Purchase NOW or LATER (Opteron 170)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Apparently PSU is real important with some of the DFI boards...from what I've read everybody pretty much recommends the OCZ 520 watt job or the pc power and cooling 510 watt beast that is supposed to be the best out there, but is twice as much as most anything else.
I have a WD Raptor and its nice, but frankly if money is a concern at all they're not really worth the almost 3x more per gig you pay for them.
 
Englightened, thanks for the bit on the HDD.

Ok...so you think I can save some money by going another route on the HDD.


Also, how do I determine what week and what not on this chip? I bought from MONARCH.

I know it's printed on the chip but I dont' know which one is which.

And frankly, I have NO clue what "stepping" means.

Enlighten me please?
 
I've been researching non-stop for the past few weeks by going to all different forums, though I found HardForums to be the most usefull.

Here's what I've bought and the amount paid is with shipping included and where I got it from

$225.33 DFI SLI-DR expert monarchcomputer.com
$410.55 Opteron 170 monarchcomputer.com
$50.00 ThermalRight SI-120 Jab-Tech.com
$20.00 Delta Tri Blade Fan LOW SPEED epowerhousepc.com
$301.49 2gb Ballistx PC 4000 ChiefValue.com
$136.65 OCZ Powerstream 520w directron.com

I'm still waiting for my heatsink and fan to arrive. I'm also planning on buying the 7800 GTX 512 on monday provided it goes to $550 or below. Otherwise, its the 256 version.

Heres my 170, also, I'll take picture of the expert if anyone's interested.
my.php


A few notes on each of the components that I've learned from the reading forums.
The expert is brand new, and therefore does not have a proven track record. There are people that are having problems with DFI Crossfire board, and these two boards a similar in a few ways. The 165 is the better value, but I'm still glad I got my 170. The SI-120 may or may not be as good as the thermalright XP-120 or XP-90c but if its not, its very close. Plus it doesn't way a lot like the 90c, nor does it have fitting issues like the XP-120. The Delta Tri Blade fan is still pretty powerful even though its LOW. The highspeed version is ungodly loud. The ballistix PC4000 ram seems to be pretty flaky. There are a lot of people who have post problems with it, but at the same time a lot say its some of the best stuff to get. Crucial has supposedly good support so if I have any problems I will just RMA it. The OCZ Powerstream 520w is very strongly recommended for the DFI boards, and especially the Expert. It has the 8 pin plug (4+4) that the Expert requires, which the older DFI boards did not need.
 
Looks like a good part list...If I pull the trigger on this I'm thinking of going with the new expert board too...gonna have to let me know what you think.
A couple of things though...I THINK I might have seen the power supply for less than $100, but it might have been a different 520w model and it looks as though you've done your research there...As far as the RAM goes, I know for a fact there are a lot of nice 2gb kits even on new egg in the $250 neighborhood, so that might save you a few bucks. Also, on the video card, its really looking like 512 just isn't worth the extra scrilla just yet, so it may or may not be worth your while to drop the extra cash on that.
Man, I'm so farkin jealous. I want a new rig! lol This whole Opteron thing sounds like a TON of fun, too.
 
BoredTiger said:
Englightened, thanks for the bit on the HDD.

Ok...so you think I can save some money by going another route on the HDD.


Also, how do I determine what week and what not on this chip? I bought from MONARCH.

I know it's printed on the chip but I dont' know which one is which.

And frankly, I have NO clue what "stepping" means.

Enlighten me please?


The week code and stepping will look something like
CCBWE 0530TPMW
 
enlightenedby42 said:
Looks like a good part list...If I pull the trigger on this I'm thinking of going with the new expert board too...gonna have to let me know what you think.
A couple of things though...I THINK I might have seen the power supply for less than $100, but it might have been a different 520w model and it looks as though you've done your research there...As far as the RAM goes, I know for a fact there are a lot of nice 2gb kits even on new egg in the $250 neighborhood, so that might save you a few bucks. Also, on the video card, its really looking like 512 just isn't worth the extra scrilla just yet, so it may or may not be worth your while to drop the extra cash on that.
Man, I'm so farkin jealous. I want a new rig! lol This whole Opteron thing sounds like a TON of fun, too.

The 520w Powerstream was available from a few places for below 99 for a while, but that was with a 20 mail in rebate. I didn't see this offer available anywhere wnen I bought, and directron had it cheaper than other places I was looking. Plus I like Directron anyway, and wanted to give them a piece of the pie.

Please note though that these prices are with shipping included, and I got 2nd day shipping via Fedex with the CPU, and Mobo, and Fed Ex saver on everything else but the heatsink and fan. It wasn't that much extra, and I'd rather have it handled less.

