A 4.1 GHz Dual Core at $130 - Can it be True?

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Question:

Say I overclock this to 4ghz with an average cooling system, and I leave the computer on idle (maybe one small p2p program) for half a day... Will it overheat?
 
this article was eye opening to me.

That's the perfect way to describe it... For my upcoming build, I've been struggling to decide whether to go with AM2, or get a i975x, stick a cheap cpu in it, and wait for an eventual upgrade to Conroe... This article has made the decision pretty simple, in my eyes.
 
I currently have my D805 running at 3.6 stable, im thinking of pushing it up to 4.0ghz this weekend (have an aftermarket Zalman cooler, can't remember exact model number). My overclocking skills aren't all that, so wish me luck guys!
 
It would be pointless overclocking a 3800+ to 4Ghz, AMD already has the IPC advantage vs the Pentium D. A 3800+ at 3Ghz would beat that P4 @ 4ghz.

A 3Ghz A64 would be all thats needed and that would be a realistic goal for someone with a AMD processor considering the lenght of the pipeline and the 90nm process. (With Good Air Cooling)

I didn't think that this article was all that exciting. Wake me up when they have conroe benchmarks when its released.

This only applies to people that need to upgrade with a board that will already support the Pentium D, and have water cooling. I sure as hell wouldn't go out any buy this now when conroe hits the market in about 2 months. I would call that lack of foresite.
 
Well, we finally got the article on overclocking the 805 that Anandtech promised us when they did their initial review of the chip. Only it was done by a different team.

Which is probably a good thing, come to think of it.
 
Hi,
Nice review, if only the multiplier was changeable :)

I want to ask u guys something, how can u get FSB over 195MHz on 133 processor, i have the specs below and can't get past 195, not a matter of instability, the FSB stays at 195 EVEN if i set it at 250MHz, which is odd!!!

CPU: Celeron D 326, 2.53 @3.7, 256KB Cache, 1.4-1.45v, 35/55c
RAM: Spectek 2048MB (512x4), DDR2-667 @390, Dual Channel, 3-2-2-4
MB: Gigabyte GA-8I945P-G, Intel 945P @195/195
GFX: XFX XXX 6800GS PCX @485, 256MB @1100, 40/60c
HDD: WD 160GB, SATA2, 8MB Cache, 7200 RPM, 55/60c
Sound: Realtek ALC882 7.1-Ch HD
Monitor: 17" Samsung 793DF
DSL: 512/128Kb/s DSL Connection
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2, DX 9.0c
VGA Driver: Xtreme-G 84.56 v2
Sound Driver: Realtek R1.36
Scores: 3DMark'06: 2700, 3DMark'05: 5700, 3DMark '03: 12600, PCMark'05: 4000, HDD: 70MB/s
PSU: Task International 450 Watt PSU, Dual Auto Speed Crystal Fans, 11.84-12.03v/26A, 3.31-3.38v/28A, 6.85v/32A
Cooling: Zalman VF700-Cu (VGA), 2 Fans Exhaust
UPS: Fenton 425VA
Mouse & Keyboard: Microsoft Comfort, Curve Keyboard 2000, Optical Mouse 3000
Speakers: Creative Inspire 4.1
 
It would be pointless overclocking a 3800+ to 4Ghz, AMD already has the IPC advantage vs the Pentium D. A 3800+ at 3Ghz would beat that P4 @ 4ghz.

A 3Ghz A64 would be all thats needed and that would be a realistic goal for someone with a AMD processor considering the lenght of the pipeline and the 90nm process.

I didn't think that this article was all that exciting. Wake me up when they have conroe benchmarks when its released.

This only applies to people that need to upgrade with a board that will already support the Pentium D, and have water cooling. I sure as hell wouldn't go out any buy this now when conroe hits the market in about 2 months. I would call that lack of foresite.

OK, but is it normal to get a 3800+ up to ~2.8GHz on air cooling? It just seems to me that overclocking a cheap, cheap (<1/2 price of 3800+) cpu to levels reached by $1000 processors on air cooling is something to write home about...

As far saying only those whom lack foresight would buy this chip at the moment with Conroe two months away, I disagree. Spending $130 on a chip that will get you FX-60 levels means that $130 will last you a long time, plus the latest revision of the i975x chipset will support Conroe. You could make the switch to Conroe whenever you wanted... Seems like a great plan to me.
 
It would be pointless overclocking a 3800+ to 4Ghz, AMD already has the IPC advantage vs the Pentium D. A 3800+ at 3Ghz would beat that P4 @ 4ghz.

A 3Ghz A64 would be all thats needed and that would be a realistic goal for someone with a AMD processor considering the lenght of the pipeline and the 90nm process.

I didn't think that this article was all that exciting. Wake me up when they have conroe benchmarks when its released.

This only applies to people that need to upgrade with a board that will already support the Pentium D, and have water cooling. I sure as hell wouldn't go out any buy this now when conroe hits the market in about 2 months. I would call that lack of foresite.

