My New Rig Is On Its Way~!

No_Style · Aug 4, 2005, 04:31 PM

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (New)
Mobo: DFI UT NF4 Ultra-D (New)
RAM: OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 Gold Revision 2 (From Current Rig)
PSU: OCZ ModStream 520W (From Current Rig)
Video Card: ASUS Extreme AX800XL/2DTV/256 (New)
Cooling: Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED (New)
Case: Tsunami Dream Black w/ Window (From Current Rig)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (From current Rig)

The driving force for me to buy this rig would be the X2. Some of you may question the cooling, but I figured if a CNPS7000B-AlCu can handle a P4 3.0E @ 3.2 GHz with no problems, it should handle the X2 without breaking a sweat. The main reasons for getting the DFI mobo would be the fact that it uses and Award BIOS instead of the AMI ones (AMI bios for my P4P800 boards made me frown) and especially because it's touted as the overclocking board. No SLI, since I don't see the point of purchasing two video cards when within 8 month's time I will be made fun of by reviews of next generation cards.

The key areas I was focusing on when assembling this build were:

- Price/Performance ratio
- Aesthetic appeal

Both areas were satisfied.

I originally wanted to get a X2 4400+, however availability here is scarce at best. I inquired about the availbility of the X2 3800+ and it could arrive tomorrow!

I was also tinkering with the idea of getting a 7800 GTX since I saved a bundle by switching to the X2 3800+. I'm still thinking about it, but the price/performance value on the X800XL is just too great.

Thoughts? Comments? I'm excited about this rig

Necrosis · Aug 4, 2005, 04:44 PM

K Where did you get the 3800 from?

Dark Lord · Aug 4, 2005, 04:52 PM

personaly if i was you, id go with one of ATI's refurbs for the x800XT. there like 229.99 shipped, and come with a 3 year warrenty.

No_Style · Aug 4, 2005, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by another-user

personaly if i was you, id go with one of ATI's refurbs for the x800XT. there like 229.99 shipped, and come with a 3 year warrenty.

You mean the AGP ones?

Dark Lord · Aug 4, 2005, 05:08 PM

oh ya... thats right. i didnt see PCI-Express mentioned there, and when you mentioned the 7800GTX it never even clicked that that was pci-e.

never mind then.

No_Style · Aug 4, 2005, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrosis

K Where did you get the 3800 from?

NewEgg, NCIX and other sites have it. It basically available as soon as NDA broke on Aug 1st. (Not wide availability though)

I got mine from ShopRBC.com, but it's not listed on the site. I questioned the owner about when he would get a X2 3800+ in and he said his first shipment comes tomorrow. I couldn't pass up.

Necrosis · Aug 5, 2005, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_Style

NewEgg, NCIX and other sites have it. It basically available as soon as NDA broke on Aug 1st. (Not wide availability though)

I got mine from ShopRBC.com, but it's not listed on the site. I questioned the owner about when he would get a X2 3800+ in and he said his first shipment comes tomorrow. I couldn't pass up.

The reason I asked is I'm thinking about the 3800 or the 4200. So far it seems Mwave has the best prices on these. They don't have the 3800 yet but they have it listed for $388.00

CDsDontBurn · Aug 5, 2005, 04:41 AM

good deal man

.

Think AMD will release an x2 4000+? 2Ghz 1Mb L2 cache?

Necrosis · Aug 5, 2005, 04:50 AM

Yes they will especially if I buy a 3800.

No_Style · Aug 5, 2005, 09:53 AM

Quote:

A New Core
AMD didn't sit on the X2 3800+ just because they were greedy and expected everyone to gobble up the $500+ parts. Instead, today's release is the result of a slightly revised core, codenamed Manchester, specifically designed to cut costs.

The original Athlon 64 X2 (Toledo core) processors all had the same exact specifications:
- 233.2M transistors
- 199 mm2 die size
- 110W max power
For the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ and the 4400+, the shared transistor count and die size made sense. They both were identical from a transistor standpoint, one chip just ran 200MHz faster than the other. But the 4200+ and the 4600+ weren't identical; unlike the 4800/4400+ X2s, the 4200+ and 4600+ only had a 512KB L2 cache per core, not a 1MB L2.

