Athlon 64 or Opteron?

[CaptainMooseInc]

Hey guys...it's been awhile. :)

I'm going to be building a "new" computer for college that will start this fall. So far I have a 256MB DDR GeForce FX 5500 card and a 160-GB Seagate 7200RPM HDD. I want to kinda go all-out on this thing but not go overboard. I'm looking at the Opteron 142 (1.6 GHz) or the AMD64 2800 (1.8GHz) chip. I'm an AMD boy (Intel can bite me :haddock:). I just need to know what is better IYHO. What OS runs on those chips? If not one of the new 64-bit chips, then which processor would one suggest that runs in the $175 price range (it'll be a month or two until I get it so...the price will probably drop some :|party|:). If I weerrrreeee (notice the emphasis) to go Intel on this one...what would you suggest?

Also...I refuse to use a VIA chipset, only the nForce, so you need to give me a Mobo (preferrably ASUSTek) that coincides with this thing if you can. :)

Should I go Kingston or Crucial RAM? (I'm thinking maybe 2GB of it either way :shocked:)

Anything else you want to throw your two cents in on as a "perk" (case, fans, etc) then go ahead. I don't know when I'll check this thread again to see what everyone has put but I'd like to get a comprehensive list of idears to see what I want to decide on.

THEME:

-=BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK=-

[MerePeer]

I can't help ya on the processor, but if you want a low price on memory this week, its PNY 2700 512MB $64.94 after rebate at Staples
or Kingston Value 2700 512MB $64.99 after rebate at Best Buy
or {if I read the ad correctly} Kingston Value 3200 2 X 512MB (=1GB) $99.99 after rebate at Best Buy

[guru]

I vote for neither. Grab an Asus A7V8X-E deluxe for about $130 and a XP 2500 for about $80. Overclock it to 2.2G or higher. Faster then the opteron 1.6 or the amd 64 1.8G for a lot less money. The asus board uses the Nforce2 chipset with daul channel memory.

I have mine running at 2.4G.

guru

[Anteraan]

Hey there, CaptainMoose! How have you been, my neighbor? I tend to agree with guru on this one. The 2500+ overclocks like a mother (2.1 GHz is a breeze with almost any nForce2 board and generic memory), and is just what the dr. ordered in the bang for the buck category. You could easily get a very good board, some nice, high quality memory, and an excellent HSF for less than you would spend on either other setup. Choose the memory you want, but I always go for Corsair when going after performance. Once again, sticking with the 2500+ would let you do that. However it works out, I hope it works out well.

[Leviathann]

I would go with PC3200 RAM. OCZ is my favorite. oh wait, AMD doesn't utilize fast memory, does it? If you go Intel, get a P4 2.4C with an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe, and I can hook you up with some EXCELLENT RAM if you head that way, just email me for info if when you decide. That proc is highly overclockable, almost to 4 ghz with proper cooling, around 3.5 on air. And the board is the best for it as far as I'm concerned.

[Fritz]

Moose,

Biggest bang for your buck, huh ? AMD only? OK. Here's my choice if I had to buy today:

ASUS K8V Deluxe
A643200 (1ML2 cache) boxed
512M PC3200 (single stick)
SATA Drive if possible so you can convert to RAID 0 later with a second drive
Win Xp Pro OEM copy...there is a Win Xp 64 Beta that you can find some drivers for but I'd wait for it to become a bit more mature.


Yes, this board has a Via chipset, but the existing NForce3 150 doesn't have the performance of this board with the Via chipset. NForce3 250 should be out soon if its not already. And I'd only get an A64 if I was really planning on switching to the 64 bit Windows when its released.

As others inthe thread have mentioned, a cheaper alternative is the Barton2500/2800 with Nforce2 board and 2 x 256PC3200. Get good quality low latency memory that is recommended by the board supplier. I've had the best luck
with the ASUS A7N8X, but the Abit NF7 has a lot of nice OC settings on it.

Fritz

[rofn]

@ Fritz

Asus K8V Deluxe or SE Deluxe is crap...i got one here

no agp/pci clock lock...so no chance foor good oc
i would take a nforce 3 250gb or. k8t800 pro chipset board for a 64
i'll get a msi k8n neo platinum (nf3 250gb) in the next days...agp/pci clock lock finally...

[Leviathann]

Don't talk him into getting only 512mb, It's simply not enough, not to mention he's already talking about 2 gigs, buy 512mb sticks of pc3200 at least.

[Fritz]

rofn,

I agree that the boards I recommended don't OC as nicely as others might due to the lack of some features on the mobo. Since Moose mentioned that it was a computer for school use, I guessed he may not want to overclock every last bit out of it. In my experience on a great number of these boards, Asus has proven most reliable.

Leviathan,

Good point on the memory...I missed the part about wanting as much as 2GB. If we limit the sticks to 1GB so that two are used in the board, it could work. From a quick survey it looks like the "best" price per MB comes at the 512M size, so maybe it makes sense to go 1GB composed of 2 512MB sticks if cost is an issue.

Fritz

[rofn]

its just not only the oc thing...
nforce 3 250gb & via k8t800 PRO chipset is faster then k8t800 or even nf3 150