OK, but is it normal to get a 3800+ up to ~2.8GHz on air cooling? It just seems to me that overclocking a cheap, cheap (<1/2 price of 3800+) cpu to levels reached by $1000 processors on air cooling is something to write home about...

As far saying only those whom lack foresight would buy this chip at the moment with Conroe two months away, I disagree. Spending $130 on a chip that will get you FX-60 levels means that $130 will last you a long time, plus the latest revision of the i975x chipset will support Conroe. You could make the switch to Conroe whenever you wanted... Seems like a great plan to me.

I partially agree. 130 dollars IS petty cash for a CPU, i'm thinking of getting one tomorrow myself.

The real question is what kind of cooling is needed, and how much both the CPU AND the cooling will cost. This is what i'm stuck between. Last time I checked, liquid cooling costs a pretty penny.
 
I think the beauty of this article was that it showed you can o/c this thing 1GHz over stock speed with a $60-dollar Zalman HSF. Even factoring that into the price equation, you still come out around $200, which is tremendous value for a EE-level CPU.
 
u could also use a 35$ 7700 Zalman, which doesn't differ that much from the 9500 (double the weight only 😛), so 160$ isn't bad still, BUT, u need a really good board and PSU to cope with all this stress, which u would get if u r planning on Conroe anyway.

Please don't forget to answer my question, look above, thx.
 
that 4.1 is quite insane, I have never heard about the Pentium d before, now I bet when wind of this gets around they will fly out of stores.

Also people who are in the dilemma right now of waiting for am2 or conroe or just build a new system right now have a low cost way to get a dominating cpu right now and not spend a lot, just to have it not perform well enough for them in a few months.

And if they don’t like the power thing they don’t have to go to 4.1 the thing still kicks but at lower clock rates.

One request, could you guys at toms get a phase change cooling solution hooked up to that thing and see if it goes higher yet? Maybe oil or liquid nitrogen could work too?

They couldn't if they wanted to anyway ast it staes in the report. They got it at 4.3Ghz where windows XP would boot but when they put ir under any high load it would crash

uh... that's because it didn't have enough voltage. When that happens, you just increase the voltage, unless of course, you are nearing the voltage limit for the chip. They could go further if they wanted to.
 
I have been thinking about upgrading my current PC. I was going to wait for Conroe/AM2. When i do upgrade i will need to start from scratch(i plan on going sli). Do you think building a machine with this setup is a wise choise? Or should I wait for conroe etc?

If so what do you reccomend i go with for:
Mobo:?
Mem:?
After Market Cooler: ?

wait for Conroe... seeing as Conroe is way faster than the a overclocked FX-60 at stock speeds,.. with lots of overclocking room. And 4.1Ghz from this 805 is not equivalent to an FX-60.

Edited to add that you could also buy the 805 now, plus new mobo and all that, and then when Conroe comes out, you could just swap CPU's. :)
 
If you are an Intel Lover do not get the 805 wait for con-roe [TM]

If you are an AMD Lover do not get the 805 wait for the 65nm AMD64s

If you are impartial wait for both con-roe [TM] and the 65nm AMD64s, do your research and then buy whatever is best for you.


To THG: Good job on the OC :-D but what are you trying to do start another energy crisis? @ 260W the CPU alone draws more power than a complete system did not too long ago.

The question is how long will it run before it breaks and how much is it going to cost you in energy and cooling costs?


Now some words of wisdom from our good friends @ slashdot.org:


Longevity?
(Score:5, Insightful)
by User 956 (568564) on Wednesday May 10, @06:50PM (#15304763)
(http://www.planesonasnake.com/)
Ok, so you can overclock it to 4.1Ghz.. but how many weeks will it last before it burns out and you need to buy a new one?

and oh, boy, the heat...
(Score:5, Informative)
by NerveGas (168686) on Wednesday May 10, @06:54PM (#15304783)
Instead of Athlon64+ 3200 and X2 3800s, we built a few machines at the office with P-D 805s. Every user has complained about how hot it gets under their desk with the machines. You reach down and put your arm under the desk, and it's like a sauna. We haven't had any complaints with the AMDs.


260 Watts.
(Score:5, Informative)
by DAldredge (2353) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Wednesday May 10, @06:56PM (#15304800)
(Last Journal: Thursday April 06, @11:19PM)
This processor, when overclocked to 4.1 Ghz, draws 260 Watts.

That will run up the electric bill just a little.


