Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 + Opteron 185: Is this a good decision

[Fazzlehopper]

Hi All,

I have Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 with an Athlon 64 3000+ (stuffed with DDR400) which is 3 years old now. I want to boost it as much as I can without paying TOO much on this old system. It seems either the FX60 or Opteron x2 185 are my best choices. According to the benchmarks here, either one should get me around a 33-44% performance increase.

BTW, the board can take a lots of chips: (Opt 185,180,154,152,150..)
http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Mot...ProductID=1881

So I've been hanging out for an Opt-185 to pop up on ebay and now I've found one that I hope will go for a good price.

But then I read some posts elsewhere that a lesser Opteron can be overclocked to / or exceeding the 185. Is this right? And can the 185 also be overclocked significantly?

Ahh....*sigh* So which chip would you recommend?

I expect a 180 would be maybe $50 cheaper than the 185. So I guess my real question is are some Opterons more "overclockable" than others?

Any advice much appreciated..!

[Cobracon]

The list I found @ Gigabyte (your link didn't work for me) indicates the Opteron 180 & 185 are NOT supported by your motherboard.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=1881

BTW, I've read that Opterons aren't very good overclockers. I can't verify that from personal experience, though.

[Fazzlehopper]

Thanks for the reply

I think you must have looked at a different mobo. There's a few with very similar numbers.

Sorry the link got truncated.

If you start here:
http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_List.aspx?Keyword=GA-K8NSC-939

It should take you to here:
http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_List.aspx?ProductID=1881

Where it lists a lot of chips - here's just the Opterons:
Vender Model System Bus(MHz)
AMD Opteron x2 175(2.2GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron x2 170(2.0GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron x2 165(E6,90nm,1MB) 1800
AMD Opteron 185(Dual,2.6GHz,2MB) 2000 <==
AMD Opteron 180(Dual,2.4GHz,2MB) 2000
AMD Opteron 154(E4,90nm,2.8GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron 152(E4,90nm,2.6GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron 150(E4,90nm,2.4GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron 148(E4,90nm,2.2GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron 146(E4,90nm,2.0GHz,1MB) 2000
AMD Opteron 144(E4,90nm,1.8GHz,1MB) 2000

I'm just wondering if I'd be better off getting a 180 or 175 & overclocking it a bit. I read (damned if I can find it now) someone saying that their 175 was able to be overclocked "more" than a 185. Sounds a bit odd to me, but who knows..?

[Guest]

I went to the correct site. If you had looked at the whole listing for the 175, 180 & 185, you'd have noticed the "N/A" in the far right column (BIOS version). N/A = Not Supported, as in it won't work in your board. This is copied directly off your link, which is the same link I listed:

AMD Opteron x2 175(2.2GHz,1MB) 2000 N/A
AMD Opteron x2 170(2.0GHz,1MB) 2000 F7
AMD Opteron x2 165(E6,90nm,1MB) 1800 F8
AMD Opteron 185(Dual,2.6GHz,2MB) 2000 N/A
AMD Opteron 180(Dual,2.4GHz,2MB) 2000 N/A
AMD Opteron 154(E4,90nm,2.8GHz,1MB) 2000 N/A
AMD Opteron 152(E4,90nm,2.6GHz,1MB) 2000 F7
AMD Opteron 150(E4,90nm,2.4GHz,1MB) 2000 N/A
AMD Opteron 148(E4,90nm,2.2GHz,1MB) 2000 N/A
AMD Opteron 146(E4,90nm,2.0GHz,1MB) 2000 F7
AMD Opteron 144(E4,90nm,1.8GHz,1MB) 2000 F7

Sounds like it's time to back up and punt.

[Cobracon]

The previous post, marked "Guest" is mine.

[Fazzlehopper]

Damnit Cobracon, you're right..!

I just ignored the BIOS revision column "key". So when I saw "N/A" I just stupidly assumed that any revision supported it. Man oh man oh man...

Thank you for pointing this out. You're responsible for the net amount of potential grief in the universe dropping a bit. I think that alien kid that has my brain in a fish tank on his windowsill has been overclocking me. I think I'm a P100 but I'm probably one of those P60's with the floating point error, cooking away....!

Luckily (now) I didn't get the Opt-185 I was looking at, as the price got a bit steep.

Ok so this deserves a free joke "dedicated to you", which I hope you will like:

Now, I recently stumbled across an old MAD magazine at a fair - one that I actually bought when I was a kid.

It's got the spaceship from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and stuck on the outside of the ship is a HUGE sticker that reads "Insel Intide".

Dave is on the outside in the pod, arguing with the HAL9000.

"HAL, I won't ask you again! Open the pod bay doors immediately.!!!"

To which HAL replies "But Dave, I know you're just going to try to disconnect me. I know it as sure as I know that 2+2=3.9999999.......".



God, I'm such an idiot. Thanks again for your help

[Cobracon]

Thanks for the joke.

No problem on the help, I have needed a little boost in the past and will need more in the future. Two heads are truly better than one.

Good luck on your upgrade...........

Out of curiosity, is a "Frazzlehopper" realted biologically to a grasshopper?? LOL

Cya'
B