Am I silly to buy PC4000 for an Opteron 165 with OC in mind?

[Lukano]

I posted a thread a while back for some suggestions / info on PC4000 - and the day of reckoning (Feb 1st when my fiscal situation is ready for my purchase) is fast approaching.

I've been looking at a variety of ~$300 CDN PC4000 3-4-4-8 / 3-4-3-8 ranged 2x1024mb kits. OCZ, Crucial, Corsair - with a lean towards OCZ.

Grabbing an Opteron 165 to go with it, and I will - without a doubt - be aiming to push as much as I can out of the system (DFI NF4 Ultra-D motherboard).

So am I wasting my money going for PC4000 2x1024mb? Should I get PC3200 2x1024mb instead? Even if it's the same price, would I get better overclockability out of some PC3200 that has yet to be brought to my attention?

Or am I barking up the correct tree of thought when my reasoning is that 500mhz DDR is well worth it for maintaining 1:1 when pushing my Opty 165 to 260-300 (or whatever it ends up managing stable)?

Just need to make sure I have my ducks in a row before I jump.

Also a semi-unrelated question that really should be in the AMD forum - but I'll ask here anyways. Any major reason for looking at an Opty 170 at ~$500-520 CDN instead of an Opty 165 at ~$370-400 CDN? Anything special or proven in recent batches of the 170 that makes it a better choice?

My budget is pretty flexible here, so with valid reasoning I can make the step up (so if someone wants to tell me that a specific X2 or FX within a $600-800 CDN max budget for CPU is a better idea, let me know).

 

[PClark99]

The 170 gives you an extra multiplier. It can be helpful.

PC4000 will let you run the RAM 1:1 maybe up to 270 if you get something decent like OCZ, GSkill, or Mushkin.

 

[Lukano]

The 170 gives you an extra multiplier. It can be helpful.

PC4000 will let you run the RAM 1:1 maybe up to 270 if you get something decent like OCZ, GSkill, or Mushkin.

I was looking at the OCZ 3-4-4-8 Gold stuff, or even the Platinum EB's which are a bit more but lower latency by a bit.

Oddly enough I finally found a Canadian G.Skill retailer. The only thing I can find that fits my needs is G.Skill Extreme Series F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ (2x 1GB DDR500 Matched Pair, CAS 3-4-4-8) but as I don't know G.Skill from a hole in my head - I don't know what to expect. Is there something super special about that specific ram that would make it worth an extra $60 over the OCZ Gold 3-4-4-8's?

 

[Mayhs]

im not sure how much better they are...but for many of the people here who overclock heavily, the g.skill is like their holy grail for ram...

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

im not sure how much better they are...but for many of the people here who overclock heavily, the g.skill is like their holy grail for ram...

not for me, it's just cheap

 

[PClark99]

Platinum EBs are pricey and hard to find.

I have the older PC4000 3-4-4-8. It works fine for me up to about 255-260 but then no further. Then again I have the voltage set at 2.7.

The GSkill HZ is the shizz if you are on a budget. If you want to spend a little more consider the Corsair PC4000PT. I have seen some good stuff about that as well.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

The GSkill HZ is the shizz if you are on a budget. If you want to spend a little more consider the Corsair PC4000PT. I have seen some good stuff about that as well.

the corsair's aren't very different than the g.skill HZ, or the ocz gold sticks rated to 250mhz at 3-4-3. it's all samsung UCCC

 

[Lukano]

the corsair's aren't very different than the g.skill HZ, or the ocz gold sticks rated to 250mhz at 3-4-3. it's all samsung UCCC

Eclipse, I know I've asked you this before but I just want to clarify.

OCZ PC4000 Gold 3-4-3's - chances of them hitting ~270mhz is pretty reasonable?

And is there any major advantage to my spending an additional $80 CDN on the OCZ PC4000 EB's for the 3-3-2 and potentially higher clock?

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

anything with UCCC binned to 250mhz will generally oc to the same rough levels. i think currently, 270mhz should be pretty easy, unless you get a touch unlucky

also, the EB's won't clock higher. good luck getting those much over 260-265mhz stable in games... the advantage is that it tops out with 3-3-2 timings instead of 3-4-4 timings. better, but not with the 50% higher price for the 1-2% higher fps

 

[Lukano]

anything with UCCC binned to 250mhz will generally oc to the same rough levels. i think currently, 270mhz should be pretty easy, unless you get a touch unlucky

also, the EB's won't clock higher. good luck getting those much over 260-265mhz stable in games... the advantage is that it tops out with 3-3-2 timings instead of 3-4-4 timings. better, but not with the 50% higher price for the 1-2% higher fps

Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to know... so OCZ PC4000 Gold for the latency traded for higher stable clocks - AND $80 to pay for the Scythe Ninja + shipping.

So the only remaining decision I have left is Opteron 165 vs 170 (debating the tradeoff of $130 CDN more for the 10x multi - for a theoretically easy 270x10 1:1).