I was originally going to get some OCZ memory at $250 but I wanted to have high clocking stuff and a lot people recommended the ballistix (aside from the problems).

As for the Geforce 7800 GTX 512 mb, I want the 512 mb of memory mainly. Not because its needed in games today, but because it will be helpful in a year or so. I have the 9800 pro 128 which I've had since its launch, and I wish I would have waited for the 256 mb version because games like BF2 could use it today. The 128vs256mb didn't make a difference then, but it does now. I'm keeping this rig for 2+ years, and want it to last as long as possible. Plus I can get another used gtx in a year when they're cheap for SLI.
 
WOW!

WOLF, ENLIGHTENED, and PELEE...

THANKS so much for your input.

I particularly like the list you offered. That will give me a good starting point.

So there is a new board called the EXPERT huh? This seems like it will be an interesting adventure.

I too would love to have a 512mb card...but I will probably buy the vcard last.

Next thing on my list right now is the MOBO, RAM, and then Hard Drives and optical drives. Vcard, I will get last :)

ENLIGHTENED...aaackk...how could you show me that BFG package, after I've had COD2 for over a week and finished it!!! :(

I could have used that deal two weeks ago!!!! ARRGHh hahahaha...thanks for the look out though.

I do have to say, BFG cards have been very good to me thus far, and I'm very happy with them (BFG 6800 GT OC right now - AGP).

I really am looking forward to cranking this baby out.

Are there any parts or components available overseas and not here? Like in Europe, but not in the US that would be particularly good? I'm heading out to Europe in December...it'd be nice to grab something hard to find here if there is such a thing :)
 
One more thing...

WOLF, I have the same week and stepping as your chip :)

Is that good? :) hahah, I have no clue.
 
Quite to the contrary, from what I've been reading we seem to get better deals on stuff here in this case. I think you should be proud to be an American consumer at the moment...lol.
Yeah, I bought a BFG 6800 GT too, and honestly I doubt I'd buy another non-BFG card again. Just, wow. Frankly, that card is the only thing that is keeping me from being 100% sure about the upgrade. I'm actually considering spending student loan money on an Opteron at this point..."But I'm a computer science major! I NEED a $500 video card and processor for my degree!" HAH! The justifications of an addict.....Thanks for making it worse! Actually, you're building nearly EXACTLY the rig I was scheming...Nearly part for part..
 
I have no idea if our week is good. I was at first worried that having an earlier week than the 165's would be a bad thing. I think 0530 means it was made in the middle of july. People have posted with 0540 I think, so thats 2 1/2 months longer that AMD might have been able to tweak things to run better. Or maybe the newer ones are not as good for whatever reason. Who knows? The only person who's overclock I've seen with our week of 0530TPMW was getting a 2.936 GHZ overclock with their 170. But that was with a watercooling set up, and I'm using high end air.

As for the expert, mine is sitting in its box so I can't give any input on it, but there's a thread at DFI-street.com with people's first impressions. It was interesting to read because there has been absolutely no reviews on it that I've been able to find yet.

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30245
 
Wolfmyst said:
Here's what I've bought and the amount paid is with shipping included and where I got it from

$225.33 DFI SLI-DR expert monarchcomputer.com
$410.55 Opteron 170 monarchcomputer.com
$50.00 ThermalRight SI-120 Jab-Tech.com
$20.00 Delta Tri Blade Fan LOW SPEED epowerhousepc.com
$301.49 2gb Ballistx PC 4000 ChiefValue.com
$136.65 OCZ Powerstream 520w directron.com

I'm still waiting for my heatsink and fan to arrive. I'm also planning on buying the 7800 GTX 512 on monday provided it goes to $550 or below. Otherwise, its the 256 version.
Nice setup.. its going to scream however I thought you may want to consider this: XFX OverClocked 7800GT Right now ZipZoomFly has the Double Life Time Warranteed XFX OverClocked 7800GT for $340+30 Mail in rebate + Free CoD2 = $310x2(SLI) = $620 ($100 more for practically twice the power of a single 7800GTX512mb).. Check out the XFX 7800 GT SLI Review at Bjorn3d.com, they have a nice comparison.. deffintly a better value.

xfx1pz.jpg
 
Two 7800 GT's might be more powerful now, but in a year and a half when used/old stock 7800 gtx 512 are starting to get long in the tooth, I can buy one cheaply and have even more power than two 7800 gts with two 7800 GTX 512's. Plus, just because its SLI, doesn't mean 256mb+256mb of memory make one 512mb. And I very much believe that 512mb of memory will be very usefull at that point. I am now just upgrading from a 9800pro/Athlon xp after having it since April of 2003. Its lasted me this long because it was top of the line at the time, and I plan on keeping this new system just as long if not longer.

I'm not so much looking for the best value now, but what will be the best perfomance over the course of the systems life.
 
