socket 939 - best - best oc - best for $

H

HvyMtl

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 3, 2003
Messages
1,730
ok, there seems to be a rather lack of socket 939 x2 available now that the AM2 has hit the market.

This is what I need to know - what is the best overall 939 x2 proc?

What is the best overclocking 939 x2?

What is the best bang for buck 939 x2?

Best places to get?

Best cooler?
 
If you have a good overclocking motherboard I would pick up an opteron 170 or maybe an opteron 168.

They sometimes can reach 3.0ghz, but average ~2.8. You need a good board to get the most out of them, the 168 especially since it has a low multiplier of 9.

I don't think you can do much better as far as performance vs. price value on s939
 
Opty 165 or 170, maybe 175 if you want more multipliers, but you do need to get a certain stepping or you'll go no further than 2.6ghz like me.
 
Any of the x2's or opty's should overclock pretty well, get the cheapest one you can find and pair it up with a good heatsink.
 
depends on what kind of fsb you can achieve w/ your mobo.

but opty's would be my vote.

Opty's > X2's in terms of proven OC results from what i've seen.

I use a 175 but a 165 is GREAT bang for the buck if you can get your fsb high enough to work with a 9x multiplier
 
My Opty 175 only hits about 2.55 at stock volts, which I'm more than happy with, but those looking for massive OC's might want to look more closely at the 165's.
 
I agree with most of the posts already up. Opteron > X2 for overclocking.
And I'll agree with 165 or 170 (CCBBE) for best overclockability.
 
The 165 was THE deal when the alternative was an X2 3800 and any of the higher clocked chips like the 170, 175, X2 4400, X2 4600 cost a couple hundred or even many hundred bucks more.

But now these are all midrange models at best now. At Newegg, a 170 or X2 4400 is just $10 additional, and a 175 is $35 more than that.

A higher model chip has better flexibility and better resale. That's not usually worth $200, but when its $10 here and $35 there I wouldn't consider anything less than the 170 and the 175 is probably a better deal.
 
pigwalk said:
My Opty 175 only hits about 2.55 at stock volts, which I'm more than happy with, but those looking for massive OC's might want to look more closely at the 165's.
Click to expand...

hmm... stepping?

with stock volts, i can hit 2.85-ish. w/ 1.4-1.45V, I achieve 3.0 on water.

CCBBE stepping
 
I don't know what stepping my opteron 170 is, but on my via chipset board I can get 2.5ghz stock volts.

I know it can go higher, of course, but I am limited by my motherboard. I am impressed I can even do this well. I ran an x2 3800 for the longest time and I had to pump 1.6v into it to reach 2.5ghz.

Now I can hit the max of my motherboard and do it with the nice simple AMD heatpipe HSF.

I so wish I had an unlocked multiplier... I would have probably bought an fx-60 eventually if I did not get the opty... but now I might as well hold my cash for a new system.
 
optys are better than standard x2... well they do have to work long hours in a server environment.

best places to buy them? best cooler (air) that wont bust my budget?
 
HvyMtl said:
best places to buy them? best cooler (air) that wont bust my budget?
Click to expand...

For a while there...newegg had the CCBBE steppings for both 165 and 170s. A recent look at customer reviews seems to reveal those are not the steppings that are currently being shipped :(

Air cooling an Opty.... the heatpiped versions of the stock AMD heatsinks perform fairly well... if you get the retail version of the chips (or look around ebay, about $15.00). For aftermarket models... the Tuniq is the king of the hill at the moment. Zalman 9700 or 9500 works well too.... and the new version of the Scythe Ninja is under $40.00 atm.
 
the Tuniq is a monster. Has Thermalright slipped of late? Do the new Zalmans have the same issue as the old - needing large amounts of clearance around the cpu to install?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top