Upgrading from an Opteron 165 - logical next step is???

[JPS]

So my current, and main rig, is an Opteron 165 at the moment. I have it up to 2.4GHz which is comfortable and more than effective. System is used as a backup server for my work laptop as well as the wife's, all of my day-to-day stuff, and most importantly, as a development/compile platform for coding. I do play some games, though not a ton. My desire and want to overclock comes from the fact that I hate waiting for compiles and the fact that it is just plain fun to push & tweak a system. The wife is not into me with hotrods at the moment, so this is the next best thing until we can change that attitude. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Anyhow, here is the deal. I am bored with this rig and want to upgrade it. I just ordered one of the Biostar TForce 550/Brisbane combos to play with but I think that will be donated to my kids once I figure out what it is capable of. For my rig, I am having a hard time figuring out what is the most logical upgrade path.

Obviously I will need to move to AM2 and DDR2 and am fine with that. And no, I am not going Intel in this lifetime so C2D is out of the question, as are their quads - I will wait for AMD.

Here are my specific questions:

1) Given the performance of the Opty165, what would be the best upgrade for the CPU?

2) I like the FX-62 but I doubt there is much headroom left to push in those. The Brisbane 3600+ looks like fun, and I will shortly find out myself, but will the smaller cache be noticeable, i.e. down from 1MB with the Opty to 512kB with the Brisbane?

3) Is there another A64 X2 that I should be looking at?


Thanks in advance for your comments.

NOTE: this is posted in ocforums and hardforums as well as I am looking for as much feedback as possible.

[nick2crete]

...answering to the title of the thread..
..is...just wait
...few weeks more and then <Barcelona> will be your holidays destination...:clap:

[Okda]

going from ur 165 to any current AMD cpu is not a good idea

just wait for more few months and get the next socket from AMD

[funnyperson1]

None of the current AMD cpus are much of an upgrade over what you have currently (if it were overclocked to the max, my guess is that your CPU has a lot more to give).

That said I would go with the Biostar/3600 combo just because it is the cheapest and will certainly offer the most bang for buck at least just to play with. The cache difference makes like a 5&#37; difference, and for $124 AR, the 3600+/Biostar combo is less than most of the AMD dual cores by themselves.

The AM2 Opterons might be fun to play with as well.

However overall you should probably oc what you have right now further, and move to K10 when it comes out.

[Draxx]

I know you don't want to hear it, but the only real "upgrade" from a 165 unfortunatley is C2D!

[JPS]

'ppreciate the feedback. I know C2D is the 'real' upgrade, but I am a LOYAL AMD fan and that is just that. For now, I think I will play with the Biostar combo for kicks and giggles and look into a better cooling setup for the Opty - currently I am using the stock cooler. After that, we will push her higher and see what she is REALLY good for. I stopped o/cing her about 2 days after I got her 9months ago.

[Hemi]

I agree with your choice. PLAY with what you have. this chasing the new stuff gets to be very expensive and new stuff is always around the corner. i have am2 and c2d, with a good stable overclock your opty will be right here. Extreme Play is what we all do with what we have, have fun JPS

[zir_blazer]

An overclocked A64X2 3600+ Brisbane would be nice if you get it to 2.8 or 3 GHz where you will start to notice some improvement. However, you will spend a many dollars and not get a big enough improvement. Wait for the K10, or go for a Conroe.
Besides, what is the rest of your system?

[mAJORD]

Only other thing, is an F3 X2 such as a 5200 (CZ only) or 5600+ as they should be quite cheap in about 2 weeks..

Both should OC to somewhere around 3.2 without too much trouble on good cooling. 5600+ might go a bit higher if you're lucky.

Both also have 1Mb x2 cache with lower latency, hence have advantage over brisbane performance wise, especially in gaming.