Rightio,

Ive never overclocked in my life. But am building a cheapo PC, and trying to get most bang for buck.

My options are either a 146 CAB2E or a Venice 3700+. Can someone tell me which is better to get? Both are S939 so will need a mobo but have already have some normal PC3200 Ram.

Is it hard to OC the opty? Do i just change the voltage in bios etc?

146 = Ã,£55
3700+ = Ã,£45

Worth it?

Thanks.

Thats a difficult question. At stock speed the 3700 will win as it has 200MHz on the opty. On the other hand, opterons are notoriously good overclockers. 146s with good stepping have been known to get to over 3GHz (stock is 2) on AIR cooling. Then again if you get one with a worse stepping it might not be much better than the 3700+.

Id say if youre planning on clocking, seriously consider the opty, if not go for the 3700+.

On the other hand, you could always find money for a dualcore...  

Where did you get your prices from?

The Opteron has more L2 cache too, so will be better in some situations.

L2 cache is the same I think, the 3700+ has the San Diego core that should overclock well and has a higher multi and stock speed, and its cheaper.

Quote from: filbertL2 cache is the same I think, the 3700+ has the San Diego core that should overclock well and has a higher multi and stock speed, and its cheaper.

He said Venice 3700+.

I never noticed the "Venice" Ive always known the 3700s to be San Diego and 1mb cache,
Icould be wrong (often am).

Quote from: filbertI never noticed the "Venice" Ive always known the 3700s to be San Diego and 1mb cache,
Icould be wrong (often am).

No, I think youre right, I dont ever recall seeing a Venice 3700+.