Legit Reviews

OK, frankly, I'm really suprised there are no Opteron threads here!

In case there are people still in the dark about these little gems, let me fill you in:

• AMD has released 90nm Opterons for s939
• They have 1mb L2 cache, so they are essentially cream of the crop San Diego cores.
• They will work in all regular desktop s939 motherboards
• They do NOT requre ECC or registered memory. Regular DDR works just fine. Dual channel operation too.
• They are available in single cores. Models 144, 146, 148, 150, and 152.
• They are also available in dual cores! Models 165, 170, and 175.

The big attraction is that they seem to be overclocking extremely well. And the fact that the 144 runs at 1.8Ghz and has 1mb L2 cache means that you can basically get a San Diego chip for really cheap (the 144 runs about $130 to $160 depending on availablility). In addition to cheap San Diego's, the dual core Opterons offer the possibility of cheaper Toledo cores also! The Opteron 165 also runs at 1.8Ghz and can be had for about $300 (or even $299 at monarch right now). That's twice the cache, greater overclocking potential, and a lower price than the X2 3800!!!

I, for one, am especially interested in the dual core opterons as that will most likely be my next upgrade (dual core). The only major problem surrounding the Opteron situation right now is the availability of the chips. They have only recently begun shipping and they are being bought out and pre-ordered faster than resellers can get them! So if someone is looking for a new upgrade path, willing to tinker with some new hardware, or if you are just planning out a build for a new enthusiast/overclocking rig, then you should check these Opterons out and give us some results!

nice info there bro...

I think the reason no one jumped on it is because the hype died out pretty quickly. I know you and I talked about them via PM, but the truth is after the intial release, the quality and O/C ability really dropped off, along with a serious price increase and lack of availability with vendors...and they really are not much of a bargain any more......The latest version is showing about the same quality as the 3700+ SD core, at a higher price...if you can find one.

Really? I was still seeing at least 2.8Ghz clock speeds pretty often with these chips, is that about average for a San Diego? And I don't think the prices are too bad. They just keep fluxuating a lot, but that's because of the low availability. I still think the 144, 146, and 165's are a good deal. Hell, even the 170 is still a good deal. At least when you can find them. Indeed, availability is the biggest problem atm.

I had a 146 Opty. It was doing about 2.5 at deafult vcore, no more, so I sold it. I sold it for 2 reasons:
1. Prices were getting ready to drop, and I did not want to lose a ton of money to sell it later and buy a new one

2. The one I had was not a great clocker at default vcore, my X2 3800+ does 2.7, so I decided to keep it.


If I could find one that would do 3.0ghz at low vcore, I would keep it and maybe even sell my 3800...

Yeah, they are hitting 2.7-2.8GHz on air, but at fairly high temps and with a lot of V-Core at the upper end....they don't seem to be scaling as well as the initial release. For the money you are probably better off with the 3700+, or even the 3500+.
However, the new dual core Opterons are showing to be very good processors. From what I'm hearing they are not O/Cing as well as the X2s, but they are much more stable (both cores) which means the O/C you are getting is better than the X2 linel
However they are running quite a bit more than the X2....better to let the fad run its course and let things calm down. Places are jacking up their prices because everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, give it a few weeks to a month, see what people are getting, then make an educated decision on whether its worth it.

pastorjay wrote:I had a 146 Opty. It was doing about 2.5 at deafult vcore, no more, so I sold it. I sold it for 2 reasons:
1. Prices were getting ready to drop, and I did not want to lose a ton of money to sell it later and buy a new one

2. The one I had was not a great clocker at default vcore, my X2 3800+ does 2.7, so I decided to keep it.


If I could find one that would do 3.0ghz at low vcore, I would keep it and maybe even sell my 3800...

Yours is a story you see a lot right now. The initial release of the Opteron 144-148 was San Diego based cores, and they were basically remarked Fx-57s.... the newer ones are Venus core, not totally sure whats different in them, but most everyone who gets them seems to be pretty disappointed.

capper5016 wrote:....better to let the fad run its course and let things calm down. Places are jacking up their prices because everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, give it a few weeks to a month, see what people are getting, then make an educated decision on whether its worth it.

Yeah, I plan on doing just that. I'm actually not gonna make any purchases until I see some results from socket M2 and DDR2. When I do upgrade though, it will most definately be dual core. I just have to see if it is worth waiting to upgrade to dual core on socket M2 with the Windsor core or just stick with my nice DDR and trusty s939 and go with a Manchester or Toledo.

how does it compare to the fx55/dothan cores?

The "Venus" cores are prettymuch a San Diego (1mb L2 cache), so basically an FX-55 or FX-57.
Check this out: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=423461

The Dothan core is a whole different animal, it is like comparing apples to oranges and cannot really be done with any degree of fairness or accuracy.

I have been keeping an eye on the opetrons as well. It does seem like the latest ones are not living up to the hype.

Actually the most recent stepping (CAB2E) has been doing VERY well...
Check over in the AMD CPU section at http://www.ocforums.com and you'll see some good results.

Sweet. Ok, stupid question - I can't seem to find these stepping codes on AMD's Processing Quick ref guide. Also, you cannot tell on Newegg etc which model as well. I'd get the 148 I think. Should easily reach 2.8 on air, maybe even 3.

Vstrom wrote:Sweet. Ok, stupid question - I can't seem to find these stepping codes on AMD's Processing Quick ref guide. Also, you cannot tell on Newegg etc which model as well. I'd get the 148 I think. Should easily reach 2.8 on air, maybe even 3.

I don't think they list steppings on their reference guide, just the part numbers.
Here are some results from a 146 CAB2E:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=423212

Also, what do you mean you can't tell what model they are on newegg? They don't list the stepping if that is what you are asking about... Send an e-mail to the guy heading http://www.tankguys.biz
He'll get back to ya and he may be able to hand pick a stepping for you

gvblake22 wrote: I don't think they list steppings on their reference guide, just the part numbers.
Here are some results from a 146 CAB2E:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=423212

Also, what do you mean you can't tell what model they are on newegg? They don't list the stepping if that is what you are asking about... Send an e-mail to the guy heading http://www.tankguys.biz
He'll get back to ya and he may be able to hand pick a stepping for you

Yeah, that's what I meant - sorry for the ambiguity.

CABYE 0540's seem to be doing well. That is what mine is, and I got it from Monarch

I'd prolly get the 148 though, I'd rather start from a little higher up so I don;t have to push it too far. Monarch has them but I'm not sure about the stepping model...not many other places have it in stock

WOW, prices have gone up so much! Monarch has increased their prices like $50! I'd wait to buy one of these if I were you, they will probably come back down once the dust settles.

Supply/demand I guess. From what I can find out, it looks like the first revision, CABNE, is the overclocks-like-mad one. The next, CABGE, is pretty bad. The newest one, CABYE, is in between. I have a note into Tank Guys to see what they have. They are OOS but said they will have more very soon.

^^Yeah, that's about what I've seen too. But the CAB2E's I've seen have hit good clocks if I remember correctly.