The Dilemma Of Lo's Time

[SMeeD]

I wouldnt waste my time with a single core FX chip unless this rig will be overhauled in the near future. Even then I wouldnt buy an FX. Although you can OC an FX chip a lot further than a vanilla A64 I would still vote for an X2.

 

Dont quote me on this but isnt the FX-55 equivalent to a venice @ 2.5-2.6? Chances are you could get an X2 that high for just a little more money plus you get a second core.

Edited October 10, 2006 by BlitzBomb

[LoArmistead]

I wouldnt waste my time with a single core FX chip unless this rig will be overhauled in the near future. Even then I wouldnt buy an FX. Although you can OC an FX chip a lot further than a vanilla A64 I would still vote for an X2.

 

Dont quote me on this but isnt the FX-55 equivalent to a venice @ 2.5-2.6? Chances are you could get an X2 that high for just a little more money plus you get a second core.

 

the FX55 is more like a San Diego @ 2.6Ghz (1mb L2 vs 512 in the venice). My 3700 is already at 2.8, making it roughyl equivalent to a stock FX57.

[kingdingeling]

so whats the difference between the FX55 and the FX57? does the 55 have a locked multiplier? is it also unlocked like the 57? is it crippled somehow compared to the 57?

[SMeeD]

Lower clock speed/different core. Everything in the FX series has an unlocked multi, thats one of the biggest reasons people buy them.

 

Lo I said dont quote me on that last statement

Edited October 10, 2006 by BlitzBomb

[cchalogamer]

A few things to remember with this AMD upgrade path, the dual core will use considerably more power and heat than the single core for thoes time you DO have it under load (which honestly in your main rig when will that be?) Also new video card will equal more power and heat, now you know you're already reaching the "heat limited" OC range on your 3700+ with the warm temps (Zalman CNPS7700cu btw). When i made the move from a 3000+ @ 2.7 day to day to an Opteron 148 @ the same there was a little heat increase (and more @ 3ghz) However the move from the 148 @ 2.8 day to day to my 165 runing its early OC of around 2.2 was even MORE heat with lower gaming performance, and for the higher clocks than my current day to day of around 2.6 my old WATER cooling setup was feeling the strain hitting higher temps than youve got now. You may get an X2, but if you want to get enough OC to see the performance gain over the OCed 3700+ you will more than likely need a new cooler to go with it. Based on your OC experence and board I think you'll be ok just getting the lower multiplier CPU and stepping up the speed yourself, top end shouldnt be much different if at all and will currently be limited by heat or power supply. You have a nice stable PSU atm, but ESPECIALLY if you go to the ATI camp and get something like a power hungry x1900 series card you'll add more heat to the case and likely go over what the PSU can really handle under sustained load with the X2 fully OCed.

 

In the end idk WHAT to tell you to do, for me It's a much easier decision to wait it out with my current hardware, but I know you want to play the newer games with the extra frills that you're starting to miss out on. You might even be better off stickign with the 3700+ for right now and grabbing a nice new video card and waiting it out a bit longer, the 3700+ is still capable of keeping up in most situations.

 

Of course in the end none of the options are "bad" and i suppose that makes it much harder to decide. I may have a little info for you later today that might help persuade your choice if you're up for some lightly used proven 939 hardware.

[SMeeD]

A new video card looks like a good path to take. I would have confidence in your CPU for the next couple months unless your looking to upgrade because of video encoding, rendering, etc.

[kendellrt]

I don't even see an OEM FX-55 on newegg. The code doesn't work.

[UkJenT]

Upgrade that 939 baby. haha.. Forget Conroe for now. It would just be a pain to have to invest so much money in a new rig.

[kendellrt]

I found the OEM, I'm dumb.

 

That is a deal to not pass up! I would do that, I might do that!

 

Small hijack:

Does the FX-55 take the same stock cooler as the regular A64s, ie. my 3200+ Winchester?

End hijack...

[LoArmistead]

I found the OEM, I'm dumb.

 

That is a deal to not pass up! I would do that, I might do that!

 

It is a very good deal. If I weren't planning on upgrading to dual core here in the next couple of months, I would hop on that wagon in a heartbeat.

 

As it stands, I am probably going to first upgrade my video card to one of the higher end 7900GT's, as it looks like they outperform an x1900xt in a majority of benchmarks, though not by a whole lot. Does anyone have any other video card suggestions? If you agree about the 7900GT, which brand/model do you prefer? I've had the same ATi X800XL since I built this 939 rig 14 months ago, and considering what I paid for it and how little I've had to upgrade since the build (just upped RAM from 1gig to 2gigs), this thing has more than paid for itself in countless hours of faithful service.

 

I am still very happy with my processor, so I plan on keeping it for the time being. In the longrun (over the next three months), I plan on taking cc's advice and upgrading to an X2 and a water cooling setup, and maybe a better PSU.

[bigred]

not all FX-55's are san diegos... infact most are NOT. the 130nm clawhammer version is less likely to overclock to the 3.2ghz realm than the 90nm san diego.

[LoArmistead]

not all FX-55's are san diegos... infact most are NOT. the 130nm clawhammer version is less likely to overclock to the 3.2ghz realm than the 90nm san diego.

 

ugh, trust me I've had my share of migraines from clawhammer FX55's. I say burn them. Burn them all.