Athlon 64 low down... give it to me short and sweet

[Tex]

Ok I just sold a bunch of crap on ebay and my paypal account runneth over so ... (Tex licks his lips here for effect)

Was looking for the readers digest condensed version here of Opteron versus Athlon 64-fx. Which is better and why. From what I can scarf quick it looks like only the opteron runs in dual cpu format. I know some of the socket 940 advantages but really have not read squat on the Athlon 64 FX but see its very pricey right now. Like.. OWWWEEEEEEEEEE. Hurts my wallet to even think about it.

So short and sweet for me. Why is it so pricey and is it worth it for a non gamer guy like me or..... should I stick with dual opterons?

And I did find a gb of Kingston pc3200 ecc reg for sale I am considering scarfing for the dual opteron msi-k8d I have now but wonder if thats really the best way for a non gamer guy to spend his money anyway?

Is the nforce or via chipset the hot setup now on the athlon 64's?

Come on and help Tex spend some money foolishly before I get a dull boring hotrod disk controller or something foolish.

Tex

[madmat]

From what I understand, a FX-51 is just a dumbed down version of an Opteron, no smd..less hypertransport links ect.
I'd just get the dual ECC PC3200 for the dual Opteron and call that good...how about a dual Opteron watercooled rig??

[Shorty]

This awesome post by Thrax...

http://www.short-media.com/forum/showpost.php?p=87766&postcount=3

Breaks it down into one managable chunk :)

[Tex]

I can't see any reason to watercool the opterons. The msi-k8d has no OC options for me and they run so cool anyway. Water is just one mor ething to screw up. I have done the water deal before and ran -25 degree water out of a feezer playing the 3dmark game but.... Really wasnt as hard as I thought it would be....

The dualies are for stable servers and mine run 24/7 and I don't need water for that.

They have faster Athlon fx's out and they are only a tad less expensive if you compare only athlon fx to opterons for the socket 940 as I wasnt considering the socket 754 ones. For flexibility with my rigs the opterons seem better as I can swap them in a dual cpu rig if I need to.

So the Athlong 64's are no faster and offer no real advantages even as a single cpu rig? Wow??

Tex

[Thrax]

Opteron 24x series for FAST SMP. -- Dual Channel Registered memory. Socket 940.

Athlon FX series for fast enthusiast single CPU. Easily replaceable by the Opteron 14x line. -- Dual Channel Registered memory. Socket 940.

Athlon 3x00+ series, within 2% of the FX/Opteron series, for 50% of the cost. -- Single channel unregistered memory. Socket 754.

[Tex]

So master thrax thinks the socket 754 is currently the price performance champ all in all huh?

And thanks as that was finally the readers digest condensed version I was looking for.

Tex

[Tex]

So......... And what is the hot chipset ? VIA or Nforce for the desktop Master Thrax?

Tex

[TheBaron]

VIA K8T800 (i believe thats the right #)

edit: bah, thrax is right, i was close enough

[Thrax]

VIA K8T880 and the Athlon64 3000+ is the best bang/buck A64 right now.

[mmonnin]

The Via chipset wins most of the benchmarks in all the reviews I have seen.

[Shorty]

/me looks at box across the room..

/me sees the word nForce3 ...

/me doesn't curse..

[TheLostSwede]

A Gigabyte NF3 socket 754/Amd 64 3000+ is like $300. Can't beat that bang for buck.

[Shorty]

A Gigabyte NF3 socket 754/Amd 64 3000+ is like $300. Can't beat that bang for buck.
Yep.

[TheBaron]

:drools

[keto]

But NF3 locks PCI wheras VIA does not, if I remember right. OPPainter is using the Pro version of the Gigabyte NF3 board and posted last night at XS that he'd hit 3GHz with a 3400+. With volt mods to mobo, of course. Said it was 4-500 points under FX at same clocks in 3DM2K1.

[MrBill]

VIA K8T880 and the Athlon64 3000+ is the best bang/buck A64 right now.I checked NewEgg for socket 754 motherboards and can't find one with a K8T880 chipset. All I can find is K8T800. :confused:

Is that a typo Thrax or is there a new chipset that maybe hasn't been released yet or NewEgg just doesn't carry?



Tex: Let me know what you decide on and what you think about it after you have it all together. I've been contemplating getting a 3000+, but it will probably be awhile yet.

[Thrax]

K8T800, typo.

[Omega65]

Game PC: The First AMD64 Platforms Compared : AMD(8000), nVidia (NForce3 150), and VIA (K8T800)

GamePC: Dual Opteron Duel : MSI K8T Master2 vs. Tyan Thunder K8W

GamePC Lab Index (~15 Opteron CPU/Motherboard Opteron Articles/Reviews)

Tex YGEM