I have been thinking of building a dualcore system but I need to know a few things...

+How well do the dualcores perform in new games with high settings
+Should I go with Opteron or X2
+Why is the Opteron's L1 cache 64+64 while the X2's cache is 128+128
+Should I run the dualcore system in Windows XP: 64bit ed.

Here are a few of my questions. Do you know of any other questions?

Thanks for the replies!

-Mason

1) They perform just as good as, if not better than, the equivalent single-core processors. Games that are optimized for SMP will scream (Quake 4 gave me a 30fps difference).

2) A dual core Opteron (165-180) would be better. They will overclock higher, while running lower voltage (especially if you get the CCBWE stepping).

3) They're actually the same. The Opteron is simply listing the cache [i]per core[/]i], but the X2 is listing both cores combined.

4) I wouldn't run X64 Windows since driver support is lacking. Games aren't optimized for it either (except maybe Far Cry).

Quote: Originally Posted by Ator 4) I wouldn't run X64 Windows since driver support is lacking. Games aren't optimized for it either (except maybe Far Cry).

yup yup ..... so far all of the games that i've tested on the X64 platform experienced some type of "lag" ....
(i guess the drivers aren't that stable .... ) so anyways ...... i tested
BF2, FAR CRY, NFS-MW, CS, WAR CRAFT ...etc ....., i thought because far cry was "allegedly" optimized for such platform, it would run without any problems .... but i guess i assumed wrong .....

IMHO i would not recommend WIN x64 for gaming AT ALL .....

how do you know what opterons are the CCBWE stepping?

that's what i thought about 64bit windows but just wanted to check.

They all can potentially use the CCBWE stepping. It's pretty much the luck of the draw.

I would go with the Opteron. There was a poll on a dual core opteron or a dual core athlon 64, you might want to check it out here.

Yea trust me stay away from the 64bit xp. I had it on my new pc and it SUCKED! No drivers, no antivirus, and while playing COD2 the graphix sucked. I called all the manufactures of the devices I had hooked up to my pc and they all said "we are working on drivers but don't know when they will be ready" Norton and Macafee both said sometime this yera on antivirus. So I went and got 32bit xp and evrything is cool now, games play better and look better. I read an article on Tom's hardware about xp64bit and it said don't make the change yet cause the performance dif is so small since nothing is optimized for 64 yet.
Just for ref I have
AMD 4400+ dual 64
2gig Corsair XMS
2 6600 nvidia (Soon 7800gtx)
DFI lan party ut nf4 sli-dr
250 gig sata hd
Hunter

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=2668

There are a few games that will "Glitch" when using Dual Core, sometimes it needs a patch, sometimes it's just a matter of setting priority of the app.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=2668 There are a few games that will "Glitch" when using Dual Core, sometimes it needs a patch, sometimes it's just a matter of setting priority of the app.

This is true. Serious Sam 2 was giving me unplayable glitches until I got the new patch installed (super-sensitive mouse, HDR problems but that's related to the X1800 series bug, etc).