FX55?

B

bob

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 13, 2002
Messages
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The FX55 was over $1,000.00 when I built my computer. I ended up going with a socket 939 90nm winchester-core 1.8Ghz (3000+) athlon 64. I have a 6600GT PCI-E, 1024MB of ram, one 80 gig hitachi, one 250 gig segate. But now, my cpu is worth about as much as a ham sandwich, and the FX33 is now $129.00 at newegg.

I do a lot of things under VMware, encode videos from Fraps to Divx 5.2 (which takes ages on my 1.8). Im somewhat happy with the performance im getting in gaming, as long as I leave AA down at 2x everything is fine. But what im really frustraited with is the Divx encoding and Vmware. Ive been making video-walkthroughs for games off and on, 3-4 hours of Fraps videos usually takes up an entire evening.

Under VMware, right now I have Solaris 10, two copies of windows 2000, and one copy of windows NT4 server. Occasionaly they will all run at once, sometimes none of them are on. *Usually* if I set VMware and the Divx encoding both to low priority, my computer can still function without too much trouble.

I know for these types of things, a dual/quad core would have been best, but thats another 1000+ in upgrades that I dont have. Its basically come down to this choice: Build a low budget computer/buy an older dual P3 off ebay for around ~150, or buy the FX55 (or possibly a dual core s939 opteron??).

Any ideas?

(my motherboard is a Gigabyte GAK8NF-9 S939, Nforce 4)
 
Adidas4275 said:
well you are missing the best solution..... opteron 170 or X2 4200+
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I thought the X2s were a different socket/wont work with 939 motherboards? Or have I missed out on something?
 
bob said:
I thought the X2s were a different socket/wont work with 939 motherboards? Or have I missed out on something?
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you missed out on something ;).

Just make sure you get a s939 dual core processor and not a AM2 version. That is definitely the way to go vs a FX-55.
 
yep you missed it.

X2s are 939 and AM2
and opteron 1XX are 939 ie. single core: 144, 146, 148, 150, Dual core:165, 170, 175, 180, 185

do not get opteron 2XX
 
bob said:
I thought the X2s were a different socket/wont work with 939 motherboards? Or have I missed out on something?
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nope X2's were introduced on socket 939, then migrated to AM2. the Opteron 165, 170, and some other dual core Opterons were also s939. Now finding a new 939 X2 is going to be a bitch since they're discontinued and resellers are running out of stock. You'll probably end up having to buy a used one, or go with an dual core s939 Opteron. I think they're still in stock at most places.
 
In stock and fairly cheap compared to what they cost initially :). I got my 165 as soon as I saw them (maybe a week before everyone wanted them...when everyone was still going nuts over the 14X series opterons) and I think it cost me $350 or so. I'd have to check for sure. Now they are $150-160. For that price, there's NO good reason to get the FX-55 when it's $130.
 
kirbyrj said:
In stock and fairly cheap compared to what they cost initially :). I got my 165 as soon as I saw them (maybe a week before everyone wanted them...when everyone was still going nuts over the 14X series opterons) and I think it cost me $350 or so. I'd have to check for sure. Now they are $150-160. For that price, there's NO good reason to get the FX-55 when it's $130.
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Except that the FX-55 is 2.6GHz and the Opty165 is 1.8GHz. If someone just wanted to run games and not do a lot of multithreading (multithreaded games aren't here yet) then FX-55 would be the better choice.
 
Wow... Hmm, things really have changed since 2004. Seems just like it was the other day that 64 bit had come out :(. Looks like I'll go with the 3800+ Windsor

But anyways... If one CPU core is being worked hard (lets say im doing the Divx encoding). The Divx encoding isnt anything that will use much of the hard drive, only about 30MB of ram. Would I expect any performance hit, by having a high load on the other core?

Thanks for clearing that up on the s939... Probably will lower my blood pressure to an acceptable level once I order this thing.
 
bob said:
Wow... Hmm, things really have changed since 2004. Seems just like it was the other day that 64 bit had come out :(. Looks like I'll go with the 3800+ Windsor

But anyways... If one CPU core is being worked hard (lets say im doing the Divx encoding). The Divx encoding isnt anything that will use much of the hard drive, only about 30MB of ram. Would I expect any performance hit, by having a high load on the other core?

Thanks for clearing that up on the s939... Probably will lower my blood pressure to an acceptable level once I order this thing.
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X2 3800+ Windsor won't work for you.
 
