darkmarlin3 said:I see some veteran overclockers hanging out here, so I’d love for someone to weigh in on this:
I'm getting ready to build a new rig, and I'm stuck on which CPU to grab.
The options:
CPU AMD Athlon64 BOX 3500+, 90nm, Sck939 - Venice, 512KB L2 cache (69w)
and
CPU AMD Athlon64 BOX 3700+, 90nm, Sck939 - San Diego, 1MB L2 cache (87w)
Which one is better for OC? And is that extra 512KB cache on the 3700+ actually worth paying $67, considering how much hotter the 3700+ runs compared to the 3500+
? PS: I'm sticking with stock coolers for now, but once I actually dive into overclocking in a year or so, I'll probably slap a Zalman on there.
BTW, the rest of the build is:
MB Epox 9NPA+ Ultra, s939, nForce4 Ultra, SATA, GLAN, FW
2x DDR 512MB PC3200 (400MHz), CL2, SuperTalent
HDD Maxtor 6V250F0, S-ATA300, 250 GB/16MB/7200rpm
Gigabyte GF 6800GS, 256MB, TV out, DVI
PSU: Chieftec power supply 400W, ATX 2.0, 2×12V, Active PFC, AFC, 12cm FAN
Monitor Samsung LCD SM730BF 17", DVI
Likely picking it up at Micro Center.
If you want OC potential, the 3000+ is king. Between those two? Honestly, I have no clue. I've messed with the 3500+ and it's decent enough, even if you can't push the clocks that far...
I bet it's the exact same story with the 3700+.