I was reading a thread in extremesystems.org about a guy whose Expert killed 2 of his A64's! Talk about depressing. I was going to wait till everything got in, but I had to know if my board had the same problem. To anyone considering this board, I'd hold off until more people report.

I set up the mobo and I set my retail stock heatsink with the thermal pad still on it with my Radeon 7500 PCI (NOT EXPRESS!).

Thankfully it works fine. But it does leave worried that something could happen.

Right now I've got the 170 at 2.6ghz with 1.35 volts. 10x260 3-3-3-8. All I've been doing is memtest so far, I just want to see if the memory has any problems going higher than its rated speed of 250. I doubt it would be prime stable, but I'm about to install windows to see. These stock heatsinks are much better than the crappy ones that came with the Althon XPs.
 
Well since the forums were down over the whole weekend, I was visiting the xtremesystems.org forums. It seems so far like that one guy who got both of his CPU's killed was the only one. Otherwise other people are doing fine with their experts, but not OCing the memory as well as they could before.

I also learned that the Ballistix PC4000 is not good ram to get. A LOT of people have problems with it. I'm not sure if I'm just going to RMA it since I just bought it and can switch to OCZ memory instead. I think I'll wait until the last moment so I can to see how it works out.

My Operton 170 0530 TPMW (from monarch) is supposedly the best week to get for 170's since people with the highest OC's have these cores and it seems to be the one everyone else hopes to get. I was able to get mine up to 2.7 ghz at 1.475v with the stock heatsink. I did have a another fan blowing on the heatsink though. I ran two instances of PRIME95 large fft, and it lasted 30mins with no errors before I stopped it. I can't wait to see what my Themalright SI-120 will be able to do with this chip.
 
Enlightened...it's a tough situation for you.

But if it's only a matter of getting the CPU for you, and you have everything else pretty much ready to go...why not pull the trigger?

WOLF has a really sweet setup.

WOLF, I am considering the EXPERT now...and I wanted to know what you thought of it. I know the non-expert board has a tried and true history of being a great board. If EXPERT has any new features that would be better than the previous one, then please share.

I am getting giddy thinking about how great this new rig will be. :)

I look forward to referring to you guys as I keep putting these things together :)

Thanks guys!
 
Since everyone else has thrown in their 2cents....I will too :) I haven't seen anything on the dfi expert board yet, so I can't comment on it but I do like my dfi sli dr board (400+ htt...oh yeah). Also, dfi's requirements on power are pretty strict, so look at the ocz powerstream psu 's...520 and up, seasonic, pcp&c, and hiper 580 are all good choices. You can save a few bucks on the ram, A64s aren't like the xps and P4s...you don't need to run the mem @ 250+ mhz to get a good oc (pc3200 is good enough and you can use a divider). Dfi doesn't like corsair ram much, but ocz and patriot both make good low latency ram for a good price.
 
SPOOGE!!! :)

Thanks man!

I think I'm going to grab some OCZ ram and OCZ powerstream PSU.

They seem pretty solid and reputation is pretty good.

I am still weighing my decision on whether I'd get the regular or the EXPERT.

I'd like to read some reviews on the EXPERT, but I haven't seen anything.

Looking forward to reading some literature on the EXPERT.

Thanks SPOOGE, for your input.
 
Remember if you asked me if our week of 0530 was good? From what I've been reading, its the best one to get. We are both very lucky.

As for the expert, it was redesigned signicantly. It's supposed to have better power regulation to the CPU. It also can do 4 ram modules at 1t. I use 2 so this isn't important to me. A big benefit to me though is that the x16 PCIx slots are spaced further apart, and that means that dual slot cooling like on the new 7800gtx 512 will be fine. On the old DFI's they would fit, but the fan on the top card would be right over the other card with no room for air to get through. I'd hold of on the expert for another week to see what the more people say. There are other changes which I can't really remember. I just wanted to get this board because I like buying technology as new as I can. And get 2gigs of OCZ ram, not Ballistix.
 
Wolfmyst said:
Well since the forums were down over the whole weekend, I was visiting the xtremesystems.org forums. It seems so far like that one guy who got both of his CPU's killed was the only one. Otherwise other people are doing fine with their experts, but not OCing the memory as well as they could before.

I also learned that the Ballistix PC4000 is not good ram to get. A LOT of people have problems with it. I'm not sure if I'm just going to RMA it since I just bought it and can switch to OCZ memory instead. I think I'll wait until the last moment so I can to see how it works out.

My Operton 170 0530 TPMW (from monarch) is supposedly the best week to get for 170's since people with the highest OC's have these cores and it seems to be the one everyone else hopes to get. I was able to get mine up to 2.7 ghz at 1.475v with the stock heatsink. I did have a another fan blowing on the heatsink though. I ran two instances of PRIME95 large fft, and it lasted 30mins with no errors before I stopped it. I can't wait to see what my Themalright SI-120 will be able to do with this chip.

