (agp 8x) means PCI-E, means a new mobo, if I am getting a new mobo and want it to last, I should get AM2, if I get AM2, I need DDR2... so upgrading the videocard and keeping my computer somewhat future proof means virtually buying a new computer :/ So I am buying a new computer :D
 
"will this really make any difference in games (the only thing I care about is games)"

you probably won't notice a difference now, however, the newer games you probably will notice a difference as they should take advantage of the greater cache.

with the opty's, you are increasing your chances of having a good oc, but its by no means guaranteed. so the greater the price difference, the more you have to ask yourself......."do you feel lucky?"
 
I'd go with the 3800+ for the price. You can't beat $150 for a CPU that will probably clock at about 2.7 or even more.

@SoulFly: I can aprpeciate your argument, and I do see the advantage my Opty 165 has over the 3800+, but right now, with the prices as they are, I think it makes more sense to go with the cheaper. ITs not that much of a difference, and Optyies clock about the same as the 3800+s on air.
 
Yep, I'm hoping to upgrade my Venice 3200+ to an X2 3800+ for Xmas. I really can't see the justification for spending an extra $60-80 for extra cache and 100-200 MHz of extra headroom. On top of that, with the Opty 165 you give up the 10x CPU multi which can really hurt in certain situations. For instance, memory dividers don't work in current setup, so I have to run 1:1. If I only had a 9x multi I'd be looking at a max OC of around 2300 MHz.
 
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