For Gaming: 148 CABNE or 165 Unknown?

[Confusion]

Heya folks, I'm putting together a gaming rig and am wondering which CPU to use. I currently have an unopened 148 CABNE 0528GPMW that is awaiting the rest of my computer parts; however, the new 165's sound like a more future-proof option.

Which would you guys reccomend? How long do you think it will be before gaming makes a solid move to multithreads? I'm not into frequent upgrades so I want this system to last a bit, which makes the 165 sound good. On the other hand, having a 148 CABNE to OC sounds tempting too.

Please help! :confused:

P.S. I'm looking at proably getting a x1800 XL or 7800 GT. Given this, should I look into the 165? Will the video card be my bottleneck on a 3GHz+ (being optimistic) Opty?

[Zebo]

Good question. obviously a single core is a better pure gaming CPU. Can reach higher clock speed. Less power, noise and heat output if you care about that.. I just got the dual core because I did'nt like when I was encoding some DVD's I really could'nt game..my machine was essentially tied up all night after a trip to blockbuster. Now I don't have that problem. As far as dual thread games? I don't think it will be a reality for a couple years.. and by then you'll be buying a Conroe dual or quad core from Intel.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

148, not just cause i have one now, or that it's at 3.3ghz

[MaxT]

if you have an nvidia videocard, their drivers take advantage of dual core CPUs, althoguh the numbers are not as big as nvidia claims.

Also unreal3 engine will take advantage of dual core cpus, as stated by the developers. That is coming out in 2006 i believe.

Personally i went for opty 165 unknown. ;) If i can get 2.7 GHz out of it i will be happy. Anything over that is icing on the cake. :banana:

[dimasdw]

for gaming choise 148,wait buy dual core until dual core support gaming come out :)

[003]

you'll get bit in the ass later up the road if you choose single core. i also just ordered a 165.

[Nettwerk]

you'll get bit in the ass later up the road if you choose single core. i also just ordered a 165.

please explain

[i found nemo]

dual core is the "wave of the future" but we're not entirely there yet i say if he plans on it he can buy a dual core later, by then prices will have dropped so it's just an individual choice i suppose

[003]

please explain
Well, the Doom 3 engine is multithreaded, so all games on the Doom 3 engine will take advantage of it, and all games using the Unreal Engine 3 will also be multithreaded. http://unrealtechnology.com/flash/technology/ue30.shtml

[harpyboy]

as u can see.. there is a limit to everything.. including the max speed that can be attained on todays silicon technology... which is pretty obviuos since our cpu speed isn't increased as much as in the late 90s....
that is why parallel processing is the only thing left to do in order to progress.... FX-60 is a dualcore ??

getting dual core won't hurt... as the trend continues.. more games, if not all will definitely support multi-threading... and since games are GPU bounded.. gettiung a 165 now will be future-proof even when 195 is out next time

[Nano2k]

I think it's funny to hear about future proofing on an overclocking forum... We all know most of us will buy a new chip in 2 months if it runs at 4ghz... future proof or not...
And with DDR2 and other stuff coming out in 2006 for sure they are going to make us want to change hardware no matter what...

[harpyboy]

I think it's funny to hear about future proofing on an overclocking forum... We all know most of us will buy a new chip in 2 months if it runs at 4ghz... future proof or not...
And with DDR2 and other stuff coming out in 2006 for sure they are going to make us want to change hardware no matter what...

i don't believe he is a geek like us if he is building a gaming rig till now..
if he is scratching his head to decide which CPU to use... it only means that he isn't gonna change one in the near future.....

confusion: u did say you are not a frequent upgraders right... ;)

[Nano2k]

LOL harpyboy, you're trying to give sense to this thread? :-)

[Absolute_0]

If you were gaming right now, i would say the Opteron 148, but since the poll says "for the next 2 years" i have to go with the 165.

[Confusion]

Correct, I'm trying to restrain myself and not be a frequent upgrader. :slapass:

[Stumpjumper5200]

I'll take that 146 off your hands for you :)

[Confusion]

Wow, im still really confused which way to go. 25 votes for 148 and 24 for 165 :confused:

Would it make any difference if I choose to go 170 instead of 165?

When do you folks think dual cores will make a significant difference in gaming?

[003]

Dual cores is already making a difference. Doom 3 and anything that uses the Doom 3 engine is automatically multithreaded. All games using the upcoming Unreal Engine 3 will be multithreaded, ex: Unreal Tounrament 2007. Check out these wicked screenshots of UT2007:
http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/746/746632/imgs_1.html

[Freez]

Dual if you can stretch your budget.

[Kunaak]

Quake 4, Doom 3, FEAR and Morrowind: Oblivion are all games I know already are taking advantage of Dual Core.

I think Call of Duty 2 does as well, but I am not sure yet.

honestly, it makes no sense to not get into dual core, since just about everything is going that way right now, already.
your chances of getting higher mhz with a single core, are high, but in a game that is multithreaded, dual cores will outshine all them mhz...

[uOpt]

Doom3 is multi-threaded?

Where is that information coming from?

[Nettwerk]

Doom3 is multi-threaded?

Where is that information coming from?

It isnt I think they meant Quake 3

[003]

It isnt I think they meant Quake 3
No, the Doom 3 engine is multithreaded, but you bring up a good point; so is the Quake 3 engine :)

[Nettwerk]

No, the Doom 3 engine is multithreaded, but you bring up a good point; so is the Quake 3 engine :)

I cant find any info on doom 3 being multi threaded

[perithimus]

I am pretty torn between the two myself. I am leaning more toward the 165 dual core since I hear games will have more dual core support next year.

[nn_step]

165 is more future proof

[Confusion]

Wow, still a split decision. I guess there is no wrong answer.

[ben805]

dual core is more future prove and practical, the new nvidia driver 81.xx take advantage of it so clock for clock the dual core is going to smoke the single core, plus you get the benefit of multitasking, it's a no brainer to get the dual core for 24/7 use, the single core opty is fun to play with and unless you can get a good stepping otherwise I wouldn't even consider getting one. You should know better exactly what you want out of your pc but if you don't....then just close your eye and flip the coin.

[[XC]Atomicpineapple]

While theyre not opterons I owned a 3700 San Diego and now have an X2 3800+, my SD was fairly poor and only reached 2.75GHz with my watercooling, my X2 runs at the same frequency so I'm seeing little performance loss in games (due to cache difference), though its really not noticeable, but a huge increase in the general smoothness of my PC, so I'd say got for the 165!

[003]

The difference will be far more noticeabe with multithreaded games and apps, some of which are already out, and others to come out q1 and q2 of 2006.

[da-key]

Use what you have for now and buy a dual core when there cheaper and it makes sense( unless you are a encoding media head as suggested above).

The 148 is a nice chip, good choice, spend your dough on a better gpu(main concern as the 148 has plenty of headroom). Watch the 165 go down in price and if you start seeing some benchmarks of significant gains etc., then think about a reasonable upgrade at that time. :dog:

[Confusion]

well, regardless of which CPU im getting I will be using a eVGA 7800GT CO. with this and a OCed 148, what will be my bottleneck? same answer with the OCed 165?

(i'll be using ballistix ram if that is relevant to the question above)

[nn_step]

with a healthy overclock niether CPU will bottle neck you in games....