Athlon 64 X2 3800+

Robot

I'll be building a new pc in around 2 months time and I'm wondering what cpu to put in it. I'm looking at the X2 3800+ for value for money. I know I could overclock it from 2.0 to 2.4 easily enough, without a need for expensive cooling solutions. I'll be using it for gaming aswell as other things, So I was wondering if anybody knows how well this cpu would do for gaming. I know it won't quite match up to single core ones until games properly support dual core, but I'll be matching it with a X1900XT and I'll be hoping that it can destroy any games that I throw at it.

Anyone have experience with these dual core cpus?

Tengu

Hi there -

I have a a 3800 x2 at 2.35 ghz with a 6600gt and it rocks on any game I've tried, doom 3, halflife 2 so far, eats them alive, I do 3d work and its fast as hell, its a great choice of processor, get some fast ram and you won't go wrong.

Khannie

I have this processor, and I like it a lot, but it /is/ slower than single core solutions at the moment (I can only clock mine at 2100, though I think that this is the motherboards fault). Once games start using multiple cores to their full extent, the dual core machines will outpace single cored ones (and euro for euro, they should eat them up).

Robot

I know with a decent cpu cooler people have been getting over 2.6 stable. I was aiming for a 2.2 or 2.4 area so I'll have to make sure to get a motherboard that won't hamper that.

I'm going to canada and will be building it over there. I'll have around $2000-$2500 to build it. I just cant see the point in my getting a 4200 or 4400 as an overclocked 3800 will rival it. And the price difference is obscene! So I figured that the 3800 is the smart choice. I was going to look at getting an opteron, but I really dont think I need to pay a bit more just for the prospect of a bit higher overclock.

Then the plan is to get a projector and play lifesize bf2.

Khannie

If you intend getting a projector to play games, you should check out the Panasonic AE700 or AE900 series. They're absolutely fantastic in terms of bang for buck and natively output 1280x720 (i.e. high-def ready).

I played a bit of UT2004 on my own one and it's hard to beat the ol' 3 metre screen size, though the 60Hz refresh rate does hamper FPS playing a small bit.

Robot

Those projectors really are impressive. But I think $2000 is a bit out of my price range for the moment. I'll be getting an older cheaper one I think, I'm looking at the screenplay 4805. I know its not the best one to get for playing games and such, but I'll probably use it mainly for tv and films. And a lot of reviews say that games still look pretty amazing on it.

Is there any other ones around the $700 refurbished - $1000 new price range that you'd recommend over this one?

Sengoku79

Robot,

If you are going to be waiting for a couple of months, hold off until AMD's new AM2 platform is released this will support DDR2, and will see the phasing out of current S939 processors.

If you already have all the parts though and it's just the processor your upgrading get the Opteron 165, essentially an underclocked X2-4800+.

The Opteron 165, is 200mhz slower than the 3800, but it has 1mb cache on each core compared to 512k on the 3800.

Also the Opteron is capable of doing up to 2.7Ghz on air.

Robot

I haven't really looked into the AM2s at all. My main concern would be the price of them. Any idea what price range I'd be looking at for one? I won't be starting my build until the start of June probably, So I'll be selling my old one and starting fresh.

I had looked at the Opteron 165, but I was told that the extra cache would make very little difference. But I am still considering getting one, if I don't go the AM2 route.

unklerosco

I recently built a system with a X2 3800 n it ran stable at 2.8ghz on air.. would go higher with better ram n WC... Very good clocker, not all of them will clock that high tho..

Khannie

I think the 4805 is a DLP projector. You'll get better bang for buck with decent quality LCD based ones. I paid around 1100 euro (ex vat) for my ae700, so I'm sure you could get a 2nd hand one for around 800 in the US / Canada.

Robot

Thanks for the recommendation Khannie,

I looked on pricegrabber and the cheapest ae700 seems to be around $1500. Lcd isn't necessarily better than dlp so I can't really justify twice the price. Although I would prefer to get a 1280x720 one. The rainbow effect isn't supposed to cause problems with the 4805, I think a 4x speed colour wheel is enough to alleviate this problem.

If anyone can suggest a better projector for under $1000 then I'd be all ears.

Khannie

Robot wrote:

Lcd isn't necessarily better than dlp so I can't really justify twice the price.

No, but the cost of a DLP that will natively display high-def is prohibitive (IMO). For under a thousand dollars, the 4805's are pretty decent. Good luck.

edit: I think the ae500's display high-def and they're defo cheaper, but I can't speak for their quality.

The lads in the home entertainment forum know their stuff (at least one of them has an ae500).

Robot

I read a bit into the AM2 cpus and I have to say that nothing I've heard has made me want to wait for them. It doesn't look like there'll be much of a performance gain (if any), and when they come out the they'll be a lot more expensive than the x2s. I know the main reason to wait would be to future proof the system I plan to buy. But I'll probably be selling it and starting again in around 2 years, and I'd hope that a X2 3800+ running at around 2.6 would still be capable by that stage.

I'm sure there's great reasons to wait for the AM2 and I just dont know them. Anyone here planning to wait? If so, can you see any reasons why I should wait for them too?

unklerosco

Im building a new system now n i wont be waiting for AM2... no reason to.. It'll be a while after it comes out that prices start to settle down n theres a good selection of Mobos out... The only thing im thinking about is GFX, i wont be splaishing out out a 7900gtx or X1900XT.. not when a 7800gt will do the job till DX10(vista) is released... I've €400 max for gfx n was planning on getting 2x7800gts at a nice price... I've seen a few X1900xts for €425-450 so if i can i'll get one..

Robot

I think I've managed to pick out most of my system parts now. I'm sure they'll change a bit with the price drops over the next two months.

I'm looking at getting:

$340 - Ram (OCZ PC4000 EB Dual Channel Platinum)
$390 - CPU (Athlon X2 3800+)
$240 - Motherboard (Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe)
$620 - Video Card (Sapphire X1900XT)
$160 - Case (Antec P180)
$150 - PSU (OCZ 520W PurePower)
$50 - Sound Card (Audigy 2 or similar)
$150 - Keyboard & Mouse (Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000)
$350 - LCD Monitor (Not picked yet)
$100 - Hard Drive (Maxtor 300GB)
$50 - Optical Drives (DVD Dual RW)

These are basic prices in canadian $ from NCIX. I'm sure I'll find some parts cheaper elsewhere and make a decision based on shipping charges.

I think these parts will work pretty good together. But any advice on changes would be very appreciated.

Thanks

Khannie

Some people here would recommend against the maxtor for long-term reliability. I've never had any issues with them myself. I have a 160G one from about 3 years ago, happily working away and I had an 8 gig one from about 8 years ago that lasts to this day (AFAIK, gave the computer away to a friend).

I have Samsung P120's in my own machine. They're excellent.

Robot

Thanks Kannie,

I'll get the Samsung Spinpoint P Series 250GB , pretty much the same price. I'm not really a fan of Maxtor either, hadn't looked into what one I was gonna get so provisionally picked the maxtor.I have a Maxtor 250GB and its far too loud, sounds like its chewing itself up under heavy loads.