Update: As many of you have correctly pointed out, the 4200+ and 4600+ were available as both Toledo and Manchester cores. More than half of the Athlon 64 X2's transistor count is spent on cache, which means that if there are going to be any manufacturing defects on the chip, they will more than likely occur in the processor's cache. Born out of that fact, the Toledo based Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and 4200+ were nothing more than 4800/4400+ X2s with too many manufacturing defects; instead of throwing the bad cores away, AMD simply rebranded them and sold them at lower price points. The problem with this approach is that an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ took the same amount of space on a wafer as an Athlon 64 X2 4800+, despite only having half the cache. Thus we have the Manchester core: a core designed from the ground up to only feature a 512KB L2 cache per core.

As manufacturing ramps up, yields improve and it is now possible to actually create a cost-reduced Athlon 64 X2, using the smaller Manchester die - and that's where the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ gets its cost savings.

The transistor count of the 3800+ goes down to 154 million, and the die gets shrunk down to 147 mm2 compared to the 233.2M and 199 mm^2 of its bigger brothers (4800/4400+). The thermal envelope of the new core also dropped from 110W down to 89W, both still lower than Intel's Pentium D or single-core Pentium 4 for that matter.

With a smaller die and lower transistor count, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ is able to support its $354 price tag.

_______________
Read More/Source: AnandTech's X2 3800+ Review

From what I see, it may actually hurt AMD to make a 4000+ with 1 MB L2 since the demand for a lower cost 1 MB L2 version of this processor will be fairly high and if they do wish to supply it.

No_Style · Aug 12, 2005, 06:26 AM

Necrosis, I see that you got yourself a 4400+

How's the OC on it?

I've decided to pick up a 7800 GT despite the fact that my X800XL is in (on the day the 7800 GT launches) for an additional $150 CAD! After seeing how this 7800 GT compared to the X850XT, I couldn't pass up

CrapolaJola · Aug 12, 2005, 07:42 AM

Hey don't have time to read the whole thing so I dunno if you ordered yet, but I got a few suggestions and comments. Take a 7800GT over the X800XL, you can order them from Dell @ $350 atm it's quite a steal. Also, good choice on the cpu. The 3800+ may not have as much cash, but I've seen a few of running on 2.8-2.9 on air

, you could get the same if both your cores are nice. I'd also suggest a Thermalright XP-90 or XP-90C over the Zalman.

Necrosis · Aug 12, 2005, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_Style

Necrosis, I see that you got yourself a 4400+

How's the OC on it?

I've decided to pick up a 7800 GT despite the fact that my X800XL is in (on the day the 7800 GT launches) for an additional $150 CAD! After seeing how this 7800 GT compared to the X850XT, I couldn't pass up

I technically don't have it yet. I ordered last night at 1:30EST.

No_Style · Aug 12, 2005, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrapolaJola

Hey don't have time to read the whole thing so I dunno if you ordered yet, but I got a few suggestions and comments. Take a 7800GT over the X800XL, you can order them from Dell @ $350 atm it's quite a steal. Also, good choice on the cpu. The 3800+ may not have as much cash, but I've seen a few of running on 2.8-2.9 on air

, you could get the same if both your cores are nice. I'd also suggest a Thermalright XP-90 or XP-90C over the Zalman.

Well if you read the last comment, I did pick up the 7800 GT

Great minds think alike.

No_Style · Aug 12, 2005, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrosis

I technically don't have it yet. I ordered last night at 1:30EST.

If you're really gearing for that CPU, I hope you get it because I was going for it, but retailers around here could not get a hold of it. I hope the OC results are good for you.

Necrosis · Aug 12, 2005, 03:51 PM

I ended up finding it at Techonweb for $567.00 after shipping.

No_Style · Aug 12, 2005, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrosis

I ended up finding it at Techonweb for $567.00 after shipping.

That price isn't bad. 4400+ in the cheapest local retailer is $606 USD. Insane? Yes.