I'm considering getting a Opteron 146 939 instead of a 3700+ San Diego. I hear that the Opterons OC like anything, which should be fun. My question is, will I run into any problems with RAM?? I know the 940 ones need registered ECC RAM (afaik) but can i throw a 939 opty into any mobo with regular RAM?? I'm guessing I might need to udate the BIOS, is there anything else I need to do? thanks.
ALL S939 CPU's take regular, unregistered RAM. Good luck with it, these Opty's (when you get a good stepping) OC like buggery. Depending on your mobo, you shouldn't even have to update your BIOS.
thanks. Can't remember exxactly where i heard this but someone said that even the dodgy optys OC like good venice cores I'm not really looking for a big OC ~2.4 maybe. One thing thats annoying is there aren't any good comparisons between athlons and opterons that i can find. Does the 146 compete against the 3700??
its basically the same chip isnt it, apart from the 3700 has a faster stock speed. ive just got a 146 this morning too, just got to wait for a better fan to arrive to wind it up a bit
3700 has 11* mulit over the 146's 10. It's probably a little easier to clock the 3700 over the 146 due to the higher multi - this is assuming both CPU's clock the same. Go for a CPU's stepping over whether its an Opty or Sandy/Venice. If you're after 2.4ghz, a 144 would do the job fine thats a shade over 266 HTT which most boards will make without an issue. Really depends on what the price difference is
The slightly worse Opty's are probably about the same as the Venice's, except with a bigger L2 Cache. You should see ~3.0Ghz out of a 146, I'd be disappointed if you didn't tbh. As for comparisons, the Opty 146 is the same as a 3700+ but with 1MB L2 cache rather than 512k. (I think so anyway).
2.4GHz should be pretty easy with either CPU's. I'd guess it's also quite likely either would do around 2.6GHz with default volts. The 3700+ and Opteron 1xx series on 939 both have 1MB cache. Stock speed of the 3700+ is 2.2GHz and the 146 is 2.0GHz. I would probably go for the 3700+ if they are around the same price. It's just luck of the draw whether you get a good clocker or not and some 3700+'s have been known to clock very well.
You're right about the cache, but not about which to go for. The Optys are made with higher-quality silicone (or are just the ones from the middle of the wafer), so chances are that'll be a much better CPU. The 3700's are Opty 148's, but from the edge of the wafer.
Source of that info? You still get duff clocking opterons and good clocking 3700+'s, as I said it's luck of the draw. I also said if the price is similar I would go for the 3700+ (because it's faster at stock, so should have slightly higher resale value - though it could be other way round, I can't predict the future!). In the UK 146's are currently cheaper than 3700+'s so if I was buying now here I'd go for the 146, however in the posters location prices may differ.
It's mostly just rumours, but opterons are supposed to have passed highly stringent tests (more so than the standard A64s) as they are designed for use in server level equipment
The opteron is ever so slightly cheaper generally, but its not much at all. (bout $10AUD) Im looking at the OC forum at xtremesystems. 3.5 ghz seems fairly common with the 146 cores. ill have to find ones with good steppings.
i've heard the 148 is more aliek the 3700+. that's the one i'm getting no matter the stepping 2.6 should come like cake, i'd be surprised if it didnt do at least 2.8. 3.0 is equal to a FX-55 with opty 146's. i'd highly suggest the 148 tho, they come at 2.2 Ghz versus 2.0 Ghz on the 146 which gives you a boost alrady in OC'ing. The price difference is about $25 USD. so maybe 10 pounds or so difference deppending where you are.
