Opteron 165 - Upgrade to X2

CPU by SidneyWong @ 2006-01-17

Last year I had the pleasure in getting my first taste of Upgrade to A64-Venice 3000+ . The high overclock headroom and ease of thermal output plus the low price made the Venice 3000+ a terrific buy. So much buzz on the Opteron Dual Core S939 since November last year; I was hoping I would get the same result my Venice delivers.

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No need for Introduction

No need for an introduction :

I have stayed away from Intel after I experienced the high thermal delivery system of Prescott S478. Last year, I had the pleasure in getting my first taste of Upgrade to A64-Venice 3000+ . The high overclock headroom and ease of thermal output plus the low price made the Venice 3000+ a terrific buy.

So much buzz on the Opteron Dual Core S939 since November last year; I was hoping I would get the same result my Venice delivers. By the time I got my hands on this Opteron 165 Retail Pack, the price has gone up to $330. Many said AMD might require dealers to follow the "rules"; selling Opteron to Server System Integrators rather than direct retail channels to people like you and I. I have heard rumors that AMD was pushing Opteron to retailers in hope for a better number in Server market. I really could care for less; as long as mine returns the same result as my Venice. Still, I remain spirited as most single core Opteron are doing "well" in overclocking headroom using air cooling.

Madshrimps (c)


Madshrimps (c)



The surprise Heatsink: FOUR heat-pipes & 80x25 mm fan.

Madshrimps (c)Madshrimps (c)


Madshrimps (c)Madshrimps (c)


While the X2 3800+ is going for ~$322, the Opteron 165 with 1MB of cache rather than 512Kb; 1.8 Ghz versus 2.0 Ghz may well be a draw. Unless, the Opteron 165 has more OC headroom than the X2 3800+, I am crossing my fingers and hope that this is the case.

Another thought came to me: that Opteron is geared for server, how well my DFI nF4 board will handle it, or how about DFI doesn't support Opteron.

Let’s find out what happens after I settled the CPU in its new home ->
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