Got some Dual-Opteron questions

[MichaelD]

Hello CPU Forum,

Here's the deal, in brief. Looking at building a dual Opteron rig; mostly for gaming but will be used for ripping/encoding as well.

Most probably, a dual 1.8GHz Opteron rig with a 9800XT videocard. I'm used to a 2.2GHz AthlonXP; will I miss the 400MHz while gaming, or will the Opterons' "other goodness" make up for it? Thanks in advance for the edcuation and opinions.

 

[edtsui]

I went from a dual MP2800s (2.13) to Dual 244 (1.8s) and I can tell you that the difference is huge in day to day use and gaming was significantly better.

 

[Sonic587]

Dual opterons will make a single Athlon XP scream for mercy.

 

[paperfist]

How do duals work for day to day stuff like ripping CDs while editing in PhotoShop or building a map, stuff like that?

Sorry not trying to hijack your thread Just curious about that since I was also thinking about going with dual Opterons on a nForce3-250 chipset for gaming mainly on my next build.

 

[Soulkeeper]

you can get nearly double the performance when two programs are running at the same time which can use 100% cpu consistently
in real world senarios tho you will prob see 5% to 40% performance gains in most day to day stuff

 

[Zebo]

Micheal, there are a couple issues.

- if you want to OC, the 1.6-1.8 opterons are the old C0 stepping which suck at OCing, so don't expect much at all maybe 2.1 when combined with those low multipliers on those chips.
- Cost you can build a dual 2500Mhz mobile barton system for $400 including mobo, this opteron setup will cost you $800 minimum,
-Performance will be better or the same with the barton setup
-memory is about $120 more for a gig of ecc registered whoich optys need.

All in all I think it's a poor value. The dual Xeon would even be a better deal since they OC so well.

Check out 2cpu.com forums and pick thier bright minds though. You'll also find those dual mobiles overthere screaming.

 

[MichaelD]

Good morning guys and thank you very much! Please; hijack away as long as it's semi-related!

Dual Bartons, huh? Would you have links to parts, Zebo?

I must admit; the cost of a good Opteron dually is positively scary...but the potential performance is....a possible religious experience.

 

[Zebo]

yEa

GIGABYTE "GA-7DPXDW-P" AMD-760 MPX Chipset Server Motherboard for Dual AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL $189

And

2xAMD 45 Watt Mobile Athlon XP 2600+, 266 MHz FSB, 512K L2 Cache Processor - $95

And

www.2cpu.com

Have fun and let us know what you find out

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks, Zebo. I appreciate the info.

edit
Are these chips MP capable?

 

[edtsui]

The reason I went w/ the Opterons instead of athlons is cause its a new platform w/ plenty of life left. The MPs are being discontinued, the MPX is no longer being made. There's basically 2 or three motherboards you can still find on the open market. As far as performance right now, it may be on par or even slightly better w/ modded mobiles, but you'd leave yourself no upgrade path in the future. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jen]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Thanks, Zebo. I appreciate the info.

edit
Are these chips MP capable?

useing the gigabyte board no modification is needed for the mobiles to work , same with the asus board.


however you still need to use some mod to get the higher multiplier whether you do the pin mod or use tmc-xp [multiplier changers]

also you cant change the cpu voltage in bios on the gigabyte , you would need pin mod that as well if you want higher than 1.57 volts which is what the mobile 45 watt will default to because of being used on a desktop motherboard



Jen

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: edtsui
The reason I went w/ the Opterons instead of athlons is cause its a new platform w/ plenty of life left. The MPs are being discontinued, the MPX is no longer being made. There's basically 2 or three motherboards you can still find on the open market. As far as performance right now, it may be on par or even slightly better w/ modded mobiles, but you'd leave yourself no upgrade path in the future. Just my 2 cents.

Yea that is why I am LOOKING at getting a Dual opteron for my next system. Just waiting for the prices of EVERYTHING to settle and ket the newwness wear off. That and a Dual Opteron system with a nFirce3 250Gb chipset would be nice also.

 

[Zebo]

Excellent info jen.

( i've been reading for about an hour over there (2cpu) and still did'nt get that much)

 

[futuristicmonkey]

Originally posted by: Zebo

All in all I think it's a poor value. The dual Xeon would even be a better deal since they OC so well.

