A couple of weeks ago I upgraded the CPU of my main computer from an AMD64 3200+ to a shiny new AMD64 X2 3800+
. It's been over 11 months since my last upgrade, and I was willing to try something new, not just a few more MHz. At first my options where the AMD64 4000+ or instead adding another GeForce 6600 GT so I could set it in SLI. But adding another video card only improves game performance, nothing else. And lately I don't have almost time for gaming
(I use my PSP instead for a quick game
). The AMD64 4000+ was a good option but the geek in me asked to try a dual core processor, so that's why I got it
.
After two weeks using it I have to say that I am impressed. I made the right choice. First after installing the CPU, with the heat sink (I'm using an Asus all copper heat sink with a large 80mm fan) I went to the BIOS to check how much hotter would that baby get. But after a few minutes it wouldn't get any hotter than the AMD64 3200+! So I went ahead and booted Windows XP Home (yes, Home Edition does support dual core processors). Windows detected the new CPU installed the correct processor driver (1.2.2.2 was already present with Cool'n'Quiet enabled) and asked for a reboot. After that I was back to Windows.
Asus Probe confirmed the temp readings, it was at a stable 35ºC (with the AMD64 3200+ It would be at 34ºC, not much difference here). That's a nice surprise. I opened the AMD Monitor which showed the two cores CPU load, speed and voltage and confirmed that Cool'n'Quiet was at work: both cores were running at 1000 MHz.
Next it was time for a stress test; I opened the task manager (which shows two CPU graphs), and launched Aquamark (it's very old, but allows me to compare specs with older configurations). No surprises it was a bit faster but not much, less than 15% faster. I was expecting this because games aren't optimized for parallel processing. After closing Aquamark I saw that CPU load was distributed evenly to both cores. Next I launched Half Life 2 Lost Coast, a good test, because HDR stresses a lot the GPU and CPU. Before the upgrade I was running it at 1024x768 8xAA, no AF. At 1280x1024 (my TFT native resolution) it was a bit jerky, so I scaled back. Well now it was incredibly fast, not dropping a frame even in the worst situations! I launched it in benchmark mode to verify that I got a steady 72 fps with no drops! That's an unexpected surprise
. After that I checked Asus Probe and saw that the processor reached 51ºC, which is about the same that I would get with the AMD64 3200+ (or maybe one degree more).
So I can only recommend the upgrade. It seems that not only it is a very powerful processor, power efficiency has not been overlooked. However let me warn you about some issues with some programs. Some programs aren't designed to be run on multi-core/multi-processor systems. For instance, FarCry (1.33) runs fine, but the introduction videos are jerky.
I haven't had much time to test more games, but for daily work the computer is more responsive with fewer delays.