Socket 939 Opteron QnA?

[Jeffito123]

Well, with these new processorers being released, I know I have a couple questions.

1) Are they an overall improvement over the Athlon series?
2) Are they for normal "gamers" who like to OC or just want total stability?
3) How well do they OC? (3.0 GHz)!!!!
4) Are they compatible with current motherboards?
5) What's 1xx, 2xx, 8xx mean?

Pretty much, I'd wanna know should I purchase Model#180 or a 4800+??

lol

Please help. These process seem a lot better since they supposedly use better silicon and put it through a much more vigrous "stress" tests than the Athlons.

 

[EightySix Four]

1. Not really
2. OC'rs really technically marketed as workstation processors
3. Crazy
4. Yes
5. 1xx is the only on 939, 2xx is for 2 processor systems, 8xx is for up to 8 processors.

Given the choice I'd take the opteron, but I'm an oc'r at heart

 

[coomar]

Originally posted by: crazySOB297
1. Not really
2. OC'rs really technically marketed as workstation processors
3. Crazy
4. Yes
5. 1xx is the only on 939, 2xx is for 2 processor systems, 8xx is for up to 8 processors.

Given the choice I'd take the opteron, but I'm an oc'r at heart

pretty much

 

[the Chase]

Originally posted by: coomar

Originally posted by: crazySOB297
1. Not really
2. OC'rs really technically marketed as workstation processors
3. Crazy
4. Yes
5. 1xx is the only on 939, 2xx is for 2 processor systems, 8xx is for up to 8 processors.

Given the choice I'd take the opteron, but I'm an oc'r at heart

pretty much

Yep- got mine in a MSI Neo-2 F motherboard at 3GHz on air cooling. 1.5 Volts for CPU and load temps at 48-49 C. Only prime stable for an hour or so but no bsod and can game for hours with no errors. Edit-146 model.

 

[Jeffito123]

Do the Dual Cores also OC as well as the single cores?

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: Jeffito123
Do the Dual Cores also OC as well as the single cores?

that has yet to be known.

i think richUK posted his results with a dual core opteron but it wasn't anyting like 2.8 or 2.9 ghz

 

[AlpooplA]

Are the socket 939 Opterons fully compatible with software as the Athlon 64's are?

Has anyone run into any compatibility issues with some games or software not working while it did on a different system?

Besides overclockability, has anyone noticed a noticeable speed improvement over a similar model Athlon 64? (IE Opteron 144 vs Athlon64-3000)

 

[imported_koop]

Originally posted by: AlpooplA
Are the socket 939 Opterons fully compatible with software as the Athlon 64's are?

Yes. The only real difference between socket 939 Opty's and Athlons is that Opterons are of a higher quality silicon and as such will, in general, run at rated speed at lower voltages and cooler temps than Athlons though YMMV (Opteron specs call for 1.3-1.35v but mine defaults to 1.36v). Also, all Opterons have 1MB L2 Cache per core, and retail dual core Opterons come with a stock heatsink that has heatpipes.

Has anyone run into any compatibility issues with some games or software not working while it did on a different system?

Old Everest Home edition would not read the thermal diode of the Opteron but new Everest Ultimate 2.5 does, Asus Probe will not work but Asus Probe II will, and nTune would not recoginize the processor either. Basically anything that looks specifically for a CPUID with Athlon or x2 in it would cause problems, but with the popularity of the Opteron 939 most apps have updated to recognize it. All games and major apps run just like they do on A64's without updates, basically just CPU monitoring or tweaking utilities need to be the proper version.

Besides overclockability, has anyone noticed a noticeable speed improvement over a similar model Athlon 64? (IE Opteron 144 vs Athlon64-3000)

Given same clocks per second and cache size they would perform identically, though the Opteron would likely but not always be at a lower voltage.

My choice was between x2 4400+ @ $508 retail or Opteron 175 @ $520 retail. Basically the same core and same performance, but for $12 more dollars I could have a chip of higher quality silicon, that had undergone more rigorous tesing, and would run @ ~.1v lower vCore. Even if not overclocking, which of course I do, why would I not want an Opteron given AMD's pricing right now? Add in the OC potential and it becomes a huge slam dunk. Only catch is that most mobo manufacurers will not provide support for Opterons, but then again the next time I actually get support from a mobo manufacturer will be the first so I just don't see a downside.

 

[imported_koop]

Originally posted by: Jeffito123
Do the Dual Cores also OC as well as the single cores?

In general, no, though as good or better than x2's of the same week/stepping. It seems one core is sometimes weaker than the other and holds back the potential of the other core. Some people say you can "massage" weak cores with stress/burn-in at lower volts and improve their stability at lower vCore, can't vouch for that personally though I am going to give it a try.