 

[Moto450fyz]

My EB's are Game stable @ 273 but for alot less the gold will do about the same OC, I say save your self 100 Bucks and get the gold Now I love my EB's but for the Price diff a 100 Bucks is GOLD

 

[zbuddah]

Here is what I would do
if I had to get the 165 then I would get ddr400 ram since I still will be running a divider with ddr500 ram. the 165's have a multiplier lock at x9 so 270 which is pretty much the limit of my g.skill hz is 270x9=- 2430 mhz not much of an overclock since the 165's should at the least be able to get 2.6ghz which is 290x9 I'm still going to be running a divider with ddr500 ram, so I might as well grab the slower sticks with faster timings. I haven't played much with the HZ soI don't know how low of a timing i go at ddr400 speeds, but either way i'm running a divider to get 2.6ghz might as well do it with faster timings.

but...

but If i were to get a 170 with a x10 multiplier than i would grab the ddr500 ram. Since I can run 270 1:1 with a x10 multiplier giving me 2.7ghz assuming my processor can reach that speed in the first place. I believe 2.6ghz should be plain jane easy with the dual core opterons people just haven't tried hard enough . but anyways get my jist? opteron 170 + ddr500 1:1 memory... opteron 165 +ddr400 or ddr500 = running on a divider anyways.

 

[Lukano]

Here is what I would do
if I had to get the 165 then I would get ddr400 ram since I still will be running a divider with ddr500 ram. the 165's have a multiplier lock at x9 so 270 which is pretty much the limit of my g.skill hz is 270x9=- 2430 mhz not much of an overclock since the 165's should at the least be able to get 2.6ghz which is 290x9 I'm still going to be running a divider with ddr500 ram, so I might as well grab the slower sticks with faster timings. I haven't played much with the HZ soI don't know how low of a timing i go at ddr400 speeds, but either way i'm running a divider to get 2.6ghz might as well do it with faster timings.

but...

but If i were to get a 170 with a x10 multiplier than i would grab the ddr500 ram. Since I can run 270 1:1 with a x10 multiplier giving me 2.7ghz assuming my processor can reach that speed in the first place. I believe 2.6ghz should be plain jane easy with the dual core opterons people just haven't tried hard enough . but anyways get my jist? opteron 170 + ddr500 1:1 memory... opteron 165 +ddr400 or ddr500 = running on a divider anyways.

That pretty much mirrors my logic path over the past week.

I've got it nailed down now (I think) to an Opteron 170, OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8 2gb, Scythe Ninja, 2x Nexus 120mm (one for the case, one for the Scythe) and an Antec P180. Total damage falls at about $1250-1300 after tax/shipping in Canuckistanian funds.

Breakdown is;

$510-520 CDN for the Opteron 170
$300 CDN for the 2gb OCZ Ram
$170 for the P180
$50-60 for the Scythe Ninja

All in all not too shabby and should buy me a lengthy time-difference until my next upgrade cycle. Plus I've still got 6-7 days until I can make the purchase, so I may see a price-drop on a few things (ie; ram back down to the pre-rebate price will save me another $30, the CPU may also drop another $10-20 as the 165's gain popularity and run out of stock, they'll want to make it an easy upsell to 170's).

 

[Bordak]

That pretty much mirrors my logic path over the past week.

I've got it nailed down now (I think) to an Opteron 170, OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8 2gb, Scythe Ninja, 2x Nexus 120mm (one for the case, one for the Scythe) and an Antec P180. Total damage falls at about $1250-1300 after tax/shipping in Canuckistanian funds.

Breakdown is;

$510-520 CDN for the Opteron 170
$300 CDN for the 2gb OCZ Ram
$170 for the P180
$50-60 for the Scythe Ninja

All in all not too shabby and should buy me a lengthy time-difference until my next upgrade cycle. Plus I've still got 6-7 days until I can make the purchase, so I may see a price-drop on a few things (ie; ram back down to the pre-rebate price will save me another $30, the CPU may also drop another $10-20 as the 165's gain popularity and run out of stock, they'll want to make it an easy upsell to 170's).

Is this the OCZ ram you are considering?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16123&vpn=OCZ5002048ELGE-K&manufacture=OCZ Technology

I am in the exact same boat as you, looking at the Opteron 165, and a DFI Lan Party.

 

[Lukano]

Is this the OCZ ram you are considering?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16123&vpn=OCZ5002048ELGE-K&manufacture=OCZ Technology

I am in the exact same boat as you, looking at the Opteron 165, and a DFI Lan Party.

exact same stuff, yup! Bugs me that NCIX drove the price up by $30 CDN to cover the mail in rebate, but that price/rebate expires 01/31 anyways - so here's hoping I can shave off $50-75 off the total with some crazy fancy sale next week.

I'm almost tempted to find someone who has Premier Partner status with NCIX to see if I'd save $150 off of an order that big - therefore basically getting free PP status out of it.

 

[Moto450fyz]

Newegg had that Ram on sale last week after rebate it is was like $197 shipped I had a friend grab some while it was cheap But he is in the States.

 

[Bordak]

exact same stuff, yup! Bugs me that NCIX drove the price up by $30 CDN to cover the mail in rebate, but that price/rebate expires 01/31 anyways - so here's hoping I can shave off $50-75 off the total with some crazy fancy sale next week.

I'm almost tempted to find someone who has Premier Partner status with NCIX to see if I'd save $150 off of an order that big - therefore basically getting free PP status out of it.

Just checked, new MIR's for Febuary, dropped it down to $192 after rebates, great price for us Canadians.

 

[Lukano]

Just checked, new MIR's for Febuary, dropped it down to $192 after rebates, great price for us Canadians.

Yup, I noticed that. I was really tempted to wait until tomorrow to place my order, as the new flyer will be coming out - but I may not be able to get to it until next week if I don't do it today... so I ordered my stuff.

Opteron 165 - $379 CDN
OCZ EL Gold PC4000 - $283 without rebates, $192 with rebates.
Antec P180 (shipped seperately and ground due to cost) $160
2x Nexus 120mm fans - $20 each.

Then I also ordered a Scythe Ninja from BigFootComputers which hopefully will be here around the same time as the case.