X2 3800+ or more?

I

Inn3s

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Mar 30, 2006
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Hey guys, I am new to the forums.
I am selling my computer this week and will be upgrading. I currently have a A64 3500+ running at the stock 2.2. I am looking into overclocking a dual core that will do all the gaming I need. I was thinking of going with the X2 4400+ but after seeing the ending price and reading forums I was thinking more along the lines of a 3800+ and instead buy a nice HSF (si-120).
Any suggestions? Am I better off OCing a X2 3800+, and will i see a difference from this 3500+? Also does having ram that is over pc3200 help with over-clocking AMDs?

Thanks
 
Im in the same boat, Im not sure if I want to get the 3800+ or the 4200+
I wonder if its really worth the mhz for gaming or not
 
Go for the x2 3800+.

I got mine a few weeks ago, plugged it in and everything was working great. Restarted, set the FSB to 235 and am now running at 2.35 with 2gb of Corsair Value Ram. Works great, no voltage change, no stability issues whatsoever. I may even try getting up to 2.5
 
Oh, and that was all on the stock cooler, not much airflow in the case, and idle temps of 38-40 going up to 50 on full load gaming.
 
no no no go with the x2 3800+ i have mine at 2.75 1.4V 49 Full load (never hits 100%)
 
Go with the 3800+ and buy a nice heatsink, that way you will most likely be able to hit 2.4Ghz and might be able to get to 2.6 or 2.7Ghz. (my max is 2.7Ghz at 1.4volts)

Oh and on my temperatures I idle at 31-32C and max at 39C but thats cause I'm at 1.1Volts and 2.2Ghz, when I was at 2.6Ghz@1.35volts I had 35-38Idle and maxed at 52C.
 
I purchased my x2 3800 on aug 7, 2005; so I've been using it for quite a long time.

I have ZERO issues with this chip. I'm only running it at 2.42, but it never fails or disappoints.

Even though I'm an upgrade addict, I just don't see myself upgrading anytime soon.

One more thing. Get the x2 with the stock hsf; it'll probably be enough for your needs.
 
Another option if you're planning on overclocking is the Opteron 165. It overclocks well, but more importantly it has a larger L2 cache than the 3800+ for similar price.
 
onetrueday said:
One more thing. Get the x2 with the stock hsf; it'll probably be enough for your needs.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the X2 4400+ and above? i thought the lower end X2's had the same HSF as the high end A64's.

I would get a X2 rated @ 2.4GHz and then overclock from there, and have a super fast machine.
 
like the other guy, i have had my x2 since last august. i jumped on the opteron thing in october but wasnt impressed, so i put the 3800 back in. there is a huge range of steppings, e4, e6, manchesters, castrated toledos(like mine) and many of them overclock well, including the newer ones. go for it.
 
I think with 3800+ X2, anything less than 2.5 is a bit of a gimp chip. Kinda like the 3ghz 2.4Cs. As for faster ram, no it wont help you overclock the chip any more but it does mean your memory will be faster ;)
 
I've used both the Opty 165 and the X2 3800+. I had a gimp 3800+ though. My opty ran at 2.6Ghz@1.4V with 45C load temps and my 3800+ would only do about 2.45Ghz@1.4V. I wouldn't worry about getting more than a 3800+ (at least I wouldn't if I were buying another today ;) ).
 
I got my X2 3800+ About 2 months ago. I am loving the dual core chip alot. I have had some success at o/c it too...it is at 2600mhz @ 1.344v just right at below stock volts. I have some cheap memory ..it is the Gskill pc 3200 and it is very stable and it runs great...I have it paired with an Asus A8N-E
 
kirbyrj said:
I've used both the Opty 165 and the X2 3800+. I had a gimp 3800+ though. My opty ran at 2.6Ghz@1.4V with 45C load temps and my 3800+ would only do about 2.45Ghz@1.4V. I wouldn't worry about getting more than a 3800+ (at least I wouldn't if I were buying another today ;) ).
Click to expand...

Hehe, yeah my 3800+ will overclock to 2.7Ghz@1.4Volts but it gimps my memory as I have to set it a 3/5ths of full speed, so I just run at 2.666Ghz@1.35Volts to maxamize my ram and cpu, although I use my much lowerclocked 2.2Ghz@1.1Volts in day to day useage.

Oh and I got gskill 2GB-3200-2.5-3-3-6 1T, it maxes out at 230Mhz, and when using dividers I can only get it stable at 220Mhz, so I have to tweak stuff to get it stable, I guess I could try using 2T though.

Edit: Tried using 2T doesn't make any difference.
 
NFarnzy said:
I got my X2 3800+ About 2 months ago. I am loving the dual core chip alot. I have had some success at o/c it too...it is at 2600mhz @ 1.344v just right at below stock volts. I have some cheap memory ..it is the Gskill pc 3200 and it is very stable and it runs great...I have it paired with an Asus A8N-E
Click to expand...

See...this kind of success story is making me think I need to pick up a cheap X2 3800+ and play around with dual cores again :).
 
I bought a retail E6 Toledo 4200+, thinking that if I got a 3800+ and couldn't clock it very high, I'd be unhappy, and the 4200+ with the larger cache at stock 2.2 or a bit above would be ok if it didn't overclock well.

Of course, I OC'd the 4200+, but I'm only able to hit 2.8 (with my now-returned AN8-32X) and with my current A8R32-MVP, it's only stable at 2.7 (246x11) on air at 1.525v. A LOT of 3800+ and 165 owners are seeing speeds that good or nearly that good without a lot of effort, and with lower voltages. Maybe I got a dud.

If I had a do-over, I'd probably get a 165 (I like the larger cache), and I would have saved $150. The thing is, nobody locally stocks them.
 
i have a 3800+ x2 and i play pretty much every game out without a hiccup. i am not big on OCing, so I can not offer any info on that end.
 
GiRaff3 said:
i have a 3800+ x2 and i play pretty much every game out without a hiccup. i am not big on OCing, so I can not offer any info on that end.
Click to expand...

You could try undervolting if you don't like overclocking I was able to take my 3800+ down from 1.35Volts (Stock) to 1.05 volts, it decreases my idle temps by 2-3C and load temps by 10-11C, although if you tried this I would run two instances of prime on both cpus for at least halfhour before I called it stable, but when in testing purposes ten minites is enough to say its fairly stable and go down one more increment.

(Oh a Idle 30-32, load 35-37)
 
my machine works great just how it is. i do not want to get in there and mess something up just to drop temps a few degrees. thanks for the info/advice tho.
 
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