The "fix" is upping the VCore of the processor by .1V or so. I'm not sure how this fixes it, but I came across it in the mobo section of the forum. And it's only a problem if you're running a high VDimm (jumpers set for 3.4V+).
 
Wolfmyst said:
I also learned that the Ballistix PC4000 is not good ram to get. A LOT of people have problems with it. I'm not sure if I'm just going to RMA it since I just bought it and can switch to OCZ memory instead. I think I'll wait until the last moment so I can to see how it works out.
but on the other side of the coin, a ton of people have it and have no problems. remember two things:

1. it may be rated for 2.8v, but it may not need that much for stock
2. always always always keep a fan blowing over ballistix to keep it cool.
 
Ahh...ok.

So I will hold off for a week on the Mobo...to see what other folks have to say about this board.

I too like to get the best technology at the time...for a good price.

I look forward to what the owners have to say about this new EXPERT board.

ECLIPSE! I'm going to get the EXPERT or the regular one. Also, I am set on getting OCZ ram and PSU.

Now I have to focus on heatsink. :[

blah...
 
yeah, hold off for like a week or so to see what issues may or may not crop up with the expert board :D
 
I noticed my ballistix get pretty warm. I just installed a side-panel fan, so I'll see how that goes. Do you know if 2.7v is ok to do?

BoredTiger: I found that the heatsink/fan combo was the most difficult to choose, mainly because there are a lot of choices. Also, while you're looking at people posting about the expert, look at what memory they're using. I'll keep an eye out too and post back here when I find out anything new.
 
I'm liking my 2gb Patriot ram. It was ~$230 a few months ago and is good for 2-3-2-5 1t to about 220mhz. The extra cash for pc4000 memory doesn't give any noticable performance boost, unless you're wanting the fastest possible superpi time. I spent a good 16hrs running all sorts of benchmarks with ram at 200mhz and 240mhz,only to come to the conclusion that eclipse and barron were right.....more cpu mhz is much better than more ram mhz.
 
SpoogeMonkey said:
The extra cash for pc4000 memory doesn't give any noticable performance boost, unless you're wanting the fastest possible superpi time.
true words, something i often forget myself. i like oc'ing ram more because it's fun than because of the performance i get. perhaps consider these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231032

damn good deal for what it is, and i've seen some that still overclock quite impressively.
 
BoredTiger said:
ECLIPSE, I will be relying on your OC guide heavily in the future, I hope that I can learn as much as possible from you and your expansive knowledge of OC'ing and assembling stable systems.

lol - same thing here. Ordered my 165 today... :D
 
Ordered an Opteron 170 OEM from Monarch on Friday for $356.00, should be here Tuesday. Unless the wireless ISP site survey guys actually install the hardware Tuesday I should be able to test it that evening.

Replacing the Athlon 64 in the sig.
 
Hey all... back online. I'm typing this on my Opteron 170 ccbwe week 530 chip on my MSI K8N NEo2 Platinum.

No oc'ing yet - I spend about 3 hours futzing with what I thought were failed ethernet or LAN slots and it turns out I got a worm within the first few minutes of a fresh install without a firewall or virus protection and that messed my internet connection up.

Anyways, I've hit a couple installation bumps but I will be posting pics and stories tomorrow.
 
The shipping gods were nice and the Opteron came in today. :)


ccbwe 0534


We shall see what it does tonight.
 
I had no idea G.SKILL ram was a good RAM alternative (to Corsair).

Ok...fine, I'll go with G.SKILL :)

I intend to OC my rig, but not to insane measures. I just want it to run faster than it is stock and powerful enough to notice, "hey my rig is OC'd and kickin some arse" :)

Eclipse, again...thank you for your suggestion.

I swear, this forum rocks. I look forward to more results on the Expert board and further advice regarding other components to complement this sweet OPTERON i have sitting in a hidden box at my apartment :) hehehe
 
The PC3200 Corsair I have completely bites. I'm sure a lot of people have had decent experiences but this stuff won't even run at the advertised timings stabily, much less overclocked. So I'd definately say get g.skill over corsair at least.
 
G.Skill has been good to me so far. Of course, the Crucial Value is tough to beat ;).
 
guys,

I had a customer back out on a 170.

OSA170DAA6CD TRAY Stock $360.00 Model 170, Dual Core, 2.0Ghz, 939pin, 110W, 2 MB Cache, step E6

it's a CCBWE 0530TPMW

serial code ending in H50071

price is $360.00 + 11.00 shipping.

It's available to ship tomorrow.

dave

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top