Buy the Opteron 165. Trust me. Higher quality silicon and 1MB L2 cache is well worth it over a 3800 x2.
 
ryan_975 said:
Except that the FX-55 is 2.6GHz and the Opty165 is 1.8GHz. If someone just wanted to run games and not do a lot of multithreading (multithreaded games aren't here yet) then FX-55 would be the better choice.
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At that point, I like to make the argument that you should just buy an Xbox 360/PS3/Wii if you're just playing games with your computer ;).
 
kirbyrj said:
At that point, I like to make the argument that you should just buy an Xbox 360/PS3/Wii if you're just playing games with your computer ;).
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To some people consoles are too limited compared to PC's. Plus there's quite a few games out on PC that aren't on consoles.
 
ryan_975 said:
To some people consoles are too limited compared to PC's.
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The only real limit is the lack of keyboard/mouse for FPS games. Other than that, there really isn't too much that the consoles can't do. I'm still pissed off that COD3 didn't come out for computer.
 
ryan_975 said:
Except that the FX-55 is 2.6GHz and the Opty165 is 1.8GHz. If someone just wanted to run games and not do a lot of multithreading (multithreaded games aren't here yet) then FX-55 would be the better choice.
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he does encoding > dual core.

plus a 165/170 will generally hit 2.6 ghz without much ado.
 
Martyr said:
he does encoding > dual core.

plus a 165/170 will generally hit 2.6 ghz without much ado.
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I know dual core is best in THIS situation. But the statement I quoted above didn't qualify that. So I took it to mean that the Opty 165 is better than the FX-55 period.
 
ryan_975 said:
I know dual core is best in THIS situation. But the statement I quoted above didn't qualify that. So I took it to mean that the Opty 165 is better than the FX-55 period.
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That's what I did mean :). While I'm sure some people have their different opinions, I personally believe that any dual core processor is worth the money over a single core even high end single cores. But, I do more with my computer than just play games, I do a fair bit of encoding, and I overclock (so a chip like the 165 didn't scare me off with the x9 multiplier). The FX-55 is really only worth it if you ONLY play games with your computer. And the FX-55's that are usually on sale for ridiculously low prices are the older 130nm versions, not the 90nm San Diegos. Maybe they are selling the newer ones at this point though.
 
ryan_975 said:
Now finding a new 939 X2 is going to be a bitch since they're discontinued and resellers are running out of stock.
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Hmmmm.... no problems finding s939 chips from here. You're not like that Hiro guy on NBC's show Heroes are ya??? (from the future) :p (tell me the powerball lottery results for 12/13/06, I'll split it with you!!!!)

I can still find s754 chips. I also have no issues locating brand spanking new socket 478s CPUs. :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
Manny Calavera said:
Other then the socket,are there any architectural diff's between the above cores?
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939 = DDR1
AM2 = DDR2 and some other minor tweaks and refinements. Overall a negligible performance gain.


Manchestor = 939 Dual 512k L2 caches
Toledo = 939 Dual 1MB L2 caches. (Maybe have disabled to make 3800+ 4200+ and 4600+)
 
ryan_975 said:
Except that the FX-55 is 2.6GHz and the Opty165 is 1.8GHz. If someone just wanted to run games and not do a lot of multithreading (multithreaded games aren't here yet) then FX-55 would be the better choice.
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This is an incredibly incorrect statement especially if you plan to overclock. Try dropping a 8800 in a rig with an FX-55 and then do the same with a 165 or 170. The difference is substantial. Opty is the only way to go if you are trying to breathe some life in a 939 platform and think you may have a current (nvidia) or next (ati/amd) video card in your future.
 
RAutrey said:
This is an incredibly incorrect statement especially if you plan to overclock. Try dropping a 8800 in a rig with an FX-55 and then do the same with a 165 or 170. The difference is substantial. Opty is the only way to go if you are trying to breathe some life in a 939 platform and think you may have a current (nvidia) or next (ati/amd) video card in your future.
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It's only incorrect IF you plan to overclock. But then again not everyone is going to succesfully get an Opty up to 2.6GHz. And if the only thing being done on the computer is single threaded apps (such as gaming) with little to no multitasking then dual-core is of little use.
 
Gaming in the future is going to be aimed more at dual core. Plus, the computing experience in general benefits from dual core.
 
RAutrey said:
This is an incredibly incorrect statement especially if you plan to overclock. Try dropping a 8800 in a rig with an FX-55 and then do the same with a 165 or 170. The difference is substantial. Opty is the only way to go if you are trying to breathe some life in a 939 platform and think you may have a current (nvidia) or next (ati/amd) video card in your future.
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breathe life my ass! I've had an FX55 since they were the top of the heap and I can still throw anything at it with my 7800GTX and it kicks ass so whatever. nothing like subjective, biased computer help for the billionth time
 
G'ßöö said:
breathe life my ass! I've had an FX55 since they were the top of the heap and I can still throw anything at it with my 7800GTX and it kicks ass so whatever. nothing like subjective, biased computer help for the billionth time
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If you were buying today, would you spend $150 on a Opteron 165 that will probably hit 2.6-2.7Ghz fairly easily, or would you spend $130 on an FX-55 that might do 3.0-3.2Ghz?
 
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