Upgrade Athlon 64 to X2/Opteron (939) or other component

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Kozak

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Nov 23, 2004
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My current system is:

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 3200
Corsair XMS 1GB (2X512MB)
Gigabyte GV-NX66T128D Geforce 6600GT
Seagate 300GB SATA-3.0 HD
Hitachi 160GB SATA-1.5 HD
(No Sound Card) - use the onboard audio
DVD Burner
ENERMAX EG565AX-VEFMA2.0-SLI ATX12V 535W Power Supply

The system is about 2 years old coming up this winter. I haven't played any games or done much with it in the past but lately I installed some game demos such as Battlefield 2142 and realized the performance is not that great and the system is not new anymore!!

Around this Christmas season, I have some extra money to spend (maybe a few hundred dollars) I need some help on what parts would be best to upgrade and what to leave off for a total rebuild in the future. Please give me suggestions. Thank you!

BTW- When I listen to the sound in the games, I get a weird static sound sometimes. Is this coming from the onboard audio??

Also, what's the difference between X2 Athlons and the Opterons??
 
I have a similar system and recently upgraded to the Opteron 170 and am very happy with it. Difference between Opteron and X2 - Opteron are server class processors and are generally better quality silicon and more thoroughly tested. They overclock better than the X2 CPU. All Opterons have 2 x 1mb cache while only some X2 have 1mb, other have 512k.

Most Opterons will clock to 2.8 some to 3.0 with good colling. On average they OC about 200mhz more than X2.

Some games are more CPU bound and some are more GPU bound so it depends on the type of game you play. For general computer use and multitasking then the Opteron is a better buy than a better graphic card especially if you are running at stock speed CPU.

If you can afford it then a 7950GT would make a good match for the Opteron. (I plan on buying an 8800GTS or best equivalent in March 2007. I would get the Opteron before a graphic card upgrade but both if you can afford it. Depends on your expectations. I play Company of Heroes comfortably at medium resolution.

Of course if you can afford it then a new system based around a Core 2 Duo is the way to go.

I am extremely happy with my move from an A64 3200 to the Opteron 170. Clocked at 2.8 it is equivalent to an FX62 or a stock Core 2 E6400 and was great value for money. I am confident I can get a bit more out of the Opteron yet.
 
What about something like a 3700+ or Opty 146, in the $80 range?

Those seem to be overclocking higher than Opty 165/170 - about 3.0 GHz on average vs 2.6-2.7 for the more expensive dual core Opterons.

I'm thinking of buying on of those 1 MB cache chips to replace my 3000+.
 
For now, I'd go with a new video card. x1950pro or 7900/7950 series.

You will see your most improvement in gaming there.

Then see what happens in a few months... at that time get either a X2 or Opty, price being the factor.
 
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