Live long and prosper!
 
mmmmmm.............
Is this a go at knocking the top of the line processors??
Dont see how this is different to the list people that can bring their Opteron 165 CPU clock speeds to actual 3.5GHz operating frequencies or a the celeron356 CPU I read a month ago that hit 5.0GHz on sink+fan cooling (CPUz verified/ out of case)................
I think its good to know this chip has potential (not every one purchase will OC like this) but its nothing to be in awe of!!
 
mmmmmm.............
Is this a go at knocking the top of the line processors??
Dont see how this is different to the list people that can bring their Opteron 165 CPU clock speeds to actual 3.5GHz operating frequencies or a the celeron356 CPU I read a month ago that hit 5.0GHz on sink+fan cooling (CPUz verified/ out of case)................
I think its good to know this chip has potential (not every one purchase will OC like this) but its nothing to be in awe of!!



Another question is, why not compare the 805 OC to some other OC'ed Intel and AMD CPUs as well?
 
In my book, the major gain is in the first jump from 2.66 GHz to 3.33 GHz. That's a 25% increase in clock speed and memory bandwidth (which significantly increased performance in every benchmark) for only a ~3% increase in total system power consumption at idle and ~9% at full load. Then, if you really need the speed, you can easily turn up the speed to 3.8 GHz for temporary additional performance. Once you get the exact numbers figured out, it looks like it would be easy to change them on the fly with a program like Gigabyte's Easytune. The gains beyond 3.8 GHz (the fastest that was stable on air in this test) are miniscule while the additional power consumption is significant. While the 4 or 4.1 GHz numbers are impressive and even record setting for such a cheap processor, they are on diminishing returns part of the curve. Potentially, Joe Average builder can get hundreds of more dollars in value out of their system simply by reading this article and installing a different heatsink. That fact impresses me more than performance at 4.1 GHz.
 
mmmmmm.............
Is this a go at knocking the top of the line processors??
Dont see how this is different to the list people that can bring their Opteron 165 CPU clock speeds to actual 3.5GHz operating frequencies or a the celeron356 CPU I read a month ago that hit 5.0GHz on sink+fan cooling (CPUz verified/ out of case)................
I think its good to know this chip has potential (not every one purchase will OC like this) but its nothing to be in awe of!!

You sir do not get the point at all. The scary part is that i dont even think you are even near getting it.
 
:-D but what are you trying to do start another energy crisis? @ 260W the CPU alone draws more power than a complete system did not too long ago.

My thoughts precisely. Err, rather I was thinking of that kind of CPU load plus XFired X1900XTs. Try that with yer 350 watt Antec PS...

"Gee, Daddy, your power supply looks JUST like the wicked witch of the west when the water melted her."
 
All I can say is Wow.

The whole point of the article was price/performance. You just cant beat it with Opty dual cores or new AM2 or Conroe. They cost too much.

I was just amazed. I do not overclock but the article really makes it tempting especially since I was thinking of buying a new system.
 
one question though, how much more money would the 805 put out compared to the 3800+ both oc'd and stock a year?

Money put out or heat? I have not seen any numbers on the 3800+ OC'ed near its water cooled limit, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it come in around 50 to 75 watts less at full load than the 805 (both OC'ed balls out). I wouldn't be all that surprised to see the 3800 come in at 125 watts less... Cost per year difference? You can figure that out yourself. Stock numbers are in the Tom's article:

3800+ 129 system watts at idle, 217 full load
805 171 system watts at idle 258 full load
 
If you were to use a water cooling system, would you be able to run this at 4 GHz without heat problems? They said their cooler was stressed to the limit at those speeds, and I know that can't be good for the chip. For the price of this 805 and a water cooler, you're still below the cost for a 3800+.

Also, how does DDR compare to DDR-2 at those speeds?
 
habitat87 said:
Clue69Less said:
one question though, how much more money would the 805 put out compared to the 3800+ both oc'd and stock a year?

well assuming youwill run it under full load for 8760 hours (1year) Its an extra $400 dollars a year or abour for a dollar a day you can help a poor d805 without a home


5000 watt Electric oven (800 for a range burner)
5000 watts Clothes dryer (electric)

3800 watts Water heater (electric)

3500 watts Central Air Conditioner (2.5 tons)

1500 watts Microwave oven

1500 watts Toaster (four-slot)

900 watts Coffee maker

600-1440 watts Window unit air conditioner

200-700 watts Refrigerator


check this out for an idea
 
Just a quick clarification to solidify my decision. Motherboard with the i975x chipset will support the new intel chips due this summer?

So this motherboard will accept conroe?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131591&ATT=13-131-591&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

I just bought the chip today.. now i'm looking at how to upgrade with conroe in mind.... my current pc is like 4 years old though. I was trying to hold off till the fall... but this article killed my patience and resolve to hold out.
 
:-D but what are you trying to do start another energy crisis? @ 260W the CPU alone draws more power than a complete system did not too long ago.

My thoughts precisely. Err, rather I was thinking of that kind of CPU load plus XFired X1900XTs. Try that with yer 350 watt Antec PS...

"Gee, Daddy, your power supply looks JUST like the wicked witch of the west when the water melted her."

Thats what the flux capacitor is for !!! 1.21 Gigawatts !!! lol
 

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