That is incorrect. Dual Xenons have to share the bandwidth provided by the 533mhz bus. Dual Opterons each have a dedicated Hypertransport link to the NB.

 

[Zebo]

Only if you can show inceased performance by 40% to offset it's 40% price premium does this matter. Until then, I still think it's a poor value.

 

[MichaelD]

Hi guys.

I'm pretty blue.

Please see this thread in GH. I am bummed OUT.

I think this dream is dead.

 

[Zebo]

Dual mobile bartons baby I'm tellin ya

Mobile 2600's OC to 2600Mhz 2 x $95
Gigabit board $180
2 x 512 KHX-PC2700 2-2-2-5 $220
2 x Speezy HSF $25

total $520

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Dual mobile bartons baby I'm tellin ya

Mobile 2600's OC to 2600Mhz 2 x $95
Gigabit board $180
2 x 512 KHX-PC2700 2-2-2-5 $220
2 x Speezy HSF $25

total $520

Yeah, but the MPX boards are "old tech." Only 4x AGP, etc.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

go with the dually opteron setup, Opteron's poor value? ha, look at the Xeon chip prices, two Opteron 244s can stomp around on top of all the Xeons, so what, ECC memory isn't as expensive as you make it seem, check OCZ Enhanced Latency 1 GIG Price and OCZ Enhanced Latency ECC 1 GIG Price, its a difference, but it isn't enough to signify a "poor value".your paying alot for this, so expect prime performance (unlike the P4EEs which get pwned by the cheaper FX'es) don't listen to anyone telling you to buy dual bartons, the dual opterons will beat them to death, and as someone else said, the AMD chipset is no longer being made, the mobos are behind, and i'd like to add that Athlon MPs are limited by a 266 MHz bus, just go opteron.

 

[Zebo]

Damn right it's a poor value at twice the price AND less performance it loses on both critera. Don't believe? Check out this thead with the "old tech" mobiles laying waste to opterons in PCMARK. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=286743

 

[Falloutboy]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Damn right it's a poor value at twice the price AND less performance it loses on both critera. Don't believe? Check out this thead with the "old tech" mobiles laying waste to opterons in PCMARK. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=286743

since when has "pcmark" been a reliable benchmarking tool

 

[Zebo]

Alright then I wasted my time showing equivalent or better performance, where's you all's? I hear a lot of hype how these opterons should be faster than thier dated OC mobile XP bretherns so it should be easy to find. Keep in mind even if you do find proof of better performance unless it's 100% better it still won't justify the 100% price premium making the A-XP a better value by difinition.

 

[jose]

MichaelD,

"I'm pretty blue.

Please see this thread in GH. I am bummed OUT.

I think this dream is dead."


Doesn't anyone make socket 940 mobo's w/ 64bit pci slots ? If not maybe someone will make a 939 mobo w/ 64pci slots. Then you'll be able to get the fastest FX to go w/ it.

Regards,
Jose

 

[mrSHEiK124]

learn to spell, it may be a better value according to your "difinition" but if you ask me, the Opteron is surely the way to go, personally, i don't give a crap about PCMark, the Opteron is newer, more-advanced, feature-filled CPU, while the Mobile Athlon XPs are left to rot on shelves, two Opteron 246s will trump your dual mobile xp 2500s at STOCK SPEED, overclocking is a different story, if we are talking servers here, would you OC it, AFAIK the number one concern in running a server is stability. and all this is w/o mentioning that the opteron has 64-bit capability, and can pawn any AXP in 32-bit apps

 

[Zebo]

My definition? Any first year economics course will explain price/performance curves and how they affect consumer spending. The sensible consumers are the ones that take a detached, unemotional view of buying. This leads to money saved and spent elsewhere where it can better accumulate. It's a fundamental, accepted concept. It's so childish, they don't even bother writing a formula for it. If something costs twice as much it should be twice as good. Now prove those features render this purchase twice as good or STFU. Even stock!

Words like "newer", "more-advanced", "feature-filled CPU", are emotional buzz words devoid of any cost/benefit analysis. I can accpet that and dont begrudge that choice. However it's a poor way to access a tool like a computer where price/performance always matters.